Page 119 of Hold On

“Oh God, that was the reason for the breaking the leg comment. I can’t ski.”

“I did assume that wasn’t one of the activities on offer in your last residence. I’m going to teach you. It’s not that difficult.”

Dominic doubted that, especially when it turned out that he couldn’t even put on the boots without help. They were heavy and tight, and the skis were awkward and unwieldy, but once they were in the cold hangar-like snow-filled space and he saw people descending on skis and snowboards in swooping curves, Dominic really wanted to do this. It was a hobby he was never likely to be able to afford, but he wanted to grab every experience he could. He crouched down, pulled off his glove, gathered a handful of the snow and squeezed it. Cold, soft white powder. Hard to believe it hadn’t fallen from the sky.

Dominic let it drop, brushing his hand against his jacket as he stood up, only to gasp in shock as snow hit his face.

“Oops,” Ren said.

“Oops? Really?” Dominic flicked the flakes away. “Who were you aiming for then?”

“I was just getting you used to what it feels like to faceplant in snow.”

“Who says I’m going to fall over?”

“You will.”

“And you won’t?”

“Nah.”

Ren led him to a beginner slope. He tried to copy Ren’s skating motion but it wasn’t as easy as Ren made it look. But once he’d got the feel of how the skis moved, he mastered side stepping, first on the flat, then on the slope, and finally was allowed to slide down a couple of metres. Stopping wasn’t an issue on such a shallow incline but he could see it would be if he’d come from the top even on this shorter section.

“How do I stop? How do I turn?”

“How to run before you can walk.” Ren laughed, but he showed him how to wedge the skis, turning the tips together and bending his knees. “You can control your speed like this and turn by putting pressure on one side or the other. Try it out.”

Even though this slope wasn’t long, it was a lot of effort to side step up to the top but those few seconds of sliding down, gliding on the snow, knees bent, arms apart, were brilliant.

“Okay?” Ren asked when Dominic joined him at the bottom.

“It’s fun.”

A flake of snow landed on Dominic’s eyelashes and he blinked. “Oh God, it’s snowing.”

He stared up in delight as snow jetted from two machines up in the roof, firing clouds of crystalline flakes in all directions. When he looked at Ren, Ren was staring at him.

Dominic smiled. “Thank you. What a perfect thing to do. Apart from the snow in the face.”

Ren laughed. “Ready for the big slope now? Watch how people go up on the button lift. It’s tricky until you get the hang of it. When you’re ready to have a go, I’ll come after, then I can shout encouragement.”

“Rather than turn round at the top and see me sprawled in the snow at the bottom?”

“I thought you weren’t going to fall? Watch how the person ahead of you gets off at the top, then move to the side as fast as you can.”

Dominic shuffled forward in the queue, his anxiety not helped when two ahead of him, the woman fell off the lift almost immediately.

“Don’t sit down on it,” Ren said at his ear.

The sensation of Ren’s breath made Dominic’s cock twitch.

“You have to let it support you without relying on it supporting you. It’s hard to describe.”

Dominic astonished himself when he managed it on the first attempt. He wobbled but clung to his poles with one hand and the metal rod of the button lift in the other.

“Keep your skis in the grooves,” Ren called.

He was trying to. He very nearly came a cropper at the top but somehow managed to fling the rod out of the way and slide off to the side. A moment later, Ren skied into his back, his skis either side of Dominic’s, propelling him forwards.