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I turned to my left, my goggled eyes colliding with a far too attractive man on his knees. I couldn’t see much of his tanned face because of the helmet and goggles, but I liked what I was seeing from his neck down. All hard lines and muscles. One of his poles sat beside him, broken in half. That must have been the snap. “I…” I breathed, blinking through the haze of confusion as I pushed my goggles up to my forehead. I looked down at my body, everything still in one piece, and thanked my lucky stars. The red in the snow below me drew my attention back. “Blood?”
“Your nose. It looks fine, I don’t think it’s broken,” he sighed. He unlatched his boots from his skis as I stared aimlessly at him, far too in shock to do anything else. “You should really watch where you’re going.”
I narrowed my gaze at him, the muscles around my nose screaming in agony from my newfound source of pain. “And you shouldn’t hang out at the bottom of a slope.”
He grunted as he stood, brushing the excess snow off his bibs. “You do realize you’re staring at me, don’t you?”
“I’m not staring at you, you brute.”
“Oh? Is the tree line behind me just far too interesting to take your eyes off of? Should I be worried a bear is about to maul me?”
“No, but I’m pretty sure a bear would steer clear of you anyway. Don’t think their jaws open wide enough to fit your massive fucking ego inside of them.”
He shook his head as he picked up his broken pole and skis from the snow. “Fucking ski bunnies,” he muttered, his fingers angrily wrapping around the strap of his helmet and tugging it loose. He pulled it back over his head, taking his goggles with it, and fuck my first assumption was right. Far too attractive. Ash blond hair toppled down in a mess from his helmet and, even though he wasn't smiling, he had the sexiest dimples on either side of his full-lipped mouth. “Or should I call you a blunder bunny?”
“You’re a dick,” I snapped.
“The lengths some of you go to, I swear?—”
“Ray! You good?”
I turned, my blinded eyes barely making out the form of Alex abruptly stopping in his descent, snow billowing out from his sideways skis. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand then wiped the blood on my rented bibs. “Yeah, fine.”
“Eat any more snow?”
“Nah, just filled my nose with it.” I turned over my shoulder, expecting to lock eyes with the obnoxiously attractive man who apparently seemed to hate me, but found him walking back into the building instead. I sighed. “Y’know, it’s a good thing that skiing isn’t a prerequisite for the job I'll be interviewing for.”
Alex paused, his words failing, and fell into a fit of chuckles. His grin turned sly, almost mocking. "You do know who that was, don't you?"
Chapter 2
Wade
The grunt that fell from my lips wasn’t exactly planned as I lifted my legs onto the desk. My ribs and left shoulder were still sore from the impact yesterday, a raging headache flaring up my neck and wrapping its fingers around my skull.
“Any plans for more kids, then?”
Jackson laughed over the phone. “God, no. Not right now at least. We’ve got our hands full with Cassie.”
Rubbing my shoulder with the hardest part of my palm, I groaned into the pain. “Yeah, but you can’t just raise her without a sibling. I mean, you grew up with Tiana. Surely you’d want the same for your own kid.”
“Mandy was an only child and turned out fine.” Mandy, Jackson’s wife of nearly a year, had been one of my only friends in high school. I spent half my time on the slopes training and the other half barely getting by in classes. She’d taken pity on me, thank God, and after my accident that devoured any chance of me ever competing again, she was the only one I could turn to. Did that mean picking up and moving to New York? Yes. It also meant pursuing a degree, meeting Jackson, and knowing damn well he and Mandy would be suited for one another. “Why are you groaning, anyway? Please tell me you didn’t call me mid-session with one of your hookups.”
I chuckled, wincing from the pain that shot through my chest. “Absolutely not. I’m not that depraved, Jack. I thought you knew me better than that.”
Soft coos and giggles could be heard in the background. “Then what’s it about? Fall on the slopes this morning?”
I sunk further in my chair. It was hard to hear things like that, innocent questions about my ability to simply stand on my skis. I wasn’t anywhere close to my former glory and probably never would be again, but I took a million falls in the past as well. The trophies dotted around the room enclosed behind glass cases stared at me almost in mockery, as if I’d never fallen before today. “Some psychotic ski bunny thought the best way to get my attention would be to crash into me going thirty miles per hour.”
“Aww, but I thought you loved your ski bunnies. Isn’t it about time for you to settle down with one of them?”
“Ha-ha, Jackson. Love is a strong word.” The glimmer of the sun reflecting off a mounted platinum ski caught my eye, and I narrowed my gaze at the writing along it. I knew what it said, of course I did. But it still made me feel like shit. FIS World Cup ? 1st Place. Wade Colchester. “Not like I would actually have a relationship with any of them.” Not like I wanted to, anyway.
Jackson grunted his distaste. “Why? They’re not bad people.”
“Perfect for a good time, not a long time. I’m not looking for anyone anyway.”
More adorable giggles poured through the phone, a hiccup, and then Jackson’s answering laugh at whatever Cassie was doing. “Not like you’d have any luck anyway. Finding a blonde, leggy woman that knows how to ski and doesn’t want you for your status isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world.”
