Page 50 of Head Over Skis

Hey girl, we’re about to do our last run then we’ll be heading backto the chalet. You two banged yet? ;)

I pick my phone up quickly and tilt it towards me so the screen is out of Rory’s sight.

‘Everything okay?’ he asks.

‘Yeah, it’s Tilly letting me know they’re heading back.’

‘I can take you home now if you like,’ he says, which I would most definitely not like.

In the last few hours I’ve started to put together a picture of who Rory is, but it’s still nowhere near finished. I want to keep turning over the pieces and find out everything there is to know about him.

But what if that’s just me? What if he doesn’t feel the same easy comfort that I do being around him? The sense of wanting something more that lies beneath it?

‘Sure,’ I say, wondering if he can see from my face that’s not what I want.

Something tells me he can, given how well he saw through my joking earlier, but he still gets up from where we’re huddled at the window. While he takes our plates over to the kitchen, I move to the door to get my shoes, pausing again when I see the picture of his mum. Looking properly at the photo now, I notice the background. She’s sitting somewhere inside, by a window, the view behind her shrouded in white. It looks so similar to the one at the window seat, but I know it’s likely to be at some other ski resort entirely.

I don’t realise Rory’s moved over until his breath is hot against the side of my neck.

‘You look so much like her,’ I say, not knowing whether bringing that up is a good or a bad thing.

‘I know, that’s what he found so hard,’ he says, muttering the last bit quietly.

I want to ask who he’s talking about. His dad? I can’t help but wonder where he is and what role he plays in Rory’s life. But now isn’t the time to pry just to satisfy my own curiosity.

‘Shall we get going?’ I say instead, making my way over to the door and pausing, half-in half-out.

For a second he doesn’t follow, like he isn’t ready for this afternoon to end. I could fool myself into thinking he wants to kiss me right now as much as I suddenly need to kiss him. But I don’t move, and he simply smiles and gestures to the stairs behind me.

‘Fine, but if you put on Bublé again I don’t take responsibility if I make us crash to get some respite.’

‘Fine,’ I say, drawing out the ‘n’.

Surely if he’d wanted something to happen between us, now would’ve been the time to make it known. And seeing as he didn’t, I decide to let it go and think instead about the journey home and how his threat won’t stop me humming Christmas songs for the entirety of the time we’re in his car.

16

I push my key into the door and swing it open, but the chalet is quiet. The others clearly haven’t made it back yet.

Rory hovers outside after having walked me up to the door, and there’s this awkward moment where we’re standing opposite each other, the doorframe like a defining line between us. I hang up my coat and lean down to take off my boots for lack of anything else to do, not wanting to close the door on him quite yet.

‘Thanks for today,’ I say, pulling off my left boot. ‘You saved me from an afternoon I’d likely have wasted scrolling on my phone, trawling through travel accounts and planning a grand move to Australia that would never happen.’

‘It’s no problem, I’m glad you weren’t hurt too badly. Reckon you’ll be back on the slopes tomorrow?’

My chest deflates at the mention of tomorrow, making it clear that’s the end of our time together today. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the fact he showed up here, it’s hardly surprising I’d got my hopes up. Then I remember that our class hasn’t previously been his only one of the day, and more specifically I remember who he’s taught in the afternoons after us.

‘Tomorrow then, I wouldn’t want to keep you away from anyone important,’ I say, going to pull my other boot off before closing the door.

‘Anyone… what do you mean?’

He seems genuinely confused, and I’d forgotten that I only know who his afternoon lessons are with because I asked Kevin about their history. I probably should play it off, act like I didn’t mean anything by it, but part of me wants to gauge his reaction so I can know once and for all whether there’s anything going on there.

‘Hey, I’m not one to judge. I’m on holiday with my ex, so it’s not weird that you’re giving yours extra lessons. I’m sure you’re eager to go and meet her. Don’t let me keep you.’

Rory stands still as he considers my words, and part of me is embarrassed for revealing what I found out from Kevin. But a bigger part of me waits with bated breath for what he’ll say next. His expression keeps shifting by the smallest of details, and the waiting makes me feel like I might combust despite the chilly air that’s blowing in through the open door.

‘You think I’m leaving you to go and teach Tori?’