Page 4 of Mountain Trial

“You can grab my sit ski for me. It’ll take me a while to drag myself up there if I have to do it on my own.”

Kat blushed for the third time in as many minutes, and set out to do exactly that, determined also to find her missing goggles and glove.

Luc

Luc watched the woman as she made her way easily up the steep slope.

From his prone position, the view was spectacular. He indulged himself for a few moments. She had great legs, and an amazing ass. Red curls fell down her back―he’d always loved redheads. But it was her dark blue eyes which had caught his attention first―he’d been lost the instant she’d looked up at him.

Stunning.

He felt an unusual pressure around his groin area.

Down, boy.

He rarely had reason to talk to his penis anymore, and it wasn’t like the erections he got where that useful anyway, since they usually went away long before he had the chance to do anything about them.

He let out the breath he’d been holding and watched as she picked up her poles and skis, placed them by his sit ski, then walked around, looking around for something.

Luc wished he could help search for whatever it was she was looking for.

Or do anything else, other than lie here like a lump.

He shook his head to clear the thought. He knew from experience only madness lay down that road.

Moments later, she turned back to look at him, waving a small blue object in her hand―a glove. She was smiling widely as she clicked her boots in place and skied her way easily towards him. Even though she was burdened by his sit ski, which he knew weighed a ton, she was a graceful skier.

Luc sat up, using his arms to straighten his useless legs in front of him.

She came up beside him and executed a flawless stop. She rubbed her hands together, now wearing both gloves.

“I didn’t find my goggles, but I found my missing glove,” she said, smiling. “Brrr … it’s cold.”

Luc nodded his agreement. His neck and arms felt cold. He was never sure how his legs were going to feel―sometimes, on warm days, they’d feel cold, then on a cold day they’d feel too warm. Or even, one leg would feel cold and the other one would feel warm. It was one of those fun facts about spinal cord injuries that nobody ever bothered to tell you about.

“What are these called?” she asked, pointing to his poles, which had short ski blades on the end.

“Outriggers. I use them to balance, and to help me push.”

She nodded. “What were you doing up there, anyway?”

“I thought there was something wrong with my suspension, and stopped to take a quick look. Maybe not the cleverest idea, now that I think about it.”

“Do you always ski alone? Isn’t that dangerous?”

His lip curled up in a small smile. “No more dangerous than for you, I’d imagine. Though I am going to have more trouble getting going again,” he added mournfully.

She used her pole to release her ski bindings, then kneeled down beside him.

“I’ll help,” she said, then quickly corrected herself. “How can I help?”

Luc appreciated the fact that she didn’t try to grab him, or tell him what they should do. He got the feeling she hadn’t had any personal experience with disabilities, but that she was trying to make up for her lack of knowledge with kindness and common sense.

He smiled what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

“Could you grab the sit ski and place it next to me? Like that. Thanks.”

“Now what?” she asked.