Release: New Adult Sport Romance (Fire and Ice) (17 page)

My heart soars, and I open my eyes to look into his. “Oh, Kaleb, I’m in love with you too.”

He kisses me so tenderly it’s like a whisper. He pulls away, and his gaze seems to brand my soul.

We drift off in each other’s arms before the alarm sounds. Kaleb’s hand swats it off. “I’ll make breakfast while you shower.”

I scramble out of bed before he changes his mind. “Good, I’m starving.” I make a show of my eyes raking over his body and shake my head. “You know, we could just skip skiing today.”

“No way. You’re skiing Lulu’s Rock. If you do a good job, I’ll reward you later.” His eyes twinkle, and he flashes me those damn dimples.

“Okay.” The floor is cold beneath my feet, and I take the few steps to the bathroom. I call out as I enter. “Make me pancakes?”

“Deal.”

* * *

“You’re ready for this. Just wait until you see it before you get all worked up.” Kaleb pulls the chairlift bar up, and I remove my poles from under my thigh.

“I’m not panicking. I’m just full of nervous excitement.” I take a big breath and exhale through my nose. “Okay, maybe a little.” Snow slides easily under our skis as we glide down the exit ramp.

“Remember skiing down to the cornice and wanting to go over the edge?” Kaleb starts to move toward the bowl.

“Kind of. Wait, I wanted to?” I smile nervously and follow him.

He skis with his head turned to talk to me. “There are rocks you can jump off similar to the cornice. There’s plenty of bowl to the right, and you can try only as many as you want. You’ve got this, babe.”

I’m glad he thinks so. My hands are sweaty, and my heart pounds out a beat inside my chest. For a split second, I’m tempted to stop and say I won’t do it. But then I think about the freedom of flying off the highest part of the cornice.

Kaleb halts and turns to me. He takes off his goggles so I can see his eyes. “The rocks can be dangerous. Follow my line. I’ll signal with a pole when we’re about to hit the first cliff.”

I nod at him.

“We’ll stop after the first one. If you fall when you land, you won’t get hurt.”

I nod again and my stomach turns. My body pulses with adrenaline, but my brain is excited about the thrill.

Kaleb tips his skis over the lip of the crosscut, and I hear the clean scrape of beautiful S turns being carved into the snow. I follow quickly before my legs refuse to cooperate. When I see him raise his pole, I envision the cornice. I remember the sensation of lifting off and the reaction when I suck up legs to soften my landing.

I hit the cliff and fly. Exhilaration flushes fear from my senses. The landing is much steeper than off the cornice, but I have no trouble initiating a turn. I stop next to Kaleb. “Holy cow!”

The bare section of his face is dominated by a grin. “Way to go. You crushed it just like I knew you would.” He squeezes my shoulders with an arm. “C’mon. There’s a lot more ahead.”

I hit every cliff Kaleb does. I know he watches me the way ski instructors do, skiing while looking over his shoulder to make sure I’m okay. His nurturing comforts me.

At the bottom of the trail, I stop by Kaleb and speak. “You know what I’m about to say, don’t you?”

“You’re going to say that life without me was dismal? Or while that was fun, you can’t get my hot body out of your mind, or—”

I smack him in the arm. “Ski that with me again, and I’ll stroke your ego on the lift ride.”

“That’s not all you need to stroke.” He winks and takes off before I can hit him again.

Chapter 26

The moment I walk into the skating rink locker room, my nose welcomes the scent. It’s crazy when I think about it, because the mildew odor infused with a hint of wet dog is just as pungent as Peak 8’s locker room essence. Yet it doesn’t repulse me.

As an instructor, I have a locker to use. I walk down the aisle of peach-colored metal and find my alias. Lori Pierce. Nostalgia washes over me when I remove skates from my bag. No matter how awful things got with Lucas, the one thing that saved me was the ice. He could yell all he wanted, but the moment I raced away, I felt free. It was a freedom that came with a price, though.

I lace up a skate, and my mind flashes to the sensation of flying off a cliff. Remembering the look of pride on Kaleb’s face when I hit every jump he did makes me smile. The encouraging tone of his voice every time we hiked to ski the cornice showed me how it should be. I vow to be that kind of coach.

My first lesson is with Bella. I check my watch and find I have twenty minutes before she arrives. This being my first early morning private, I was afraid to be late. I’ll probably regret those precious moments of sleep lost later today, but I might as well go warm up.

When I step onto the ice of the indoor rink, I marvel at the crystal appearance. It’s been resurfaced for the new day, and I’m the first one to skate it. Similar to fresh tracks in powder, clean ice puts a smile on this skater’s face. The air is noticeably colder, and it encourages me to move.

I begin with laps around the rink as fast as I can go. The dull scrape of my skates beats in time with my pulse. I turn backward and continue to move quickly. My body embraces the feeling like an old friend. Blood pumps through my veins, and my muscles are warm from the exertion.

I stop and stretch. My hamstrings scream at me from neglect. I haven’t kept up with my usual routine and regret it right now. The metal door of the locker room clangs open, and I stand to see a young girl with her mother.

“Hi, I’m Lori. You must be Bella.” I look into big doe eyes on a tiny face. She blinks quickly. “Are you nervous?”

“Yes.” She looks over her shoulder at her mother. With hair pulled back, the woman is dressed for a workout.

“Hi, Mrs. Hines. Are you planning to watch today?”

“Oh no. I’m going to go use the gym. I think Bella will be more comfortable if I’m not here.” Warmth radiates from her in a way that makes me wish she’d been my mother.

“I think you’re right. I’m sure we’ll be just fine.” I watch as she places a quick kiss on Bella’s head and walks away.

“So Bella, your mom signed you up for a lesson on jumping. Is that what scares you?”

“Yes.” She may be small in stature, but the voice that comes out is strong. “I can’t do them without falling.”

“I’m pretty sure we can fix that. Let’s take a lap around the rink and loosen things up.” Much like teaching skiing, you can tell a lot about a skater’s abilities within the first few minutes as they move over the ice. I ask her to make a couple of direction changes so I can see her skate forward and backward. After our first lap, I’m confidant Bella is ready to learn to jump and know I’ll enjoy our hour together.

Near the end of the lesson, hulking bodies begin to appear on the edge of the rink, and I guess a hockey team has it next. I imagine Kaleb a few years ago and smile, remembering his physical presence on the ice.

Bella comes toward me one jump at a time. She smiles with pride and should. She can easily do a series of waltz jumps. When she gets to me, I squeeze her tight. “I’m so proud of you. That was fantastic work today.”

“Thank you. It’s so much fun.” She looks past me, and I hear her mother.

“Honey, I just saw that. I’m impressed.” She embraces her daughter and speaks to me. “Thank you, Lori. I would like to book you again. Let me chat with my husband and we’ll sort out a time.”

“I’d like that, too. Bella’s a great skater, and it’s clear she loves it.” I glance at Bella and then back to her mom. “I’m working at open gym tomorrow night. I’ll be monitoring one of the trampolines and would be happy to work with Bella. It would be just the usual open gym cost, and she would have to wait her turn, but I think she’d get a lot out of working on form when falling isn’t painful.”

“That sounds great. Perhaps we can swing it. Thanks again, Lori.” As they walk away, Bella turns and gives me a little wave. I hug myself and once again feel thrilled with my new life.

Chapter 27

The echo of basketballs bouncing on the gym floor penetrates the sound of voices. I walk the edge of the court toward the trampolines. Set in raised beds, a series of tramps are spread across a platform similar to a stage. On the other side of the trampolines is an indoor skateboard park.

Bodies jump into the air at a sporadic pace. The rhythm of my footsteps on the stairs seems out of place. “Sasha?” A brunette gives me her attention. “I’m here to relieve you.”

“Awesome. Not much happening here. Just a couple of jumpers. These girls are friends, and I haven’t had to monitor their turns. Have fun.” I’m left with three preteens who have no interest in me. My main job is to keep them safe.

Because it’s open time, any combination of people can be at one trampoline. I keep things fair by keeping track of time to ensure everyone gets a turn. Coaches often bring in athletes, and I may be asked to help spot. Very familiar with trampoline training at a higher level, I welcomed the chance to pick up a few more hours of work.

I keep an eye out for Bella. This group of girls would make her comfortable and might even boost her ego once they saw what she was here for. Gretchen should show up soon, too.

Earlier, I’d taken the time to watch Gretchen in the half-pipe, and now I’m excited to help. She’s probably never had gymnastics training and needs to work on keeping her muscles taut. With a tendency to lead with her head, a few quick fixes will make her think I’m a hero.

The girls leave and giggle as they make their way over to the skate park. I smile because its obvious boys are more interesting. With six trampolines available, mine stays empty. I decide to jump for a bit while I wait for Bella and Gretchen.

I barely start to bounce when I spot Bella enter the gym. She looks nervous again, so I yell, “Bella!” Not usually a ham, I give in to the urge to make her smile. I do a series of crazy poses midair as I jump. I’m rewarded with a grin when she reaches the trampoline.

The texture of the netting is rough under my feet and I ask, “Are you ready to learn all my famous moves? Ones that are sure to have the judges begging for more?”

“Okay.” Her petite body reminds me of what I was like at her age. I remember being as uneasy as she is. She wears a leotard and yoga pants like I instructed. I want to be able to see her muscles as she jumps.

“Okay. We’re going to jump together first.” I hold out my hands for her to grab on as she steps gingerly on the tramp. “You’re about to think I’m kind of strange but copy what I do.”

We start to bounce gently until I know she’s comfortable with our rhythm. “Let’s make some funny noises. Try them with me.” Her head nods in understanding. Each time I jump I exhale a quick “huh.” I watch her stomach as Bella does the same.

“Good. Now when you do it, I want you to try to blow out from your belly. Pretend you’re pushing the air out by squeezing it.” Her abdominals flex as we continue to say “huh.”

“Excellent. Now try to squeeze with your tummy, but don’t say anything.” She masters this easily. I’m about to move on to holding the flex when I catch a glimpse of Gretchen coming toward us.

“Let’s stop for a minute.” We step off the tramp as Gretchen arrives.

“Bella, this is my friend Gretchen. She needs to learn the same thing you do. Only she’s doing this for snowboarding.”

Gretchen smiles at her. “I’m kind of nervous. Is this hard?”

“No.” Bella’s ponytail swings as she shakes her head. “It’s pretty easy so far.”

“Bella, why don’t you take Gretchen on the tramp and teach her what I taught you.”

I watch as the two form a relationship. I also pat myself on the back because what I sensed is true. Gretchen has a harder time with this. I know she is a self-trained athlete, and until last year she had never experienced coaching. It’s a huge boost to Bella’s self-esteem to realize she learned faster than Gretchen. I also know that by teaching it, Bella solidifies the technique for herself.

We spend the rest of my three-hour shift working on rotation. I’m quite pleased with myself. Bella will love our next lesson when she realizes how much easier it is to jump with a solid torso. Gretchen will want to kiss me when she can rotate with less air and land gracefully.