Release: New Adult Sport Romance (Fire and Ice) Read Online Free PDF Page A

try.”
    We push off the chair and, while moving, put our pole straps on. He takes me to Mayday, which is the steep trail I first took in training. Snow covers my skis and makes my movement look impossible. Mounds of white powder cover the trees, but without the weight of moisture, like back East, they stand strong. We stop at the top of the steep trail, and I try to imagine how shallow turns will work. The scary sensation of moving too fast is still fresh in my mind.
    Kaleb gives me a nod and heads down. Snow blasts around him as he links a few small turns to leave a snake-like track. I push off to follow and immediately notice the lack of speed. He was right. This doesn’t seem steep at all. Snow presses against my legs, and a fine mist sprays my face. I focus on tiny turns, and my body moves up and down as I unweight to make my turn and then apply pressure at the end of it. This is amazing!
    Kaleb stops when the steep pitch levels out. I pull up below him. “Wow! That was… wow.” Eloquent, I’m not. My grin reaches my ears.
    “You handled it beautifully. Try to keep that feeling. It’s easy to want to lean back, and you’ll get moving too fast. Make lots of quick turns instead of going sideways if you need to slow down.” He leads me to a narrow side trail with a consistent pitch.
    The trail is pristine, and we’ll be the first tracks. “I know this is such a newbie thing to say, but I can’t wait to look back at our tracks.”
    Kaleb snorts. “I always look back. I like to impress myself.”
    I chuckle at him. “So humble. Okay, let’s do this.” I push off and try to repeat what I did before. I fall back a bit and gain speed. As I tighten my stomach and yank myself forward, a ski gets away from me. When I pull my leg back toward my body it catches, and down I go, headfirst. Damn it! It doesn’t hurt, but snow covers my face. I pull off my goggles and wipe them clean with my glove. When I stand up and slap the snow off my body, Kaleb comes to me with my lost ski.
    “Nice. Be ready for more. It’s all good, though. It means you’re trying.” He hands me the ski.
    I set it down and lift my leg to click my foot in. Because my other ski has sunken down lower with my weight, it’s not easy to do. Each time I try, the loose ski gets pushed down and covered in snow. Frustration brings tears to my eyes. “I can’t even get my ski on.” I throw a pole down in the snow. But the moment I do fear grips my body. I brace myself out of habit for the fallout.
    “Here, let me help.” Kaleb’s voice is calm, and he gets down on his knees to hold my ski on the surface. Whoa. I take a deep breath, and oxygen loosens my muscles. When I push to click, he pushes back.
    “Thanks.” God, I hope he didn’t notice my reaction.
    “No problem. If you get stuck like this on your own, lay down your ski poles, perpendicular, under the front and the back of the ski. They’ll help keep it on top of the snow so you can apply pressure.
    “Got it. I’m ready.” Not really, but he’s being so nice it makes me want to try.
    “That’s my girl. Let’s go.”
    That’s my girl? My frustration drifts away. Wow. I follow Kaleb down the trail.
    * * *
    Another run and a dozen falls later, we have to go to work. “I can’t even begin to thank you enough for today.” I take my skis off to walk over to the Kids’ Castle. My turtleneck is damp and stuck to my underarms. I catch a whiff of my deodorant and hope that’s all he smells, too.
    “I’m sorry I was so impatient. You were nothing but nice to me. My little temper tantrum was because I feel so inadequate,” I say. “I can’t help but wonder how I got this job.”
    Kaleb still has his skis on so he can glide over to adult lineup. He slides up close to me. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You caught on quickly. I still can’t believe you’ve only been skiing for two years,” he says. “Seriously.” He leans over his poles so his face is level with mine. We’re