Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
“Like this?” I bent my knees and wiggled my arms like a rubber band.
Liam chuckled. “Something like that. We’re gonna take it slow, moving from side to side, making wide turns. I’ll go first. Follow me and remember to keep your gaze forward.”
“As opposed to?”
“Looking at your skis. You don’t look at your feet when you’re walking, so don’t look at your skis when you’re skiing. It’ll fuck with your balance. Ready?”
“Yeah.” I licked my lips and nodded.
Liam glided smoothly down the incline, veering sharply to the right. He stopped with a flourish, sending a plume of powdery snow skyward before raising his poles triumphantly. I snickered at the silly display. He made it seem fun and relatively easy. All right, then. I could do this.
I grasped my poles in a vise grip and dug into the snow, propelling myself forward. I aimed my skis in Liam’s general direction and honestly, it felt pretty damn good. I was in control, a cool breeze on my face, and a light wind at my back. Best of all, I appeared to be closing in on my correct destination. A hot guy was waiting for me in front of a huge pine tree with—
Oh, fuck.
I couldn’t stop. I picked up speed and barreled forward, trying to remember his advice. Knees bent. Check. Don’t look at your skis. Check. Stay loose…
Nope. Not possible.
I was wound so tight my head felt like it might pop off. Every muscle in my body was rigid as I zoomed closer to Liam…and the tree. It occurred to me as my life began to flash in front of my eyes that if I turned downhill, I could avoid the tree and move in the right direction. I might not have control of my skis, but Liam seemed to know what he was doing. No doubt he’d catch up easily and offer tips on how not to kill myself along the way. A comical vision of him doing circles around me while I tumbled into a giant snowball flashed in my head.
And that might have been when things went sideways.
“Go slow, Drew!”
“I can’t,” I bellowed, bending my knees per his instructions.
The wind bit at my cheeks and sent me hurtling down the steep-ass mountain. I barely resisted the urge to close my eyes. That wouldn’t help. But maybe I was bending my knees too much, overcompensating, and throwing myself out of whack. I straightened my legs and boom! That was the end of me.
I went flying over a shallow ledge and crashed into a snowdrift. I lost my poles, one of my skis, and maybe one of my fillings. I lay flat on my back, staring up at the clear blue sky while cartoon birds circled my head. What now? Was I supposed to walk? Or maybe I was already there. I couldn’t tell and I was afraid to look or—
“Hey, there. Looks like you had a garage sale. I picked up a few items I think you might have let go of prematurely. Sit up.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You’re okay.”
“I’m not okay. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” I grumbled, blinking madly when a shadow fell over me.
Liam chuckled. “You took a tumble, but it was more of a slide than anything. Like a bad run at home plate.”
“I have no idea what that means.”
“Never mind. It’s not important. Time to get up.” He unclipped his skis and propped them in the snow before crouching at my side and tugging my sleeve. “Good job. Let’s try it again.”
“Again? I can’t do that. I think I broke something.” I wiggled my fingers and toes experimentally.
“You’re fine. Take my hand,” he commanded, pulling me to my feet and batting snow from my shoulders. “Did you forget how to stop? You were doing okay at first—then you went rogue.”
“I started thinking about Bloody Marys, and that was the end of me. The universe is telling me to hang these up and meet you in the bar. Point me in the right direction, and I’ll somersault down the mountain. Are we close?”
Liam shook his head and gave me a lopsided smile. “Nope. But we’ll get there soon…without doing any gymnastics. Let’s take a quick refresher in stopping, turning, and maintaining control. Here are your poles. Hold on to my arm and click your boots onto your skis.”
I let out a defeated sigh but did as instructed. “Now what?”
“Now we try again. It’s like everything else in life. You need to balance. Don’t get too far over your skis, and don’t go backward. Shake off the tension and relax.” He flapped his arms and rolled his shoulders in case I needed a demonstration. “Just like in the real world, if you’re too uptight, you have a hard time adapting to the terrain.”
“Are you insinuating that life is just like skiing?”