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Cupping her hands around her mouth, Mila stage whispers to Charlie, Zoey and me, “These boys are hopeless. Just wait till they see us kick their asses at skiing.”
“I heard that, cheeky girl,” Mila’s fiancé says, swatting her on the ass.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be out there in case anyone needs lessons,” I tell him.
“And I’m sure Max will be around for a rescue or two,” Zoey adds, making all of us laugh.
We all fall silent, the room still pumping with music and the din of the crowd as I let out a hard sigh. I’m ready for the night to be over and it looks like Alex is too as he lets out a long, slow yawn.
“I think we’re going to head home,” Alex says, speaking for me and I’m sort of relieved that I don’t have to ditch out on this little high school reunion we have going on.
Luckily Zoey says she’s going to stay and live it up with Mila and Charlie. She’s been working a lot lately and spending her free time searching for Alex and me. I feel like she needs a night out, a night to let off some steam.
I quickly hug everyone, saying we’ll see them tomorrow for some skiing and Alex and I make our way back home.
With his hand in mine, we step outside the bar, the noise dying down as we walk through the stillness of the snow-covered streets, heading toward our condo. It’s our condo now or at least it will be soon. When Alex was released from the hospital, it was the first thing he said to me. He wanted us to move in together. It hasn’t even been a day since he was discharged, I wouldn’t dare argue with him. He basically wanted to pack up everything and move it over to the place I share with Zoey, but I was able to get him to slow things down a little, not wanting him to exert himself so quickly after getting out of the hospital. Good thing I mentioned Alex and I moving in together to Zoey since it’s really her place.
Zoey is cool with Alex living with us, and she even teases Max about finally finding a girlfriend now that Alex isn’t going to be living there and cramping his style. What about us cramping her style? She’s now living with her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend in a condo that her parents own.
“You sure you’re okay with going skiing tomorrow?” Alex asks when we reach the door to our condo. He runs his fingers down my cheek and I feel the warmth of his skin against mine.
“Yeah, I think so,” I say. Obviously neither of us have been back on slopes since the avalanche and we have yet to go back to work either. It’s only been a day, but we know we’ll eventually have to get back to normal.
It was never our plan not to go back to work, and while it hasn’t been very long, we do have some interviews and things lined up, everyone wanting to know our story. And pay us for it too. It feels weird to tell it, but getting back on the mountain definitely feels like something we need to do.
For as long as I can remember, the slopes of Badger Creek were my comfort, my solace and my home, and the avalanche isn’t going to change that. I imagine Alex feels the same way. He was always itching to get out on the slopes every chance he got, and I can’t see him changing his mind now.
We’ve always known that avalanches and injuries can happen when skiing and it never kept us from the mountain. It is scary to think it could happen again, but the fact that we survived and we survived together says a lot.
“How about you?” I ask him, pushing the door open. We both walk inside and let out a long, slow sigh. It’s funny, we’re still getting used to walking into a house that isn’t perpetually cold. It’s something we’ll definitely never take for granted again.
“I don’t think I could ever stay away,” he answers, smiling. “It’s what led me to meet you and it’s what made me realize that I was head over heels in love with you.”
“How are you the same guy I met at The Matterhorn?” I tease, throwing my arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me off the ground.
“I think I fell in love with you that day. You were so fucking aloof and confident. You had no qualms about inviting me back to your place and then kicking me out after you got what you wanted. Even if I didn’t say it then, I knew you were it for me.”
“Bullshit! You hated me!”
“No, you hated me!” Alex quips back, walking us toward our bedroom, my feet barely touching the ground.
“You stole my sandwich, and you were so damn arrogant!” I take his face in my hands, giving him a quick kiss.
“So you are admitting you hated me then, huh?” he asks, setting me down, his hands on his hips as he waits for me to answer, this cocky, self-assured look on his beautiful face.
“Never,” I reply, dragging out the word which only makes Alex laugh.
“It’s okay, Laney, I was pretty hard to like back then,” he admits, but he was never hard to like. I always knew that under all that harsh arrogance was a guy just waiting for someone to understand him, for someone to realize he had way more to offer than he let on.
“I never hated you, Alex, but we did kinda thrive on that whole push and pull thing, and I’ll admit it was hot.”
“Like how hot?” he now asks, tipping his chin up as he narrows his eyes at me.
“Like vibrator in bed to thoughts of you hot,” I say, slowly pulling off my sweater. “Remember when I saw you getting in the hot tub when I was out skiing?”
“How could I forget? If we’re on the subject of rubbing one out, I did that night to thoughts of you,” Alex says, making me laugh.
“I guess we were meant for each other all along. It just took us a while to get there.”
“A while and an avalanche,” he jokes.
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” I tell him, meaning every word. The avalanche was awful and being trapped in that cabin was a nightmare, but with Alex there, it gave us both a chance to confront our pasts and find comfort in each other.
“Neither would I.”
“And by the way, I love you,” I say, smiling. “It was a little loud in that bar and I’m not sure if I got across to you how much I love you. Maybe I could show you in the hot tub?”
“Nothing says I love you like sex in a hot tub,” Alex jokes, tossing me over his shoulder.
I definitely wouldn’t change a thing.
