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Jesus, she was perceptive. “Nothing.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Let’s go. We’ve got lots of boarding to do today,” he said, turning the shower off.
* * *
With a full breakfast of bacon and egg muffins, juice and coffee in them, Mikayla, Rafe, Callum and Leah made their way to the valley terminal, while William and Juniper took Billy to the kid’s play area. They didn’t have to wait long for a chairlift at the Kosciuszko express and they were zoomed up to Eagles Nest, snowboards tightly in hand. As they slipped off the chair lift, Mikayla turned to look at the view. “Oh, wow.” The valley spread out before them, the hub of shops, holiday homes, hotels and restaurants that made up Thredbo village were directly below. But beyond that, the peaks and troughs of the snowy mountains stretched on, almost as far as the eye could see, long, wispy clouds painting shadows on the snowy peaks, the brilliant blue of the sky forming a stunning backdrop.
“Thanks, Callum.” Leah said quietly.
Mikayla smiled as Callum cleared his throat before saying, just as quietly, “Yeah, no worries.”
“Hey, what are we standing around for? Let’s go!” Mikayla strapped her feet to her snowboard, trying to stop herself from jiggling with excitement.
“Where do you want to start?” Callum pulled his goggles over his eyes. “That way is a blue run, through here is orange and if we go that way, it’s a black run.”
Leah moved off without a word, gliding over the snow on her board with ease, then just dropped onto the black run. With a slight bend to her knees, she was off.
“Jesus, if you weren’t hot for her before, you would be now.” Mikayla pulled her goggles over her eyes, slapped her brother on the back and followed after Leah, turning to grin at Rafe, knowing he’d be right behind her. The flurry of snow early that morning meant that it was thick and smooth and with few other skiers hitting the black runs that early, she could make the most of the space. She felt the rush of wind hit her, the cold slap of it against her cheeks, pressing against her suit. She felt her heart leap. It was gloriously exhilarating. She watched Leah, a short distance in front of her, gracefully leaning into the bends as she sped along, looking as though the board was just an extension of her body. Well, wasn’t this a surprise? Leah wasn’t exactly the most intrepid person, so to see her glide across the snow at top speed, with perfect balance, was a bit of a revelation.
She wasn’t too far from the bottom when she felt Rafe grab her hand and she held on, relaxing a little and letting him do all the work as they glided down to the end of the slope. They came to a stop just near where Leah was waiting near the chairlift, looking astonishingly beautiful with her goggles up, her face flushed and her eyes glowing.
“Leah Kaplan, that was amazing. Where did you learn to board like that?” Mikayla wished she could take back the words the minute Leah’s expression changed.
“Japan.” She waited a beat, then continued. “With my husband.” Leah pulled her goggles back on as Callum joined them and Mikayla moved with her to wait for the next lift.
“Sorry,” she said in a low voice, taking Leah’s arm and pulling her ahead of Rafe and Callum.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.” Her voice was strained when she spoke again. “We were in Japan on a business trip. He made fun of me in front of everyone for not being able to ski. They were all loaded, you know, went skiing in Aspen every year. And there was little old me. I felt stupid and useless. So, while they were off on runs all day, leaving me behind, I hired a private instructor, without my husband knowing. By the tenth day, I’d learned enough that I surprised them all on a black run.”
“Good on you!”
“Yeah, he was furious. It was worth it though.” She cut herself off as Rafe and Callum came up behind them and the lift arrived. With no time to say anything else, Mikayla waited until they were all in the chairlift, then gave Leah’s hand a squeeze. If she ever met Leah’s ex-husband, she swore she would give him two black eyes.
They spent the rest of the morning trying out all the different runs, before joining William and Juniper at the café nearest the kid's play area.
“God, I’m starving,” Mikayla said as they moved towards a table large enough to accommodate them all.
“Seriously, you could write that on your tombstone, you say it so often.”
“That’d be extra funny if I actually died of starvation,” Mikayla replied, punching Rafe in the arm. “Which is a thing that could happen if I don’t get some chips into me, stat.”
“Have a seat, then, and I’ll get you some.”
“No, that’s okay, I’ll come with you. Just burgers and chips all around? Chicken nuggets for Billy?”
At everyone’s nod, Mikayla followed Rafe to the queue for the buffet. She slipped her arm around his waist, sighing happily when he threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her against him. “Did you just offer to help me so you could grope me?” he asked when she ran her hand up and down his back.
“Pretty much.” She brushed her lips across his. “Any complaints?”
“None whatsoever.”
They collected the food and took it back to the table. Mikayla barely contained herself from groaning in satisfaction when she took the first bite of her burger.
When lunch was finished, and the empty plates cleared away, Mikayla shifted her chair closer to Rafe’s, snuggling in against his side, resting her hand lightly on his thigh under the table. This was good. She liked this. The easy, comfortable affection. The not having to constantly be thinking about whether or not she was overdoing it. The tug of war between her natural, affectionate self and the belief that she would overwhelm him if she gave too much. She was so grateful to him for having the courage to call her out on it. She shivered when he ran his fingers lightly across the back of her neck, under her plait. Oh yes, she sure was glad they’d cleared the air.
As they were all walking out of the bistro, Mikayla turned to Juniper, saying, “Hey, I don’t mind hanging with Billy in the kid’s zone, if you guys wanna head up the mountain.”
“Oh, are you sure?”
“Absolutely! What do you, think, Billy? We gonna snowboard together?”
