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To him, she was merely a possession.
Couldn’t he see she was the last woman on the planet to let a man possess her? Or did he just not care?
Maybe that was the challenge.
It stopped here.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
The chilly ride to the top of the mountain took eight minutes in all. Eight minutes of Daniel whistling on one side of the quad like he already had this in the bag and Charlie shooting daggers at both of us while muttering the word “idiots” as often as possible in between.
“This is stupid and juvenile.”
“He won’t stop until someone puts him in his place.”
“I’ve got news for you, Nick. I know him a lot better than you do and even then, he will not stop.”
Only a handful of skiers joined us on the single most dangerous trail on the mountain. Hairpin turns leading into dangerous narrow sections wide enough for just one left little room for passing. Whoever took the early lead would hold the edge for most of the ride.
Steep inclines, craggy rock outcroppings jutting out over those sections only upped the stakes. If you made it through all of that, moguls lay in wait, ready to attack your body until your teeth rattled.
Charlie shuffled over and grabbed the front of my jacket, pulling me in close.
“Baby, if you want one more kiss, all you have to do is say so,” I said, unable to resist the opportunity to get under her skin.
“God, you’re a boob. Listen—” She hooked her gloved hand through the goggles on my helmet and yanked my head down to hers. “He cheats. He loves the hairpins, but he sucks at moguls.”
I glanced to where Daniel stood watching us. “Got it. Does this mean you’re okay with me kicking his ass now?”
She glanced over her shoulder, her lips flattened with irritation. “Kick his ass, but you’ll still only be second place, because I’m taking you both out.” She nipped at my upper lip and darted her tongue out for a lick before she released my goggles, letting them snap against my helmet.
“That’s my girl.”
For now.
I shot a wink at the asshole ex and grinned. He didn’t stand a chance.
On the count of three, we took off. Actually, the asshole jumped the start because he was an absolute shit bag.
What Charlie ever saw in that guy, I’d never know. He was good looking enough, I suppose. A full head of hair and in shape, but his character reeked of deep rot.
Tucking low, I launched down the first hill, taking every bit of speed the packed snow would give me. In a matter of seconds, we’d veer left into unpredictable territory riddled with danger.
The wide ninety-degree turn narrowed from thirty feet wide to ten at most. The angle of the turn and outer lip created a slingshot effect, scooping us right along with it and pitching us diagonally down a three-foot wide ledge along a rock face overlooking the beginner and intermediate trails unfolding down the mountain.
From their vantage point below, this part of The Dagger looked like a Hot Wheels track attached to a wall, with us shooting across toward Devil’s corner where we’d have to jump to make the one-hundred-and-fifty-degree sharp right shooting back the other way before pitching us into the wooded wasteland. A section littered with trees and rock and completely ungroomed.
I dug in my edge, shaving off a bit of speed, but ready to take the corner and stay tight on Daniel’s skis.
Still thirty feet short of the turn, I spotted Charlie’s teal jacket out of the corner of my eye before she dropped over the edge.
The air lodged in my lungs. My ski bobbled, but with another glance, I saw her land on the trail below and shoot straight out of sight.
Fuck but my heart.
She learned the trick from Chance, and she’d gotten good at it on the board. So I knew it was coming, but I never expected her to push it and take on a fifteen-foot drop this soon just to get ahead.
Daniel and I both cut hard right, catching our edges deep, before twisting our shoulders and pushing off at the knees.
