Page 41 of One Last Run

The only bad part of having Danica and Kiera with her today, was that every time she checked out Danica, Kiera would notice and give her a pointed look, like she was some sort of morality enforcer.

That morning over breakfast, Pete saw a hickey on Danica's neck, dark red and glaringly obvious. When Danica caught hereye, she gave a little smirk — clearly notthatbothered by the previous night.

Which was interesting given how Danica looked panicked and upset the night before after they'd kissed. Pete had tossed and turned for hours in that stupid tiny bunk bed, worried that she’d done something wrong. But then she'd remember the way Danica's hips were grinding into hers, the little moans that escaped Danica's swollen lips as Pete had given her that damn hickey, the way Danica's body pressed so tightly against hers — and it definitely didn't seem like Danica was doing anything she didn't want to be doing. Maybe she just changed her mind, which she was perfectly allowed to do. Pete just worried that she'd done something to make Danica change her mind.

It had always felt so right with Danica before, like a part of her knew, or at least hoped, that they'd come back to one another. Even after a brief period when Danica had gotten a girlfriend for a few weeks, or the few one-night stands Pete had taken home from the bar — Pete had never questioned where she stood with Danica. They were friends with major benefits and without any complications. Or so she'd believed while they were together.

In the months after college, after that fight, after Danica had made it clear they were over until Pete got her shit together, Pete crashed on Izzy's couch in San Francisco a few times before finishing and selling Til Morning. She'd get drunk on bitter, cheap whiskey and ask Izzy if it was stupid that she was still so heartbroken over a person she'd never even technically dated. She'd never forget the way Izzy once said to her, "What if she was the right person, at the wrong time? Maybe the right time just hasn't happened yet."

It had taken years to not love Danica, and she wasn’t sure if she had even achieved that. It had taken nearly a decade before she stopped thinking, “I wish Danica was here” while watchingthe sunset over a beach in Bali, or overlooking miles of lush jungle in Costa Rica, or at an incredible art gallery in Budapest.

Losing Danica once was awful. If Danica gave her the chance, if she could show Danica that she’d changed from the immature, directionless person she’d been… She wouldn't make that same mistake twice. If Danica was willing to explore a future together, Pete was not going to waste it this time.

When Maggie had reached out to invite her on the trip, it had taken only Danica's name on the guest list to convince her. Of course, it was a plus that Izzy and Maggie would be there, and even Kiera, who had her fun moments. The thought of seeing Danica again… well, she had a feeling she’d either get closure or confirm what a mistake it had been to let Danica go. Then, when she'd heard Danica and Eddie arguing, when Danica had confirmed they were over… It wasn’t closure she was after, suddenly.

And that was how Pete ended up on skis.

Danica had laid out the plan after Pete had insisted that she didn’t need to start with greens, the easiest runs. They'd do these blues until Pete felt more confident to take the slightly longer and harder trails. They'd grab crepes and lunch at the Bon Vivant restaurant, and then could split up for the afternoon. Pete, Izzy, and Kiera would hit the harder black trails and Danica could go back to the condo to hang out with Maggie. Danica said that she was still sore from snowboarding, but Pete knew that she just didn't want Maggie to be alone all day. Classic Danica, always worried about everyone else.

They stood at the top of Peek-a-Boo, and Pete had nearly forgotten what it felt like to be on such a wide-open run. Still, Telluride was the kind of magical ski resort where the views were incredible on every slope. Surrounded by stunning snow-capped peaks that pierced the clear blue sky, she could enjoy the easy run and take in the breathtaking views.

They started slow and easy, with Izzy carving wide, long paths, Kiera right behind her. Danica stayed near Pete, but muscle memory was beginning to kick in. She’d always taken easily to anything athletic, and she’d had roller blades and skateboarded as a teenager before learning how to snowboard after coming to Colorado for college. She’d tried skiing first — Kiera and Izzy had taught her freshman year — but snowboarding had been so much more exciting.

Her knees were going to hate her tomorrow, she could already tell, but Danica was right about her boots needing to be tighter. She was used to her boarding boots, where she needed a little more give as she leaned forward and back, but she needed much less of that on skis, letting the pressure to turn on her edges come from the angle of her knees and ankles instead. Not that she was on her edges yet. She was very much pizza-ing this entire run, her ski tips nearly touching as she made her way slowly down the eight-lane highway of a run.

"You're doing good," Danica encouraged.

"Skiing isn't hard," Pete said off-handedly.

Danica nonchalantly raised her shoulders. "It's plenty hard for the average person."

“Wendell, did you just call me not-average?" Pete joked, like she was gushing over a compliment.

"No, you're insufferably good at everything," Danica said with a groan. Pete would take the compliment, regardless of how it was delivered.

"Did you see your folks for Christmas?" Pete asked a little further down the run as the slope leveled out and they could slowly keep pace with one another. "Or did Eddie drag you to see his parents somewhere like Cape Cod? Martha's Vineyard?"

"I saw my parents," Danica said casually, like it was the most normal thing in the world to have a family to spend the holidays with. And to her, it was.

"Are they still in Denver?"

"Yeah."

"Still in that tiny little house near the zoo?"

Danica huffed a small laugh and slowed, cocking her head toward Pete. "They are."

"I loved that house," Pete said, her voice tender and nostalgic. Danica had let Pete join her for Christmas every year in college, and they'd always treated her like one of the family. Her mom had even embroidered her the cutest, coziest felt stocking with beads and sequins by the third year, and remembered Pete's favorite chocolates to put inside. Pete remembered a specific chilly Christmas morning where she had coffee on the patio with Danica's dad, listening to lions roar from the zoo.

"Did you do anything fun for Christmas?" Danica asked when they caught up again.

Pete had spent Christmas in Seattle, video chatting with her sister Lillian, and eating Vietnamese takeout. "The usual."

"Lying on some tropical beach with an umbrella in your drink?" Danica quipped.

"Is that what you really think I do? Relax all the time?" Pete asked.

"Well, you refuse to answer any questions about your job, so I'm just guessing that relaxation has a lot to do with it," Danica countered.

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