Page 43 of One Last Run

She looked at her friends to see if she had any witnesses, but only Danica was turned toward her. Pete could have sworn she saw a sparkle of amusement in her eyes as she pulled her goggles over her eyes.

"Do you still feel good?" Danica asked, eyeing her critically. "I don't think your boots are tight enough."

Pete looked down at her boots, her skis sliding as her balance shifted. "What's wrong with my boots?"

"Izzy, you can bend a little easier than the rest of us. Can you notch her boots just one click tighter on the top?" Danica pointed with her mittened hand.

Izzy glanced from Danica to Pete, undoubtedly waiting for Pete to argue with Danica. Pete nodded for her to go ahead, and Izzy kneeled in front of Pete to tighten the straps. Pete pretended to knight her, tapping her on each shoulder with a ski pole. "Arise, Sir Izzy, Protector of Shins, Knight of the Bent Knee."

"It'sDameIzzy," Izzy said, pointing to the strands of hair poking out from her helmet.

"Right, so sorry, ma'am," Pete teased. “I mean, Dame Izzy of the Slut Strands.”

Izzy and Kiera glided down the run ahead of them, and Pete stuck close behind Danica, shamelessly admiring the easy way her body balanced and shifted.

When they got further down the run, they found that Izzy and Kiera had paused at the top of a black run called Allais Alley, which veered down so steeply that standing where they were, Pete could only see the bottom.

“Hey, so, I know we said we’d stick to blues… but… what if we just tried this one?” Kiera asked as they paused atop one of the black runs that veered off from the long blue run after the lift.

Pete felt a slight bundle of nerves in her stomach, but as she glanced toward Danica and saw the panic on her face, she realized that she’d have to be the strong one. She forced a nonchalant tone in her voice. “Yeah, looks fun.”

"You’re suggesting we ski downthere?" Danica squeaked, pointing her ski pole toward the steep trail pitching down at an intense angle. "I don't... I don't think that's right. Or legal. But definitely not right. Didn’t we say blues for Pete at first?"

"It's okay, Dani. You can take See Forever to get back to the condo, or Woozley's Way and meet at the lift station," Kiera said reassuringly, pointing toward the two other runs that ran parallel.

Perhaps Kiera was attempting to kill her for all of the times she’d caught Pete staring at Danica’s ass today. PerhapsKiera was trying to pressure Danica into leaving the group, and therefore Pete. PeteknewDanica could do this run. Danica was far better than she gave herself credit for. She turned, using her poles to push herself closer to Danica. She lowered her voice as she leaned closer. "You've got this."

"I most certainly do not," Danica said, shaking her head.

"I’ll —we'll— be right there with you," Pete said. "You're a good skier, Wendell. You just need to trust yourself."

Danica looked from the trees back to Pete. "I don't know."

"You can just go a different way," Kiera said impatiently.

"You two go ahead. We'll be right behind you." Pete forced a smile toward Kiera and Izzy.

"You sure?" Kiera asked, turning to Danica.

Danica nodded, tucking her chin back into her neck gaiter.

Izzy and Kiera straightened their gear and then dipped over the horizon line, Izzy's whoops of excitement echoing and making Pete feel giddy with anticipation.

"Want me to go down Woozley's Way with you?" Pete offered in a quiet voice.

"I'm really more of a groomed, gentle slope kind of girl," Danica said, still staring down the run. "Moguls seem... really scary."

"You're good enough to do this," Pete pointed out. "Moguls aren't that bad on skis. I don't know how Izzy is doing it on a snowboard."

"This is how people die at ski resorts. This is how you go too fast and hit a tree," Danica said, and Pete reached to take Danica's mittened hand in hers.

"The steep groomed runs are how people end up going too fast. I promise this run is more like a puzzle, where you get to choose several different paths. And the snow from this morning is probably still gorgeous and fluffy here. And all of that said, I'll go with you down any other run you want," Pete said.

The cold wind whipped around Danica as she shook her head, her breath misting in the air.

"Are you really that afraid of hitting a tree when skiing?" Pete asked gently.

"No. I mean, yeah,always,but not for this. It's just..." Danica took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as it formed a foggy cloud in front of her face.

---