She had a plan of attack.

  And if Charlotte was good at anything, it was planning.

  * * *

  Unfortunately, the thing about plans was, it didn’t matter how much time you spent perfecting them. Sometimes everything still went to shit.

  As it turned out, Charlotte’s skills on the snow did not, in fact, rival her skills on the pitch, much to her dismay. Obviously, they were completely different sports, but soccer required balance, quick reflexes, and good coordination. Those skills, at the very least, should have transferred.

  Instead, the second she tried to move forward (or sideways, or backwards) on skis, Charlotte felt like a drunk baby deer.

  After lunch, Dani joined them on the bunny slopes and spent the rest of the afternoon by her side, even after Taye and Nylah abandoned them for a different green circle run that was a little more difficult. Dani stayed close and helped pull Charlotte up when she fell, which, it turned out, was very nearly a full-time job. Or at least, it felt like it.

  Literally.

  Even with the padding of the snow and her parka, after what had to be at least a couple dozen falls, her ass was throbbing.

  But then sometime in the late afternoon, Charlotte finally had a breakthrough. It happened almost instantaneously. Something just clicked. Her body knew where to be, where her center of balance was. She didn’t need to rely on her poles too much. She could keep her skis in the perfect pizza shape.

  She had it.

  So, as they returned their equipment for the day, she was feeling accomplished, despite being behind on her plan.

  There were hot drinks being served in the lodge until five, so they trudged back toward the large building instead of their cottage, because the idea of a steaming hot mug of wassail made Charlotte want to weep with perfection.

  When they reached the lodge, Charlotte spotted Min and Natalie, and she gave Dani a small nudge with her shoulder. Dani immediately moved in a little closer, and Charlotte had to transfer her balled-up parka to her other arm in order to make the pose seem natural.

  “Do you see anywhere to sit?” Charlotte asked, looking around. The room was large, but this was clearly a popular time of day. Every seat seemed to be taken.

  Dani shook her head. “Nope.”

  Charlotte was about ten seconds away from making her giant parka useful and tossing it down on the floor to act as a pillow, when she spied an elderly woman in a love seat reaching down to grab her purse. She turned to say something to the woman beside her, and Charlotte mirrored the action, finding Dani.

  “Looks like that couple’s leaving,” she said, gesturing in the women’s direction.

  “Move, move, move,” Dani said under her breath, like she was a sergeant giving commands, and Charlotte stifled a giggle. They reached the spot just in time, only a few feet in front of another couple moving in from the opposite direction.

  Charlotte didn’t know if it was the atmosphere, the warmth after being outside for hours in the cold, or Dani pressed up against her side, but she felt absolutely giddy. She also felt more than a little soggy, because, as it turned out, the coat had definitely been overkill. But even that sensation couldn’t dampen her spirits right now.

  The giddiness subsided after a minute, and she was left with a sense of contentment, a feeling of having faced a challenge and overcome it, and now she was basking in the victory.

  “So. Your first day is complete. Thoughts?”

  “I’m not sure which hurts more: my pride or my ass.”

  Dani laughed, and it was a whole affair, a deep guffaw, causing her to throw her head back in abandon.

  The sound filled Charlotte with a tingling warmth that felt like a thousand fireflies humming around inside her chest cavity, and she looked at the long line of Dani’s throat, the way her jaw caught the light from the fire, and she wanted—

  Charlotte pried her gaze away, looked down at her menu.

  That was what she wanted. A drink. She skimmed the menu, looking for wassail, and she laughed out loud when her gaze caught on one of the items on the list.

  “Oh my god, Dani. Look what they have.” Charlotte held out her menu, and Dani turned to look where she was pointing and read aloud:

  “Hot Buttered Rum.” A slow smile spread across her face. “Yes! We have to try it.”

  “Speak for yourself. I’m getting wassail.”

  “But we have to know what it tastes like! How will you ever know if you like it?”

  “I’ll try some of yours when you get it. As my girlfriend, it’s the least you can do to share your drink.”

  “But how do you know I’ll get it?”

  “Because I know you.”

  “Touché. I’m totally getting it.”

  “Told you.”

  “Just wait. Someday I’ll do something that surprises you,” Dani said with a wink, and Charlotte had no idea what she meant by that, but her imagination could have taken it way too many places, so she tried not to dwell on it.

  Dani snuggled into her side, and they talked while they waited for their drinks. Charlotte glanced around, wondering if one of her teammates would come over to say hi. She’d seen Min and Natalie when she’d first come in, but she had lost track of them now.

  “Am I doing something wrong?” Dani asked, so quietly Charlotte could barely hear her over the voices of the others in the room.

  “What do you mean?”

  “With the, y’know. Contact.”

  “What? No. You’re fine.”

  “Oh, okay. You just seemed kind of tense. Like you didn’t want to relax into it.”

  Ha. If only that were her problem.

  Charlotte’s problem was that she was afraid that if she allowed herself to relax into it, she would melt.

  She would forget it was all a lie.

  Why had she thought this would be a good idea?

  Charlotte’s spiral was interrupted by the appearance of their drinks, and Dani moved slightly away from her to retrieve hers. Charlotte was grateful for the space, and she inhaled the spicy aroma of the wassail while Dani eyed her hot buttered rum cautiously.

  Charlotte smirked. “So?”

  “Give me a sec. I just want to fully appreciate it.”

  Dani blew gently into her mug, then took a hesitant sip. Her face contorted in a way Charlotte wasn’t sure how to interpret, and she smacked her lips together thoughtfully a couple of times.

  Charlotte started to speak, but Dani held up a finger and took another sip, swishing it around her mouth slightly before she swallowed.

  “What’s the verdict?”

  “That,” Dani said with a straight face, “is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted.”

  “Oh no!” Charlotte dissolved into giggles. “You were so sure you’d love it.”

  “It sounded so good! Hot drink! Alcohol! Butter! Where could they go wrong?”

  “For one thing, butter doesn’t belong in drinks.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Your turn.”

  Dani held out her mug, and Charlotte took it. Dani kept her empty hand extended, and Charlotte stared at her.

  “What?”

  “A drink of your wassail?”

  “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

  Dani’s jaw dropped. “I mean, not officially, but it was unwritten! You get a sip, I get a sip. It’s common girlfriend etiquette.”

  “Say please?”

  “Pretty please?” Dani asked, making her eyes comically large, and Charlotte couldn’t hold back her smile. She was never able to say no to those eyes. They were just so blue. It was cosmically unfair.

  “Okay, here you go.”

  Dani took a sip of the wassail and immediately brightened. “Ooh, this is really good. I’m ordering this tomorrow,” Dani said. “What’s the verdict on yours?”

  Charlotte steeled herself, lifting the mug to her lips. She took a sip, and the drink was hot and velvety against her tongue, sweet with just the right bit of spice and the bite from the rum.

  Charlotte swallowed, gaping over at Dani.

  “You didn’t like this? It’s amazing. I’ll totally switch with you,” Charlotte said, taking another drink.

  “Order your own,” Dani said, reaching over to pluck the mug out of her hands.

  “Hey! But you didn’t like it.”

  “Are you kidding? It’s bomb. Just wanted to make you think you were wrong for a sec,” she grinned widely, handing Charlotte’s drink back to her, and Charlotte narrowed her eyes.

  “You’re a jerk. You know that?”

  “Then why are you dating me?”

  “You must have other skills that make up for it.”

  “Oh, I have skills,” Dani said in a voice that had dropped half an octave, and it should have sounded ridiculous. It should have made Charlotte laugh and roll her eyes. Instead, it sent a bolt of lightning straight down Charlotte’s back and back up it again, and suddenly, it was hard to breathe.

  Charlotte stared down at her mug, tried to come up with some witty retort. Instead, the best she could come up with was, “Like being considerate enough to let me use the jacuzzi first when we get back to the room?”

  She dared to meet Dani’s eyes again, and for a second, she was wearing a strange expression Charlotte couldn’t quite place. But then it was gone, and she was back to her normal, easygoing self.

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  Chapter Five

  The next morning, Charlotte had expected to be sore. What she hadn’t expected was that she would be this sore.

  She groaned when she climbed out of bed, stayed extra long in the steaming hot shower, and did a few yoga moves targeted toward the problem areas.

  It helped, but she was definitely still feeling it when they hit the slopes the next morning.

  “This is ridiculous,” Charlotte griped, as she and Dani took the ski lift back from their first run, one of the easy green circles. “I’m an athlete. I work out all the time.”

  “But these are different muscle groups. Your body—”

  Charlotte waves her off. “Yeah, yeah, I know the science. I just want to complain because I’m in pain. As my fake girlfriend, you should know you’re duty bound to listen.”

  “Ah, my mistake. I’m all ears.”

  They had arranged to meet Nylah and Taye mid-morning, and Charlotte joined them while Dani skied off toward the more advanced hills with a quick, “See you later, babe. Be safe.”

  After a little while, it was clear that Charlotte had definitely surpassed Taye, who was still rather clumsy and making rookie mistakes. She wasn’t judging him, but she was secretly relieved. She hated herself slightly for being so competitive—even only in the private, unvoiced depths of her soul—with a child, but honestly, who wouldn’t be offended to have a seven-year-old be better than them at a new skill? Most people just wouldn’t admit it.

  Still, they had a blast, and Charlotte was surprised when she discovered it was already time for lunch. She said her goodbyes and went to meet Dani at the lodge. Once they found each other, Charlotte regaled her with stories from the morning over the warm comfort food, happy that it was the offseason, so she could eat macaroni and cheese without a trainer commenting on it the next day.

  Dani shared her stories of her excursion down the black diamond hills, wondering if she should attempt the only double black diamond run the lodge offered, or whether it would be too much. They ran into Avery in the buffet line when they went back for seconds, and Dani quickly shifted into Girlfriend Mode, reaching for Charlotte’s fingers and smiling at her with a gentle, warm expression that turned Charlotte’s knees to jelly.

  Then Avery left to eat at their table in the next room, and Dani turned it off so quickly that Charlotte nearly got whiplash. Not that Normal Dani was particularly withdrawn or taciturn, but that expression she made when she stared at Charlotte like she was the only thing in the world…it was enough to disorient anyone.

  Charlotte shook off the effect and carried on the conversation like normal, and after they’d let their food settle for a bit, they headed back onto the slopes.

  “You sure you’re ready for this?” Dani asked, as they head toward a blue square run, which was going to be Charlotte’s first attempt at a trail with an official medium level of difficulty.

  “Hell yes,” she said, with enthusiasm she didn’t have to fake at all, because even though she was feeling the ache of her muscles once again after having been still so long for lunch, she was hungry for a challenge.

  Just as they reached the peak, the wind picked up suddenly, flinging Charlotte’s long, curly ponytail back into her face, and she laughed, pushing the hair back.

  “Need some help there?” Dani asked, raising a hand in her direction, but Charlotte drew back. Thick gloves or not, she didn’t need Dani’s hands running through her hair or brushing hair away from her neck, or basically doing anything that could make her body more confused than it already was.

  “I’m good,” Charlotte said with a smile, pushing her hair back herself.

  Dani let her hand drop and then tugged her goggles down over her eyes. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.”

  So they did. Charlotte took a deep breath, Dani counted down, and they pushed off at the same moment.

  It was fast and brilliant and breathtaking and more than a little challenging, but Charlotte made it to the bottom—after only one minor mishap—and she held up her poles over her head in victory.

  Over the course of the afternoon, they ran both of the other blue square trails the resort offered, and Charlotte did fall a few times, but nothing compared to the day before. Once, Dani tried to catch her, and they ended up flopped onto the snow side-by-side, giggling.

  “You know you’re not supposed to try to catch me.”

  “It was instinct! Sorry I didn’t want you to plummet to your death.”

  “Don’t be dramatic. Now, make yourself useful and help me up.”

  Dani climbed to her feet, brushing the white powder off her bright orange vest and bracing herself with a pole before extending a hand in Charlotte’s direction. As Charlotte stared up at her, she noticed for the first time that Dani’s eyes were nearly the same color as the sky, a clear, icy blue.

  She reached out to take Dani’s proffered hand, and they laughed some more as Charlotte struggled to her feet, nearly taking them both down to the ground again.

  Once she was solidly back on her feet, Charlotte took a deep breath, dusting herself off. “You probably have time to get another good run in, you know. You don’t need to stay here with me. I think I’m going to do this one again. I want to make it all the way down without incident.”

  “I’m good.”

  “Babysitting me? You know you’d rather be out there doing some crazy, twisty trail that would have me on my ass in zero point two seconds.”

  “Exactly why I’m staying here instead of proposing that you come with me.”

  “Just go without me, then. I’ll be okay here.”

  “I’d be thinking about you the whole time, though. What if I miss a turn because I’m too busy worrying you’ve run into a tree? At this level, I’d fall, maybe twist an ankle. At that level? Splat.” She clapped her hands together. “Pancake. Hope you’re good to coach the girls next season because my school is going to be down a soccer coach.”

  “Thank you so much for that mental image. And on that note, you should know that you’re now banned from any and all runs with diamond in the title. In fact, I liked the bunny slopes. Let’s just go back there.” Charlotte said, pantomiming pushing off to the east.

  “Ha, ha. Or we could just stay here together. I don’t know if you realize this, but I do actually enjoy hanging out with you. Unless, of course, you’d rather be scouting out an actual girlfriend while we’re here?”

  “What? Are you insane? It’s more than enough trying to manage a fake one.”

  “Just asking.”

  “Now, I think I can get to the bottom before you can. Care to make it interesting?”

  “Interesting, as in…?”

  “As in betting. Wagering. Ponying up.”

  “Well, one, that wouldn’t be a fair bet, since I’m clearly the stronger skier between the two of us. And two—” Dani pushed off mid-sentence, and Charlotte gasped.

  “Hey! Not fair!” Charlotte dug her poles into the ground and followed after her, already several feet behind.

  “All’s fair in love and war, babe!”

  “When we get back, I’m giving you a ten minute speech on why that saying is absolute bullshit!” Charlotte shouted.

  “Not if I get there first!” Dani’s voice floated back as she pulled even farther ahead.

  Charlotte was laughing as she followed. She knew she’d had no chance of winning, and she had way too much fun trying to catch up, losing her breath as she sped down the trail for the next two minutes.

  Dani won, of course, and Charlotte delivered her promised lecture as they climbed up for one final run. The sunlight was already weakening, the early winter darkness threatening to close in soon.

  Once again at the top of the trail, Charlotte had the feeling that this was it. She’d yet to make it to the bottom of a single run without falling, but she knew this was going to be the time. It was the same way she felt when she wound up for the perfect pass, knowing the millisecond before she made contact with the ball that the kick would be perfectly placed and weighted, that it would make it to the recipient practically wrapped in shiny paper and a bow.

  Charlotte had that feeling, and she followed it, and she made it to the bottom without a hitch.

  Sliding to a stop, she let out a loud shout of victory, possibly startling another group nearby, but she didn’t care. Dani stopped in front of her, arms raised for a double high five.

  “You did it!”

  “I did!”

  “How did it feel?”

  “Took two days, but I’m officially a skiing convert.”

  “Yes! Glad you’ve seen the light.”

 

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