“I swear everyone is staring,” I whispered. “They know why you stopped the elevator.”
Lukas stopped walking and looked at me.
“Maybe they do, but I don’t think a single person is going to blame me when they see you.” He leaned forward and kissed my nose.
I melted.
“Besides, you shouldn’t care what they think. The only thing that should matter is that you enjoyed it, that you wanted it.”
“I did,” I breathed.
“I know,” he said, and we started walking.
Lukas had already arrangedour lift tickets, and some snow pants for me—they were waiting for us down in the lobby.
I’d spent way more than 15 minutes getting ready, and that’s why he’d come up. We walked into the ski rental room, and within 30 minutes I was equipped with boots, skis and poles.
Lukas was letting me borrow a pair of his goggles and a knit hat. He pulled out my bun and shoved the hat on my head,covering my eyes. He held it there while he kissed me, before folding up the excess so I could see. I let him attach the lift pass to my jacket and he deemed me ready to ski.
After grabbing Lukas’very professionalgear, it was a five minute walk to the cable car that would take us up the mountain. At the top, I let Lukas walk me through tightening my boots and getting hooked into the skis. I let him show me how it all came together, even though I already knew—it had just been awhile. This was his forte, and I had time later to show him I wasn’t completely useless on the slopes. But for now, I let him show me the ropes.
“Okay, toe in, and then step down hard with your heel to lock in,” he said.
He was crouched at my feet, and using my poles to balance. I locked in my left and then right boot.
“I’m a pro,” I said, grinning.
He checked to make sure everything was secure before standing up. He gave me this amused grin and rolled his eyes. I moved my legs back and forth and gave him a big cheesy smile.
“We’ll see,” he said.
Lukas quickly locked into his own skis, and reached over to pull my borrowed beanie down over my eyes. I laughed and pushed it back up and when I could see again, he was already half way down to the lift, so I chased after him. We moved through the line until it was our turn. The bench hit behind my knees and I sat down. He pulled the lap bar down over us.
“I haven’t been skiing since before the accident,” I said, staring at the snow covered mountain around us. The evergreens were bowing under the weight. The sky was crystal clear blue and the sun was a bright pale yellow high in the sky. The occasional bird flew above, but most of the sound was skiers and snowboarders carving into the slope.
“We’ll take it slow to make sure your knee feels okay,” he said.
“It’s fine. It’ll be fine,” I said, my grip tightening on my poles.
“I told you about how I had a similar injury, right? It takes time to heal, and if you’ve not been on skis in years, we’re going to take it slow.”
I huffed. I knew my limits.
“I don’t need you to baby me,” I said, my voice a little sharper than I’d intended.
The bench shook as it rolled over a support, and I stared straight ahead, feeling Lukas’s eyes on me.
“Aimee, look at me,” he said softly.
I ignored him—which might have been childish, but I didn’t want him treating me like I’d break. Everyone did it on some level, and I was trying to be better, get back to before the accident. That interview changed things, even more so than watching the performance for the first time in over two years.
“Your brother already threatened to end me if you got hurt on the slopes.”
I gripped my poles tighter and made a mental note to kick Orion’s ass for being such an overbearing jerk.
“Also, if you get hurt up here because you pushed past the limits of what your knee can handle—whichcouldhappen to you. Hell, it could happen to me.”
Fear spiked at his words. Nothing—and I meannothing—could happen to Lukas. Just the idea that something could happen made my heart rate skyrocket.
