“Well, thankfully, you don’t own this mountain, Grey,” I tell him, pulling Connor back by the arm, ready to be done with this. “So, what’ll it be? Are we done here, or should we prepare for war?” I ask.
“We’resofucking done,” he says before turning on his heel and striding off.
“Come on, baby,” I say, grabbing Connor’s hand and tugging him out of the tent. “We have another race to get ready for.”
There wasno doubt in my mind that Connor would take first place in the parallel giant slalom competition. Hell, he still holds the record time from his last win. He beat everyone by a landslide and even beat his previous record by point-four-six seconds.
I shoot a text to the team, inviting them to a celebration dinner with me, Connor, my dad, Sam, and Louisa. I won’t divulge everything, but they have a right to a few answers if they want them. In the end, only Angel and Renner accept the invite.
It’s a wonderful time full of laughter and a buzz that has nothing to do with the alcohol we’re consuming.
Once the dishes are cleared and the bill is settled, people begin making their exits until only me, Connor, and my dad remain. I’m so tired, I can’t wait to fall into bed, wrap myself up in Connor, and sleep for three days.
But my dad wants to discuss business.
By the end of the hour-long conversation, Connor and I tell him we’ll give him our answer of moving to Telluride, accepting sponsorship as well as other positions within the company, and whether we want to try to get into any of the few remaining competitions this year, within forty-eight hours.
We need to sleep, let the dust settle, and process the last few weeks.
As we lay naked in bed pressed against one another, Connor trailing his fingers over my stomach while mine trace circles on his back, I tell him, “Even when you didn’t know me, you pushed me to be better, to go faster, to work harder. You taught me how to board so that I workwiththe mountain instead ofagainstit. I can never thank you for that.”
Looking up at me, he says words that I hope will become part of our vows someday.
“You challenge my concentration, yet demand my focus. You are hands-down the most dangerous run I’ve ever taken, and you’re also the most direct path to my happiness. You, Vox, are my fall line.”
Epilogue
Vox
One Year Later
“You nervous, baby?” Connor calls to me from the chute next to mine.
Fucker took first in the time trials, so he’s in the leader’s chute, but I’m determined to win. We may live in Telluride now, but the season opener is in Vail, and I’m finally getting the race Connor Lang owes me.
“Not even a little. How about you? Your balls retreat yet?” I call back.
“Are you two done?” our coach calls from behind us.
I reach around our divider and slap a gloved hand to Connor’s ass before answering. “Now I am.”
Evan pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to fuckin’ hate events where you guys race in the same heat. It’s already stressing me the hell out,” he gripes, making Connor laugh as he responds.
“Stress? Nah, man, this is the fun shit.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Nothing’s better than edging him out of first place.”
“I can think of an edging that’s better than that…” Connor teases as he trails off.
“No!” Evan barks. “We’ve been over this!No sex talk in the chutes!”
The first buzzer sounds, and Evan walks away exasperated.
I couldn’t possibly be having more fun. Okay, it might be alittlemore fun when Connor bounces on my cock, but right now, we’re about to haul ass down a mountain, doing oursecondfavorite thing.
Connor fist bumps me before pulling his goggles down over his eyes, while I mirror his actions.
“I love you,” he says.
