“If you give me a head start, this race is over before it even begins,” I warn, confident there is no way he could catch up, even if heisConnor Lang.
“Why don’t you let me worry about that? I just want you to focus on finding a way around me.”
I huff a laugh. “Look who’s cocky now.”
“Are you ready?” Connor asks, not even cracking a smile.Shit. He’s serious.
Trying like all hell to refocus my attention on the slope in front of me and the task given to me, andnoton the way he looks in his boarding gear with his goggles on, owning that Vertigo board like he’s the snowboarding legend he was five years ago, I nod.
“Ready.”
Conner up-nods me, telling me to go as he says, “See you soon, sweetheart.”
Dick.
I pump my legs, doing my best to gain speed early. This slope isn’t closed to the public, so I can’t just ride the fall line because skiers and boarders are crossing it as they zigzag back and forth in their controlled descents.
I ride the slope on the far left by the tree line because most people tend to stay in the middle and leave the steep sides clear for fear of hitting the trees.
I’ve got my eyes in front of me, but keep risking glances to my right, waiting for the moment I catch Connor in my peripheral vision, but he isn’t?—
“What thefuck!”
Connor catapults out of the trees to my left, and he’s fuckingflying. I’ve never seen him board this fast. Hell, I’m not even surehowsomeone boards that fast.
Really dialing in, I haul ass after him. Right as I’m about to pass him, he cuts in front of me, pushing me back toward the eastern boundary.
Fucker.
I’m riding my edge as hard as I can to give me the least amount of surface area in contact with the snow as possible in an effort to gain speed. Is it safe?
Not by a long shot.
But Connor isn’t looking behind him.
I’m equal parts furious and awestruck when he beats me to the bottom.
“Again,” I snarl, not stopping to congratulate him, but riding all the way to my spot in the lift line before looking at him. “Shut the fuck up,” I say as he comes to a stop next to me. “I’m going to decimate you this time.”
It’s clear Connor’s trying not to laugh as he holds his hands up. “I didn’t say anything.”
“That stupid smirk you’re wearing says everything for you.” Maybe I should ease up a bit, but I fuckinghateto lose. I don’t really know how to be a good sport because I’ve never come in anything but first place.
Until now.
“You didn’t seem to mind this ‘stupid smirk’ last night,” Connor says, crowding my space, clearly jubilant in his victory.
“That’s because your cock was in my ass…therefore, I was winning,” I reply.
“Duly noted. And I agree. It’s always better when we both win.”
This time, I don’t waste the head start he gives me. I drop in on the fall line, low and fast. I move out of it only when absolutely necessary and call out to several others that I’m passing them, but I’m already next to them by the time I get the words out.
I’m also anticipating Connor from the treesandthe open slope this time.
It’s not until I hear, “Fuck, you make me hard,” that I realize he’s on my six. Connor is directly behind me and gaining speed.
How in the fuck?
