I let out a breath. Levy, you’re such a nut job. Yeah, like he was going to strip down to his boxers and try to bed you here on the Junior Slope summit. I started to laugh a little. I couldn’t help it.
“I know. I know. A guy using cherry ChapStick. Whatever. But it really is the best kind and otherwise your lips get so chapped,” he said.
“No, no! I use the same kind. Sometimes,” I said. This was painful.
He flashed another smile. “You want some?”
He had just put some on his lips. And then I was going to put some on my lips. Which was like our lips coming together. Which was —
“Sam?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure, thanks.” I took the ChapStick like it was no big deal and put some on.
“Now listen,” he said, zipping up his jacket again. “It’s all gonna be about using your knees. Really getting close to your center of gravity, which is down here.” He patted his stomach. Then he reached out and put his hand in the middle of my jacket, just below my ribs.
“You feel that?” he said.
“Yup,” I said. Definitely, I added to myself.
“Okay, so you’re gonna always want to stay low to the ground and really bend into it. Got it?”
I nodded.
“Now, we have to loosen your body up. You’re still really stiff,” he said. He started shaking my shoulders side to side, jiggling my arms.
That’s probably because I’m sixteen and I’ve never really been kissed by a guy and Liz said you were interested, but are you really? I mean, because you are definitely the hottest guy I’ve ever met, but I’ve never really been into hot guys before and I don’t want you to just take pity on me because I have flat hair and a turtle hat and I think my breath smells like French fries and I don’t even know if you read books or recycle or you could eat babies for all I know!
Drew had his hands on my hips.
“Now, lean into it. Move my hands back and forth.”
I swayed my hips from side to side. It looked more like hula dancing than skiing, but whatever, right? We worked on braking and stopping. Drew was really serious now, studying my feet, watching my knees. He had me do a couple of practice runs on a little dip. It wasn’t even a hill, but I still managed to teeter and fall a few times.
“The knees, Sam! It’s all in the knees!” he urged. He sounded kind of frustrated. I was thinking of telling him it was okay. That there were plenty of other books at the inn. I’d find something to do for the rest of the week. There had to be a deck of cards somewhere.
And then, it just clicked. Or unclicked. I don’t know. But one time, I guess when I wasn’t thinking about it so much, my body kind of let go. Instead of gripping so hard, I felt like I was loosening into it.
“Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Drew said when I came to a stop. Ew. There was that phrase again. There’s a whole bunch of guys at school who hang out in the parking lot and say that to girls they think are cute. Not my favorite. But I tried not to wince.
Drew and I practiced glides and turns, leaning into one ski and then the other. How to add speed. What to do when you felt like you were going too fast. It was really fun. I don’t know how long we were up there, and I didn’t care. My cheeks felt bright and cold, my thighs were burning from doing so many squats. It was really invigorating.
“And now … it is time for takeoff,” Drew announced. He flipped his goggles down over his eyes. “You ready, doll?”
Doll? I had to laugh at that one. That was a word that old Italian men used when you bought a pound of turkey breast at the deli, right? Was this guy for real?
“I guess,” I said.
We made our way back to the edge of the Junior Slope. It still looked big, but my legs felt strong. Drew leaned in behind me and whispered into my ear, “I’m not pushing this time, Sam. It’s all you. Keep your behind behind.”
Still cheesy. But he was a professional. I needed to respect that.
I drew in a deep breath, bent my knees, gripped my poles, and then before I could talk myself out of it, pushed off. I leaned forward and squatted down farther, tucking my butt behind me. Focus. Relax. Focus. Don’t think too much. And I was doing it! I could feel the earth moving below me, and the wind was carrying me and I picked up my poles like Drew had taught me and now I was really moving. I saw a little mound of snow up ahead of me and I leaned into my right ski and gently shifted past it, then steadied myself again. The clouds were soaring past and I felt my heart racing, the sun on my face, my nose cutting through the cold. And my legs were shifting, leaning, dancing, alive.
“Yeah!” I heard Drew behind me.
When I got to the bottom, I came to a clean stop, the snow spraying away from my skis in a lopsided-but-okay-it’ll-pass-for-a-T.
Drew flew in after me.
“Now, that is what I am talking about!” he cheered. Hey, when it came with one of those killer smiles, I’d take it.
And then he pulled me into a hug. His grip was so strong and tight, I could barely breathe.
Wait — was he holding me? Was I officially in the arms of Drew McHottie?
“I knew you could do it, girl! Come on, let’s go again!” he said, and he grabbed my hand, pushing off toward the chairlift.
The rest of that afternoon was a blur of treetops and wind, dips and turns. We took the Junior Slope another two times, and then Drew led me to an area called Powder Ridge that had steeper inclines, a couple of curves, and small patches of trees. When we got to the bottom of that one, we found Jeremy, Aaron, and Liz.
“Hey!” said Liz, her face flushed and bright.
“Hey!” I said back, still panting from the last run.
“Did you see Sam attack that mountain?” said Drew, lifting my arm up.
“Yeah. Hey, nice job, Sam,” said Liz. “We were thinking of going in to get some hot chocolate. You wanna come?”
Hot chocolate sounded perfect right now, but I didn’t want to lose my momentum.
“Yeah, I could go for a cup,” said Drew.
We all headed in.
“Hiya, kids! How’d you do?” said Dad. He and Kathy were sitting by the fire with — yup, none other than Margie. Dad looked super excited to see us. Kathy jumped up, too, and gave Jeremy a big smile, but was still avoiding my eyes. Ugh. I had conveniently forgotten about that situation for the past few hours. Now, who was being the baby?
Everybody made introductions. Margie, Drew, Liz, Aaron, Jeremy, Dad. My new wife, Kathy. It stung when he said it.
“Well, what do you say we call it a day?” said Dad. “We’re kinda beat.” He kissed Kathy on top of her head.
“Well, wait. What are you all doing tonight?” asked Liz. “I know Dina and Heidi and I would be up for going out if you wanna …?” She was looking right at Jeremy while she said it. Yow. This girl was direct. Jeremy, of course, just stared back blankly.
“I could go for an evening activity,” Drew offered.
And then Kathy said, “Hey, I saw they’re having karaoke around eight-thirty tonight where we’re staying. I don’t know if that’s your thing, but I’m sure you folks could come over. Judd here could give you directions to the inn.” She looked at Dad.
He nodded his head proudly. “Sure could,” he said.
“I love karaoke!” said Liz, practically jumping out of her skin. “I think we’re staying right near you, so that’ll be great!” She smiled up at Jeremy with her sparkle-dusted eyes. Jeremy still looked pretty unmoved. But hey — what was I expecting? This was the guy who only showed emotion about the NFL draft season and frozen pizza pockets.
“You in?” he said to Aaron.
“I’m not sure. Gotta check with the other guys, but maybe,” he said. Noncommittal, too. Usual Levy fare. And he still hadn’t even looked at me long enough to see if I had horns. Then I felt Drew’s hands on my shoulders.