Love on the Lifts Read online

  “No problem,” he says. “I’ll be right back.”

  You watch him disappear into the kitchen and wonder if he was so chatty because he was flirty, or just because he was bored. You look around—the lodge is still pretty empty. You look over at Angie, who has unbuckled her boots and is resting her socked feet on a coffee table in front of the couch.

  A few minutes later, Orion comes back with two hot chocolates. “That’s five dollars,” he tells you, resting them on the counter. “And I gave you an extra marshmallow, no charge. Don’t tell my dad.”

  You laugh as he smiles at you. You unzip the little pocket on the inside of your ski jacket and hand him a five. “Thanks,” you say.

  You step forward to grab the hot chocolate and wobble in your ski boots. Carrying the drinks across the lodge is going to be treacherous. You wouldn’t mind some help, but you don’t want to ask. Then again, it doesn’t seem as if Orion has all that much to do right now . . .

  Click here if you ask Orion to help you bring the hot chocolates over to Angie in the hope that he’ll stay and chat for a while.

  - - - - -

  Click here if you thank him, then take your hot chocolates and go back to your sister yourself.

  - - - - -

  Don’t like your options?

  Click here to go back to skiing with Angie.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to the beginning and start over

  “Are you totally, totally sure?” you ask Angie.

  “Cross my heart,” she says. “I don’t want to ruin your day just because some bum who doesn’t know how to ski crashed into me. When I feel less shaky, I’ll come find you on the slopes.”

  You look at Angie one more time, trying to search her eyes for any indication that she really wants you to stay but just feels bad about saying it.

  “Really,” she says. “Go.”

  You shrug. “Okay,” you say. “If you really mean it.”

  “I really do,” she says.

  You remind her to call your cell if she needs anything, and then head back out the lodge door to retrieve your skis and poles. You feel slightly bad about leaving her, but you’re still excited to ski, even if you won’t have Angie’s purple jacket to follow down the mountain.

  You check out one of the big maps stuck into the snow next to the lodge and decide to take Ursa Major down to Ursa Minor to the Startracks chairlift down there. It’s a black to a blue, which shouldn’t be too hard to ski on your own.

  Pushing off down the mountain, you feel the wind on your cheeks and see the snow spraying in front of your goggles. It snowed all last night, so the mountain is covered in powder. You think of the sign hanging in the house your parents rented that reads NO FRIENDS ON A POWDER DAY and laugh. It’s true that skiing on powder is way better than skiing on a mountain covered in slush or ice.

  Your muscles are getting used to skiing, and your legs feel stronger. You pause for a second where Ursa Major connects to Ursa Minor and a few other trails come together. No one seems to be in your way, so you take off again, flying down the mountain. You reach the bottom and do a hockey stop, spraying snow as you slide sideways. A woman standing near you with her kid looks kind of annoyed, and you shrug an apology. Then you head toward the Startracks lift and see the same guy in the red jacket from before. He’s looking at you, and when he notices you looking back, he smiles. You wonder if seeing him again is fate, or if it’s just a coincidence that you should ignore. After all, it turns out skiing alone is pretty fun, too—at least for now.

  Click here if you ski up to him and ask him if he needs a lift partner.

  - - - - -

  Click here if you smile back but decide to ski into the singles section of the lift line.

  - - - - -

  Don’t like your options?

  Click here to go back to skiing with Angie.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to the beginning and start over

  “I think it would be fun,” Charlie says, and smiles.

  Fun sounds like, well, fun. And really, you could use that right now. So you say, “Sure.”

  Charlie puts his goggles back down over his eyes, and you adjust yours.

  “Ready to go?” he asks.

  “Ready,” you say, and you both take off toward Sirius.

  He stops at the top of the trail, and you stop next to him.

  “So,” he says, “are you a first-in-the-line skier, or a bringing-up-the-rear skier?”

  When you ski with Angie, you usually follow her, and you like that, being able to watch where she goes. And also stop where she stops. You don’t lose her that way.

  “Bringing-up-the-rear,” you tell Charlie.

  “Perfect!” he says. “Because I like leading. Follow me!”

  He pushes off, and you wait a few seconds then push off behind him, following his red jacket down the mountain. There’s a chairlift pole in the middle of the trail that seems to have blocked the powder, so the spot looks bald. He raises his ski pole to alert you and then goes left, around it. You smile as you follow him. You like that he was thinking about you enough not only to navigate around the bald patch but to warn you that he was about to do it. Definitely a ski gentleman. He’d probably be a good person to follow in a car, too, you decide as you shift your weight to follow him right—the kind of guy who would gesture with his hand out the window in addition to putting on his blinkers way far in advance.

  You get to the mogul patch on Sirius and stop for a minute to watch him. Charlie’s form is great. You’re not bad at moguls, but he’s definitely better. You push off and do your best to get down them without getting stuck or falling. You’re moving fast and know that you have a huge smile on your face only because you feel the cold air against your teeth.

  When you make it to the bottom of the mogul patch, you look for Charlie’s jacket and find him waiting for you off to the side.

  “Nice moguling!” he says.

  “Thanks. You, too,” you tell him. Then you hold up your ski pole. “Ski high-five?” you ask.

  He laughs and high-fives the bottom of your pole with his. “When we get to the bottom, I’m going to use my momentum to get up the hill to the Startracks lift. Meet me there?”

  You nod. Then he takes off again, and you follow. The bottom half of Sirius is steep, and you have to concentrate on not going too fast and skiing out of control. It looks to you as if Charlie is doing the same. You’re actually pretty well-matched skiers, you think, as you glance ahead to check on his red jacket.

  You meet him on the line for Startracks and go up the mountain with him again. You ski a few more runs and then when you’re sitting on the chairlift, Charlie lifts his goggles up again. “So,” he says, “thoughts on a hot chocolate break? I’m getting a little cold and might need some sustenance.”

  You look at Charlie. You’ve had a great time skiing with him so far. And it’s been nice getting to know him on the chairlift rides between your runs. There’s definite potential here for kissing . . . but you’re not sure. There may be other guys out there who have even more kissing potential . . .

  Click here if you say sure and follow him into the lodge.

  - - - - -

  Click here if you thank Charlie for the offer, but tell him you’re going to continue skiing.

  - - - - -

  Don’t like your options?

  Click here to go back to introducing yourself to red parka guy.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to the beginning and start over

  You check the trail map and decide you’re going to take Canis Major to Canis Minor. The top trail is a black, and the bottom is a blue. Not too easy, but not too hard, either. You roll your shoulders back and take off, trying to keep in mind everything you learned in your final ski lesson of las
t winter. Swivel at the hips, top of your body square to the mountain . . . You idly wonder if you should look into booking a ski lesson for the afternoon. Or maybe even the rest of the morning. Then you remember you’re supposed to be looking for boys to potentially kiss.

  You try to get out of your own head enough to check out the people around you. A few couples are skiing together. There are a lot of father-kid pairs, and a few mother-kid pairs, too. You see groups of siblings, it looks like, or maybe friends. There are three kind-of cute guys skiing together, but you decide that approaching a whole big group of them might be a little too intimidating.

  As you ski, you scan the mountain for guys on their own. You spot a snowboarder slightly ahead of you flying off a jump on a kind of flat part of the mountain. He has a lightning bolt on his helmet, and superblond, supercurly hair is peeking out at the back and on the sides. He’s wearing a cool plaid jacket, too—he’s definitely the first real possibility on this trail. You stop on the side of the mountain to watch him. He takes one of his boots out of his snowboard and then slides himself to the top of the jump so he can take it again. He does a trick this time where he grabs the board before landing. You want to clap but realize that clapping with gloves on from so far away wouldn’t really do much of anything.

  You decide instead to ski over and take the jump yourself. You build up some speed, bend your knees, and go for it. It feels more like flying than anything you’ve ever experienced, and you can’t help yourself from letting out a little whoop. When you land, you decide to give it another go and sidestep up the slight incline next to the jump. The lightning bolt guy comes sliding in next to you and smiles.

  Click here if you tell him how awesome his jumps were.

  - - - - -

  Click here if you keep on skiing.

  - - - - -

  Don’t like your options?

  Click here to go back to introducing yourself to red parka guy.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to skiing with Angie.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to the beginning and start over

  “Any chance I could trouble you for one more thing?” you ask Orion.

  “I’m sure it won’t be any trouble at all,” he answers. “What would you like?”

  You lean over the counter and double-check his feet. He’s wearing hiking boots. Easy to walk in.

  “Any chance you’d be able to help me take these back to my sister? She’s over by the fire. And I’m afraid of wobbling in my ski boots.” You give him what you hope is a winning smile.

  Orion looks around. “Well, I’m not supposed to abandon my post, but since no one else seems to want to order anything right now, sure. Just don’t—”

  “Tell your dad?” you finish for him.

  He laughs. “Have I said that already today?”

  You nod. “Only once, though. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Plus, I don’t even know who your dad is.”

  “Uh-oh, that makes you dangerous!” he says, as he walks around the counter and picks up the two hot chocolates. “You might start chatting with a stranger and mention the lovely concession stand worker who carried your hot chocolates to the couch . . . and it could turn out to be my dad! Hmm, I think I should probably swear you to secrecy. You can’t say a word about this to anyone!”

  You glance at Orion’s face and see a smile playing across his lips. He’s joking, good. Or, at least, half joking.

  “Absolutely!” you say, holding your hand up with three fingers showing. “Scout’s honor!”

  Orion stops. “Are you a Girl Scout?” he asks.

  You shake your head. “I always wanted to be when I was a kid, but my school didn’t give us the option. So I watched movies about it. That’s how I learned the salute.”

  He’s completely smiling now. “You’re cute,” he says. “You know that?”

  You can feel yourself blushing and shrug.

  “Well, I’m glad you promised on your faux Scout’s honor; otherwise I was going to have to ask you to sign your name in blood. Or maybe just the sauce from the chili. That might’ve been acceptable.”

  Chili talk doesn’t make you blush, so you answer this time. “Do you make the chili? Chili in a bread bowl is my favorite lunch here!”

  You’ve almost reached your sister now—the lodge isn’t that big, but you’ve been walking slowly.

  “Are you ready to have your mind blown?” Orion asks.

  “Always,” you tell him.

  “Not only can I make the chili, but I can also make the bread bowls. I did a three-week stint in the prep kitchen when I was fifteen.” He stops a few feet from Angie. “Actually, if you’re a chili fan, there’s going to be a party tonight in the basement of the main lodge. Chili, hot chocolate, probably bread bowls, too. A lot of the younger staff, and then whoever else we decide we want to invite. What do you think?”

  You look at Orion. He’s definitely cute and definitely interesting, but you don’t feel as if you know him that well. Is he inviting you to be his date? Or just to come to a party. You’re not sure.

  “Please?” he says.

  You look at his smile and wonder if perhaps he’s worth pursuing further . . .

  Click here if you agree to go.

  - - - - -

  Click here if you tell him no thanks and continue walking back to Angie.

  - - - - -

  Don’t like your options?

  Click here to go back to the lodge with Angie.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to the beginning and start over

  As interesting as Orion seems to be, you figure that if he wanted to help you carry the hot chocolates, he would’ve offered. So you pick them up and slowly, slowly heel-toe your way back to Angie. You hand her hot chocolate over, lick the whipped cream off your thumb, and then sit down next to her with yours.

  Click here to continue.

  - - - - -

  Don’t like your options?

  Click here to go back to the lodge with Angie.

  - - - - -

  Click here to go back to the beginning and start over

  You decide you’re not done with Charlie just yet, so you agree to take a break with him at the ski lodge.

  Once you get there, you both pop off your skis and lean them—along with your poles—against the wall of the lodge with everyone else’s.

  “Near the pile of four boulders,” Charlie says, almost to himself as he balances his poles a little better.

  “Hmm?” you ask him.

  He unbuckles his helmet and you can see his thick, dark hair, a little flattened from its morning of being confined. “A memory trick,” he tells you. “When I need to make sure I remember the location of something, I say it out loud. For some reason, it makes me less likely to forget.”

  You unclip your own helmet and start walking toward the lodge. Charlie follows. “I’ll have to give that a try,” you tell him. “I always forget where cars are parked in parking lots.”

  “It’s nice to see your whole head,” Charlie says, apropos of nothing.

  You laugh. “Yours, too,” you tell him.

  He runs his fingers through his hair, unflattening it a little bit. You do the same to yours, hopefully with the same results. One thing you especially like about skiing is that no one expects you to look all made up and perfect while you’re doing it. Everyone’s got flat hair and a drippy nose and goggle marks on their face. But even with all of that, Charlie still looks pretty hot.

  The two of you clomp up the steps to the lodge in your ski boots and walk into a blast of warmth. Charlie pulls his turtle fur off and unzips his jacket. You do the same.

  “That one!” Charlie says, pointing. “Quick, let’s get it!”

  You follow his finger and see tw
o people getting up from a table. The two of you wobble over as fast as your ski boots will let you and plop down.

  “Made it!” you say. “Nice table spotting.”

  Charlie smiles and puts his helmet on the table. “I’m not usually this lucky with lodge tables. You must be my lucky charm.”

  The line is a little goofy, but you laugh in spite of yourself and decide that Charlie is pretty sweet.

  “So,” he says, taking his gloves off and sticking them inside his helmet. “May I treat you to a hot chocolate?”

  Hot chocolate is one of your favorite things ever, especially with marshmallows, so you say yes. Plus, letting Charlie buy you a hot chocolate could be the first step toward getting a kiss from him—but it doesn’t necessarily have to be, you decide. Kiss or no kiss, you’re having fun.

  “That would be lovely,” you tell him. “And I can guard our table and your stuff.”

  “Perfect,” he says, standing up. Then he looks around. “Right next to the napkins,” he says out loud.

  You can’t help but laugh again. “Now you won’t lose me,” you say.

  “I’d never lose you!” he answers. “Saying it out loud is just a habit.”

  “Well, I promise not to move tables to mess with you,” you tell him. Though the minute you say it you wish you hadn’t, because it would’ve been funny to move a table or two over to see what would happen. But then again, maybe that was something to do once you got to know him a little better. He might not appreciate it just a few hours after first meeting you.

  You look around the lodge and see that it’s pretty busy. It’s getting close to the beginning of lunchtime, and you wonder if it would be smart to eat now instead of taking another break in an hour and a half or so . . .

  Before too long, Charlie comes back with the hot chocolates balanced in a cardboard tray. He also has a cup of whipped cream and a fourth cup filled with two huge marshmallows. “I forgot to ask if you wanted a naked hot chocolate or one with whipped cream or marshmallows or both.”