“Lean right!” Damon shouted from behind me.
I did as directed, but I overcorrected, and my skis skidded out from under me.
“The other right!” Damon cried.
But it was too late. I was already on my back and sliding fast. One ski popped off, then the other. All I could think in my panic was Did he do that on purpose? What the hell did he mean by “the other right”? Tree branches and clouds zipped through my line of vision as I picked up speed. Oh my God, I was going to die. I was going to die I was going to die. Weirdly, it wasn’t my life that flashed before my eyes, but Christopher, sitting on that couch in the lobby, looking adorable, laughing.
Christopher. Ugh. He was going to be so pissed at me if I didn’t finish my list. So pissed that I didn’t listen to him when he’d said that Damon was dangerous.
That was it. No dying today. Desperate, I grappled for handfuls of snow or rocks or anything that could slow me down, but it was no good. I was going to go off the side of the mountain. I could feel it. Any second and I’d be in free fall.
And then, I saw a zip of blue, and suddenly, I hit something. Oof. Hard, but not too hard. For a second I felt dizzy. Nothing moved other than a few wispy clouds high above. My breath was staggered and loud, but behind it I could hear birds chirping high in the trees and people whooping and calling on the slope. My face was raw, and ice particles dug into my cheeks, but I was alive.
I stared at the sky and breathed, afraid to move a single muscle.
“You’re okay.” It was Damon’s voice. “You’re okay.”
I heard someone calling my name and realized it was my sister, so I sat up. She was climbing back up the mountain slowly, one difficult step at a time, her skis perpendicular to the slope.
“Tess! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine!” I glanced over and saw Damon sprawled next to me on his stomach, his skis and poles nowhere to be seen. “Did you just dive in front of me?”
He pushed himself up on his hands. The whole front of his ski jacket and pants were caked with snow. “Sort of? I didn’t want you to hit that.”
I looked left to see what he was pointing at. There was a huge wall of gray rock, covered in ice, about ten yards from where we were sitting. If I’d slid into that thing at the speed I’d been going, something would have gotten broken. An arm, a leg. Maybe my skull.
“Wow,” I said, overwhelmed. “I…Thank you.”
Damon grinned. “Anytime. I guess you could kind of say I’m your hero now.”
I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped myself. Because it was basically true.
Tarek and Carina skied over to us just as Lauren finally arrived at my side. Tarek toted my skis under one arm. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Lauren asked, lifting her goggles on top of her head. “That looked nasty.”
“It was,” I said. “But I’m okay. I think.” I took a deep breath and slumped. “Remind me again why I did this?”
“Because it’s awesome?” Tarek suggested.
Damon had shoved himself to his feet and reached out his arms to me. I took his hands, my ski poles still attached to my wrists, and let him haul me up. I dusted off the front of my snow pants while my sister whacked ice and snow off the back of my jacket. I could feel rope burns on my wrists, and there was snow down my back. I wondered if I’d discover any other random bruises or scrapes later. But for now, I was fine.
“Okay. But I never want to do it again,” I said.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Carina said, biting her bottom lip.
“Why?”
“Because we still have to get to the bottom of the mountain,” Lauren answered.
“Oh.” I looked down the slope, where skiers seemed to be dropping straight down over the next dip. “Crap.”
* * *
• • •
A few minutes later, we were at the bottom. I saw the people up ahead of me slowing and sliding off toward the chair lift and whooped with joy. As the hill leveled out, I dug in and stopped myself, every muscle in my legs quivering, my entire body giddy with relief. I whipped off my helmet and goggles and tipped my face toward the sky.
“You made it!” Damon cheered, skiing right into me for a hug.
“I did!” I cheered back, just happy to be alive.
And then he took off his goggles and kissed me. It was a closed-mouthed celebratory kiss, but it lingered a second longer than it technically needed to. My heart pounded at the sensation of his well-ChapSticked lips on mine, his arms lightly around my waist. When he pulled back and smiled, my first and only thought was I don’t know his last name. Does this count?
“Nicely done!” my sister congratulated me as she stopped right next to us. I couldn’t tell if she was talking about the second half of my black diamond run, or the fact that Damon had just kissed me, but from the way she was looking at him, I had a feeling it was the latter.
“Thanks,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear and looking at the ground, sure I was blushing furiously. Hopefully I was already red from exertion and all the wind and ice burn, so no one would notice.
“We’re having a staff party out at the barn later,” Damon told us. “You guys should come.”
“Oh, we’ll be there,” Lauren said, putting her arm around me. “We have to celebrate Tess’s inaugural black diamond!”
Okay. That kiss definitely didn’t count as making out. But if I went to this party later, maybe I’d get the chance to check that off my list. I looked up at Damon. He was smiling at me like he was thinking the same thing, and my heart fluttered with nerves. But it wasn’t the good, crushy kind of nerves. It was just nerves.
I don’t want to make out with him, I realized.
Because the only person in my heart and mind at that moment was Christopher.
• • •
TESS’S NEW YEAR’S BUCKET LIST
Make a paper airplane that actually flies (20 seconds at least) ✓
Sing in public ✓
Strike up a conversation with a stranger ✓
Wear high heels outside the house ✓
Make out with a guy whose last name I don’t know (???)
TP someone’s house