Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,83
Tank than myself, but I’ve never felt this out of control. Like the wind could take my sails and I could face-plant into the side of a mountain.
My skis fly off the ground and I’m airborne for a few minutes. The views of the mountains and the snow are majestic, but all that’s on my mind is Stella and the way she’s nibbled her bottom lip ever since I picked her up yesterday. She’s putting up a good front, but hopefully when I return safely today, she’ll understand it’s okay to be worried, but I’ll always come back to her.
“King, you need to go left. Left!” Tim screams in my ear, so I adjust. “There you go.”
He rattles off more instructions to Tank. Seeing the bottom, I pull my cords and slide to a stop at the base of the helicopter run.
Tank follows with Tim coming up behind us.
“Way to go, boys! You did great. Want to go again?” Tim’s much more relaxed now that we have our first run under our belt.
“Hell yeah!” Tank screams, and I nod enthusiastically.
The adrenaline hits me, and I understand why Samantha and Tank want to get it on so much after the rush. I’m on a high after flying in the air over terrain that’s not always reached. Next, I want to fly somewhere no one can reach unless you’re speed riding.
We’re in the helicopter when I pose the question to Tim. “How do we get a ride up somewhere only speed riders go?”
Tim’s face falls and he shakes his head. “You’re not ready.”
I knew it.
He must see the look on our faces because he holds up his hands. “Just give me a few more times and I promise I’ll get you up there. You guys are quick learners, but you’re not there yet.”
“We’re professionals,” Tank says.
I kind of agree. We have parachuting down to an art. We deal with wind conditions and weather all the time. Sure, we’re not often being dropped in the mountains, but I could handle it.
We reach the summit and go through the motions of checking all our equipment again. There are no other skiers this time and I realize that this place doesn’t look familiar from when we went helicopter skiing.
“We don’t bring a lot of clients up here, so consider this my treat. You guys still need to give it some time before going out to uncharted territory,” Tim adds.
Tank slaps Tim on the shoulder. “Let’s do this.”
He skis off before Tim gives the okay and Tim shakes his head.
“You go,” he tells me.
My skis dip and I’m only skiing on snow for a minute before I feel the lift of my parachute. Shit. This is more intense and feels more uncontrolled than the last run. Tim’s screaming in our ear a lot more. Tank is pretty much disregarding him, and I take flight after coming off an edge, a white cloud obscuring my view. My heart rate picks up, but thankfully, I come through to clear skies.
“You cannot do that, Kingston. You have to think on your feet. Go right,” Tim says in my ear.
I move to go right, but a wind shear tucks under me and I circle around in the sky before falling down on the snow. My skis pop off and I face-plant into a pile of snow.
Tim lowers himself and meets me, staring behind him. “Get your skis, Kingston.”
I follow his gaze and see what he’s seeing. Small chunks of snow breaking apart. I must have stirred something when I fell. I scramble in the snow for my skis, clicking my boots into them as Tim positions my chute.
“Go. Go. Go!” he screams.
“I’m going,” Tank says, oblivious to what’s happening behind him.
I slide my skis, pushing off my left leg to gain momentum. I ski down but keep looking over my shoulder.
“Eyes ahead, Kingston. Go. Don’t look back.”
The panic in Tim’s voice is clear and scares me in a way I’ve never felt before. Like there might be no getting out of this one. Dread feels like a ball and chain strapped to my ankle, keeping me tethered to this mountain.
I try to lift, but the wind has died down and all Tim keeps saying is, “Left. Left.”
I follow his instructions, finally finding a cross wind that lifts me into the air. I look down to see the cascade of falling snow tumbling down the mountain under my skis.
Shit, I’m not flying any faster than this avalanche.