She slipped a hand under his shirt, and he shivered. “Cold?” she murmured against his mouth.
Yes, but no. “It’s fine.”
She skimmed her fingers across his stomach, to his chest, and back down again. Her hand warmed up fast—probably because his skin felt fever hot against hers. She reached for the buttons on his jeans, undoing them one by one.
“Should we take this to the bed?” he asked, his voice hoarse and raw with want.
“I’m good.” Charlotte unbuttoned Luke’s shirt and pulled it and his T-shirt off. Smiling, she shrugged out of her sweater and got up. A drawer opened and closed.
Before he could even ask what she was doing, Charlotte reappeared. She’d shucked her jeans and had a condom. His eyes fell shut as she climbed back into his lap and started kissing her way along his jaw and down his neck.
“I love your skin,” she murmured, sending a shock wave down his spine.
He ran his hands up her back and unfastened her bra. “I love yours.”
“Then I think you’re overdressed.” She tugged at his waistband. “ Because I want to show you how much I missed you.”
Hours later, they lay in her bed, curled up under her comforter. The makeup sex had left them both breathless, even though Luke knew he’d want more soon. So, he’d read flash cards to her for a while, with him doing five push-ups—naked—for every question Charlotte answered correctly. That lasted about fifteen cards before she’d called a study break. In the shower.
They didn’t manage to study again after that.
Now, Charlotte was all soft and sleepy in his arms, but Luke was wide awake. He watched the play of light made by the fire on the ceiling. This had been one crazy week and a half. The next few days would decide his future.
He looked over at her. Her face was relaxed, her eyelashes fanned out against her cheek. Judging by her even breathing, she’d fallen asleep. He watched her for a moment, amazed this particular woman trusted him so much. Everything had fallen into place, both with his family, and with his heart.
Luke closed his eyes, visualizing the SBX course in his head, its dips and rises, the ramps that flung them into space, the turns that wanted to toss you off the course. The squeak of boards on the snow behind him—always behind him—and the faint yells of the crowd at the bottom waiting to see who won. Because that’s all that mattered, crossing the finish line first.
This was going to be the fastest race of his life.
He started to relax. It was all within reach. “Happy New Year, Charlotte,” he whispered, getting only a soft “M-kay,” in return. Smiling, he pulled her closer.
Finally, he drifted off.
He went home around two the next day, at Charlotte’s insistence that he needed to rest up for the race and being at her place wasn’t all that conducive to “resting.”
That much was true. “We do the walk-through tomorrow. Prelims start the day after. I technically don’t have to rest up today,” he said, leaning in to kiss her and teasing her lower lip with his tongue.
She kissed him back, then stepped away, shaking her head and smiling. “We’ll celebrate afterward. As long as you want.”
His eyebrows rose. “That might be several days.”
She laughed. “I doubt Mr. Bzdyl will let me off work that long, and I do have to study, but I’m sure we can work something out.”
“Good. I’ll be by for breakfast in the morning after I see Dr. Sloan.”
“We’ll have plenty of protein ready. I’m sure Mr. Bzdyl isn’t done feeding you for free.”
Luke shook his head. “I’m paying from now on. As long as my favorite server is available.”
“After the holiday rush, we’re closed on Tuesdays, and I have Wednesdays off.” Her smile was slow, suggestive. “So I’m all yours from Monday afternoon until Thursday morning.”
“That sounds good.” He took her hand and kissed. “Until tomorrow, lovely Charlotte.”
She laughed. “I guess that nickname’s going to stick.” She walked Luke downstairs to the empty café. “Good luck with Dr. Sloan. Text me after.”
“Will do.”
Luke stepped reluctantly out into the cold, wishing he could stay, but appointments with destiny didn’t come often, and Charlotte was right. He needed to rest and to focus on what was ahead.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Charlotte
The café was packed solid on the second, which Charlotte had come to expect. She was on the run all morning, barely stopping to gulp down some water and take a bite of a cinnamon roll between tables. By the time Luke showed up, she was a sweating mess. That didn’t stop her from ignoring two of her tables to go straight to the bar.
He was smiling. “Passed. I’m clear to do my walk-through this afternoon.”
Charlotte clapped, then hurried around the bar to give him a hug, patrons be damned. “I’m so happy for you. You’re going to kick ass up there. I just feel it.”
She held up a hand, and Luke gave her a high five. God, they were goofy, but she was too happy to care. Mr. Bzdyl peeked out from the kitchen. “Your money is still no good here, eh?”
Luke sighed. “I want to pay, Mr. Bzdyl. You’ve been very kind, but let me pay.”
Mr. Bzdyl jabbed his spatula in Luke’s direction. “No.”
Charlotte patted Luke’s shoulder. “Face it—you eat free here.”
“Can I eat free here?” asked the preppy skier next to Luke at the bar.
She rolled her eyes. Not like she hadn’t heard that one before. “I’m afraid the freebie discount has expired.” She turned back to Luke. “We’re slammed, but I’ll be back in a little while.”
He nodded, and she visited her other tables, always keeping an eye on Luke. His swagger was back, definitely, as he shot the shit with the preppy skier. Swagger looked good on him.
Evangeline sidled up to her at the pickup window. “Someone’s in a good mood.”
“I am.”
“I meant Luke, but you look pretty happy, too. I guess you two got back together, which is exactly what I hoped.” Evangeline nudged Charlotte with her hip. “Picking you up from the airport was my idea.”
“And you are the bestest friend in all the world.” Charlotte filled up a tray with plates of french toast and bacon. “Think your dad will give us a little time off to watch the race tomorrow?”
“I’ve already asked him. The first round starts at eleven. Mom will mind the front tomorrow, so we can head out early. She has a friend coming in to help.”
Charlotte nodded and hefted her tray. “Sounds like a plan.”
She was kept busy until Luke’s breakfast was ready. “Thanks. I need to hurry—my walk-through is at noon. Think you can sneak away to give me a good-luck kiss tomorrow?”
“So long as it’s only a kiss,” Charlotte said. “You need some pent-up energy for the race.”
Luke grinned, looking slightly embarrassed. “Sorry. But you’re right. Kiss only. I want a lot more than that, but I probably won’t have time by tomorrow. I need to warm up some after being idle for so long. Michael and Parker are taking me up for a quick run in the morning.”
“Don’t worry, Evangeline and I will be there to cheer you on. Mr. Bzdyl is giving us time off.”
He took her hand. “Thank you.”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “For what?”
“Everything.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek before letting her go. “I’m starting to think you’re the best thing to happen to me in a long while.”
Charlotte blushed. “Ditto.”
“Can I get some coffee?” a man down the counter asked, holding up his cup.
Charlotte blinked. That’s right, you’re still at work. “Coming.”
But she glanced at Luke over her shoulder as she went.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Luke
The morning the full competition started, Luke was nursing some real butterflies. His run down the Cirque with Parker and Michael had felt a little tight, but better t
han he’d expected.
The walk-through had gone fine. All the competitors had been allowed to walk along the side of the course, noting all the changes and turns. The course was a little meaner than Snowmass’s. The carvers at Buttermilk had put some spite into this one. The turns were sharper, the rollers a little more jarring, the jumps higher, with a few kickers coming out of its six turns.
Luke loved it. Still, he was going to have to concentrate on his technique to make it through the qualifying.
At eleven fifteen, Luke and Michael stood near the lift, watching competitors doing their qualifying runs. This regional only allowed one qualifying run, not two, so if you biffed it here, you were done.
Michael groaned as some raw green bean, maybe about seventeen, took a header and landed on his belly. “That kid needs to go back to the development league.”
“That’s why we’re doing this,” Luke said, lacing his fingers behind his back and pulling to stretch his shoulders and arms. “To weed out the guys who need more time.”
Michael patted his back. “You’ll do fine. Any lingering dizziness or anything?”
“No. My head hurts a little today, but I’m not foggy or dizzy. I popped a few Advil. I’ll be fine.” Luke bent to stretch his hamstrings. He’d done a full set of stretches at home, but standing in the cold made him feel tight. “I better go up. My turn is soon, and the lift is slow.”
“Good luck.” Michael gave him a fist bump. “Go fast, but leave some in the tank for tomorrow. Speedy but steady.”
“Got it.” Luke went to the lift. The board at the bottom of the course listed times. Kit had already gone, and no one was even close. Tucker would go in an hour or two. There were over a hundred hopefuls trying to make it into the top thirty-two who got to run heats today to decide who rode in the semifinals tomorrow.
But he had to make it there first.
Luke came off the lift and walked over to the starter box. In the time it took him to go up, the guy before him had already lined up at the gate. He took off, and Luke fastened his bindings.
Rolling his neck, he went to the gate and pushed back and forth a little, using the rails on either side. The guy before him finished well, ending up as the current fifth place.
The judge looked over. “You ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right. I’ll count you down from ten.”
Luke took a deep breath. This was it. He emptied his mind of everything but the course ahead.
“Ten seconds,” the judge said, beginning the countdown.
Luke’s hands tightened on the rails, ready to push off.
As soon as the gates popped open, he was gone, flying down the hill like it was a kiddie slope. His entire body felt loose, taking the first set of double rollers like they were nothing. He stayed on his line through the first turn, over the first jump and through the second set of rollers. Turn two, still good. He flew off the edge of the medium kicker, down the slope to the next set of rollers that pushed him into turn three. He kept low, his weight centered, his knees loose to take the impact of the rollers and propel him into the turns.
Turn four, medium kicker, good. Turn five, rollers—two sets. The designer here was a fiend. Turn six, and onto the huge kicker at the end.
Luke’s stomach lurched as he shot into space, coming down on the final slope and skidding over the edge. He banked hard, sending up a spray of snow, and stopped just short of the backend barrier.
Someone was yelling. Luke turned to see Michael jumping up and down, pointing at the board. Luke turned to see what he was so excited about.
He’d come in two-tenths of a second behind Kit.
“Holy shit.” He hadn’t even given it his all, like Michael had told him. Luke had just made that bitch of a course behave and enjoyed the ride. And he was right behind Kit.
Michael came running over. “I told you. I told you. I doubt Tucker can beat that. You’ll go into the afternoon as second seed!”
“Which heat is that?” Luke asked, still panting for breath after his run.
“Eighth. You’ll go with the last group. Kit will be up first.”
Luke couldn’t stop staring at the board while they cleared the course for the next person. He’d almost caught Kit. The current number one in the U.S., number two in the world.
And Luke could beat him.
Luke ate mechanically, focused on the heats this afternoon. Michael kept refreshing the results while they were at the diner at Buttermilk resort, giving him updates.
“Hey, Tucker just finished.” Michael’s grin was maniacal. “He’s almost a second behind you. Fourth place is a second slower than that. Looks like you’ve locked up second.”
Luke set his fork down and forced himself to breathe. His pulse hadn’t slowed since his run. “Good. That means I won’t see him until the semis.”
“Don’t worry about Tucker. Not until the final.”
“I don’t plan on worrying about him at all.” A cold calm settled over Luke. “Except for making sure he stays at my back.”
“That’s right.” Michael grinned at him. “Ice cold.”
Luke felt an eye roll coming on. “You can stop with the cheesy coaching lines.”
Michael waved down a server to pay their bill. “We have a few hours, but I thought you might want to watch Kit, get a look at his line.”
Luke tossed down a couple of twenties and stood. “Always good to watch a master at work.”
Michael swiped his phone from the counter and reached for his jacket. “Soon, other SBXers will be saying that about you.”
Chapter Thirty
Charlotte
“So how does this work?” Charlotte asked, scanning the crowd for Luke. “I know there’s a bunch of heats to figure out who goes on to tomorrow, but what’s the deal?”
Evangeline stopped suddenly. “Holy shit.”
“What?” Charlotte craned her head, trying to figure out what Evangeline was looking at.
Evangeline grabbed Charlotte’s arm and dragged to her a spot along the observer area and pointed up at the scoreboard. “Those are the qualifying times.”
Charlotte peered at the board, and her eyes flew wide when she saw Luke’s name below Kit’s. “Holy shit is right.”
“I know!” Evangeline jumped up and down. “They’re first and second. That’s amazing!”
Luke’s time was so close to Kit’s, they’d practically tied, at least in Charlotte’s mind. Sure, that didn’t mean anything in a sport measured by tenths of a second, but still. “You said they’d take it easy today, not to freak out as long as Luke was in the top ten somewhere.”
“Well, yeah, but if this is taking it easy, this is going to be one helluva show.” Evangeline pointed to the top of the course, where four guys were moving into the starting gate. “Kit’s up there.”
“So what are we hoping for?” Charlotte asked. She’d Googled the rules, but she didn’t have them straight yet. “First?”
“First or second, but he’s riding against the lower end of the board.” Evangeline let out a shaky breath. “Still…”
“Uh-huh.” Charlotte took her hand. “He’ll be fine.”
The clock on the scoreboard at the bottom started running, and the guys at the top, who she could barely see, were sliding back and forth, holding on to the rails. This course was much bigger than the practice course at Snowmass. It twisted and turned, with bumps in the flat sections, and ramps that would send the guys flying.
The clock hit zero, and a horn sounded. The guys shot out of the gate. Kit was in green with a white jersey with the number one on the front. They each had different colors, so it was easy to pick him out as he swerved around turns and sailed through the air. Evangeline was screaming, while Charlotte kept one eye on the jumbotron feed from a camera overlooking the course.
Kit made it look so easy. The other three guys fell behind at a quick rate, and Kit crossed the finish line almost half a second faster than his time trial in the mornin
g.
“Kit!” Evangeline shouted, and he turned his head to blow her a kiss. She returned it.
“Damn, he was fast,” Charlotte said.
“That’s what she said.” Evangeline laughed. “I mean I said.”
“I hope to hell he’s not that fast in bed, or you need another man in your life.”
Evangeline shook her head. “I wouldn’t know—yet. I’m hoping that we have something to celebrate tomorrow night, though.”
Charlotte secretly hoped that the celebration included a second-place finish for Kit, but that wasn’t really to be expected. Luke trouncing Tucker and coming in a close second would be enough to send him to nationals. How could it not be?
They watched the rest of the heats. Evangeline critiqued everyone, really into the competition, but Charlotte was antsy. Tucker won his heat without issue, which was a pity, but not unexpected. Luke would go last this round, and the wait was driving her crazy. At one point, she thought she saw Luke headed to the lift, but she didn’t want to bug him.
Finally, Luke’s heat was called. Based on the video feed, he was wearing blue and his bib was green. He looked relaxed, smiling and joking around with the guy in the gate next to him. When the clock started, though, his expression shifted to focused and…
Charlotte fanned herself. Alpha. He looks like the alpha up there.
Evangeline gave her the eye. “It’s thirty degrees out here, and you’re too young for a hot flash. What’s the deal?”
Charlotte laughed under her breath. “Just nervous.”
Evangeline continued to stare, a sly grin sliding across her face. “So why are you blushing like I told a dirty joke in my outside voice? Getting a little hot and bothered by a certain guy on the mountain, are we?”
Charlotte was saved from answering by the starting horn. Like Kit, Luke was on fire, streaking ahead of the pack early and staying there. His jumps were perfect, and he didn’t waver once. When he slid to a stop at the bottom to look at the board, his jaw dropped.
Charlotte looked up.
Luke had beaten Kit’s time by one-tenth of a second.
Crazy Love Page 16
