"Hey!" I yelled out but to no avail. Those bitches left me in the dust, or snow rather. I had only skied once before in my life. Lucy and Becca knew that, but those two had been oddly joined at the hip since we began this trip. I slowly made my way down the ski trail. "Try the blue trail they said," I muttered to myself, "it will be fun they said." Now they've taken off on me.
I came up to a fork in the trail. Maybe they waited? Oh no, they were no where to be found. Well do I take Hidden Rabbit or Jumping Squirrel? And who the hell named these stupid trails? I choose Hidden Rabbit, rabbits are calmer than squirrels, right? I had just taken the left turn and was on my way down when I saw the black diamond symbol just out of the corner of my eye. Fuck me.
I try not to panic, I try to remember pizza or big A or whichever term they used to slow yourself down, but this slope is STRAIGHT down. Placing my legs into pizza formation was not going to save my ass this time. I was going fast, too fast. The wind was stabbing my face. The trees whizzed by at an alarming rate. All I could think of was I am going to die the same way Sonny Bono had? I was chilled and sweating at the same time. Fear continued to race through me. I did the only thing I could think of - bail. So I sat down, or more fell down. Horribly. I could never do anything gracefully, why would this be different?
Finally the trees stopped moving. I was so happy to just be inert. I had some sort of control back in life. I tried to get up but stabbing pain ripped through my right ankle. "Ouch!" I yelled out. I tried flexing but another dagger of pain raced up the outside of my leg. "Son of a bitch!" Uh! I hated Lucy and Becca. They probably took the squirrel trail. I sat there, helpless, and to be honest feeling very sorry for myself. What was really beginning to sink in was no one else was out here. A shiver ran through me but not due to the cold. "Okay, I'm going to let you rest for a little bit," I said to my leg, "then you're going to have to suck it up." I had to get my ass down this mountain, and I was not too proud to literally ass crawling my down to safety.
"Hey there, are you okay?" I heard a deep voice from behind me. I turned around to see a snowboarder.
"Not really," I said. The seemingly tall man stepped off the board and planted it vertically in the snow about two feet away from me.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Well I," then the man took his goggles off and revealed the sexiest pair of dark brown eyes I had ever seen. They were framed by think eyelashes and strong eyebrows. His skin was dark and silky smooth. To top it all off, his smile was infectious. I realized too late I was gawking at him. He arched an eyebrow, and I quickly cleared my throat to buy some time. "I took a wrong turn and then I couldn't slow down. So I bailed." I said too quickly.
"Are you hurt?" His smile was replaced by a look of worry which only made his face sexier.
"I think I may have hurt my ankle." I said weakly. I was ashamed. I wasn't supposed to be this damsel in distress. But here I was distressed, and here he was saving me.
"Can I take a look?" he asked and I looked at him as though I really didn't want him too, "I am a paramedic."
"What are you doing out here?"
"Having fun, unlike you," he teased. He didn't wait for my permission, but slowly and tenderly removed my boot. Goosebumps sprinted up on my skin with his touch. I was hurt, I shouldn't be aroused and yet I was, completely. "Ouch," he said. I was so distracted by studying him, I wasn't paying attention to where his hands were. He had completely removed my sock and my ankle had turned the rich color of eggplant with a large knot just to the outside of it.
"Fucking fantastic." I said. There goes my ski vacation.
"I'd say you really outdid yourself." He commented. I whimpered. He yanked out his cell phone.
"There's no service." I said. I didn't have any service. That was for damn sure.
"Hello, is this the ranger's station?" he asked into his phone and my my mouth gaped open. Who was his carrier? "Yes, I need to report an injury. We're about a hundred yards down from the beginning of Hidden Rabbit trail." Only a hundred yards? I felt as though I had careened at least a mile. "Yes, the skier seems to have a badly sprained ankle. I'm not sure. I am not sure of that either, young." I guess they were asking who I was and my age. "Great thank you." He said and hung up. "Okay," he stated, "a snowmobile is on its way to come and pick you up."
"How did you get your phone to work?"
"Oh satellite. My friends and I take too many risky trails. What if we were to fall and get hurt?" he smiles.
I would take sweet gentle care of you
I thought.
"Okay, thank you so much for your help. I'll be alright until they come." I added, freeing him from any further responsibility. The man was here on vacation.
"I'm not leaving you." He said.
"Thank you," I replied, happy that I would have company.
"Name's Levi," he stuck out his hand.
"Levi, my hero," I clasped my hands and blinked my eyes up at him and then we both laughed. I felt so dumb.
"And you are?"
"Courtney," I supplied.
