Chapter 37: True Nature

December twenty-ninth was the latest date I’d ever started a skiing season. Early that morning, Aongus, Frej, Sarah, Heather and I ate a decent breakfast and then headed through the continuing storm to the ski resort. Sarah was going to spend the morning with Frej on the lower slopes while the rest of us headed to the summit. After lunch, if Frej was feeling it, he was going to join us to take the intermediate trail that wound down the side of the mountain.

It felt great to get out on skis, even for the short glide across the flat expanse that connected the lodge with the lift line. As soon as I was seated on the quad chair, speeding up the side of the mountain with Heather and her dad, I wished that I hadn’t waited so long to start the season off.

“Should we head straight to the west side?” Aongus asked, eager to hit the hard trails immediately.

“We could,” I replied. “We can ski over there in the morning and then make our way back to the lodge for lunch, spend a bit of the afternoon with Frej.”

“Can’t wait to see him,” Heather agreed.

“He seems a natural,” Aongus observed. “Though I suppose he’s still on water, even if it is frozen.”

“Should we warm up with an easier run first?” I asked.

Aongus laughed. “Come now, Matt. You’re not meant to warm up when you’re young!”

The morning went a long way toward lifting my spirits after the depressing events of the day before. Clearly, Lara’s situation had clouded my mood. When Heather had arrived the previous afternoon, she was optimistic that we could help her, but also sensed the need to wait a bit and give her some space. Heather and I ended up spending a low-key evening together with the family. We’d retired early, with the hope of being fresh for today’s skiing.

Now as I started into my first run of the season, I let the freedom of movement work out all the tense kinks that had found their way into my body over the past few days. The thrill of sliding down the slope, the feel of my ski edges grabbing each ess-curve, and the sight of Heather skiing next to me with a big smile and cutely braided hair was a necessary and welcome balm. It was impossible not to feel better by the time we reached the bottom of the western slopes after our first run.

I was glad for the Irishman’s presence. Despite a part of me wanting to ski with Heather on my own, given the potential of stealing a hot kiss here and there, I enjoyed finding out that Aongus was a rather intense skier. He moved his large frame very well, cutting through moguls with surprising ease and also using his inertia to occasionally pull away from us at high speed, something neither Heather nor I could match. If he ever suggested a race, I was ready to just offer him the victory outright.

We tore up the west side of the mountain that morning. The fresh snowfall made the bumps particularly fun. Usually moguls can be hard and icy, but Heather observed that it felt like skiing on pillows. She and I even had the opportunity to steal kisses when we sat together on the double chair, while Aongus rode on the chair ahead of ours, often singing an Irish tune in his rich baritone brogue.

We caught up with Frej and Sarah for lunch at the lodge.

“How was your morning, Freddy?” asked Aongus. “You look a bit wet, as if you’d fallen a number of times.”

Frej laughed. “Not even once, actually. I have a good teacher!” He patted Sarah around the shoulder. “I’m going to try skiing from the top after we eat.”

Frej was a bit of a natural, as it turned out. The easiest trail from the summit wasn’t too steep, but there were certainly some sections where a beginner could easily lose control. He handled it with aplomb. It was only when we were about to emerge into the open bowl that led down to the lodge that Frej got a little too confident. He was following Aongus and didn’t notice that the Irishman had taken to the edge of the trail to grab some air off of a moderately sized bump. Frej followed, realizing his mistake too late to do anything but continue over the jump. Needless to say, it was a good thing that the snow was powdery that day. Frej flailed his arms for a moment, but ended up coming down off balance on one ski while laughing rather loudly. He knew he was toast before he even landed on the snow.

Sarah and I were the first to stop. Frej was still chuckling as he lay on his side.

“Oh, serves me right for following Aongus,” he bellowed. “But I think I might have twisted my leg a bit.”

Heather and her dad were pushing themselves back up the hill to where we were gathered.

“Freddy, what’s this now?” the Irishman teased.

“It was your fault, man! You went off the trail. I thought you knew what you were doing.”

“I’m still standing. You’re not! Are you hurt, though?”

“Just a pull, I think.”

Sarah wanted to call for a sled to have him ride down in, but Frej would have none of it. With a hand from Aongus and me, he got to his feet and tested his leg.

“It is not bad. Slight muscle pull. I have had much worse. I can get to the lodge, but then I will take a rest for a while.”

With my mom close by his side, we skied unhurriedly to the base of the mountain. Frej was in good spirits when we left him with Sarah, so we returned to the quad chair for another summit run.

“Shame,” Aongus said with a mischievous tone. “Though I suppose he will be fussed over mightily this evening until he recovers!”

Heather and I laughed. I could just imagine Melissa and Mairead’s looks would be when Frej limped into the house that night. Fussed over indeed.

Both the air temperature and our bodies had warmed up, so the afternoon skiing was phenomenal. We worked our way around the hardest trails, eagerly attacking the forgiving snow and feeling the high of gliding through the beautiful mountain scenery.

Even though Heather and I couldn’t talk much on the trail, it was a dream come true to be skiing with my crush. As I was growing up, I always checked out the cute girls skiing, hoping someday I’d find one to ski with myself. I looked at Heather. Given the relative warmth, she’d removed her hat and now her hair flew freely behind her as she worked the trail. I’d certainly gotten incredibly lucky.

After another ascent on the west side double chair, we skied to a stop next to Aongus who awaited us.

“Matt, do you know the time?” he asked.

I dug through a couple of layers to find my watch. “Almost two.”

“I think I’ll check on Frej, so I’m going to speed down to the lodge for a bit. Maybe we can meet by the ski racks after the last run?”

“Sounds good,” we agreed.

“Have fun!” he called, as he pushed off.

“I think he likes you,” Heather teased.

“I sure hope so. It was fun skiing with him.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

I hesitated. Some clouds were coming in and it was getting a bit late, but...

“Do you want to check out a secret trail?” I asked.

Heather looked at me dubiously. “Secret trail? Is this some kind of ploy to get me alone somewhere, so you can take advantage of me?” She turned and yelled, “Dad, wait!”

Luckily he was out of earshot already. I swatted at her jacket and gave her a disapproving look.

“No, it’s not some ploy. There’s a hidden trail on the west side. Might actually be decent with all the snow we got this week. But if you don’t—”

“I’m up for that. How do you know about this trail?”

“Overheard my mom mentioning it once.”

“I take it it’s not something most people know about?”

“Not that I know of. Come on.”

I pushed on my poles and Heather followed me across the flat section that led to the headsprings of Annapurna. A short distance down the slope, I spotted the area of trees I was looking for. I entered the forest, turning to wave Heather in.

“So what’s the deal with this trail?”

“Don’t know. Maybe they’re going to expand the mountain. I’d ask my mom, but then she’d get on my case about skiing where I shouldn’t.”

Heather laughed. “Looks like some other people know about it.”

“Yeah, a few tracks already. I bet it’s deserted at this hour, though. I’ve never seen anyone on it.”

After some time, I could see the trees clearing up ahead. “It’s pretty far from the trail up here, but it heads back almost to the lifts. We just have to cut across again near the bottom.”

“Is it really steep?” Heather asked.

“Nah. Same as the other trails on this side, about. But probably nice and powdery. And it’s just cool to do something different.”

We emerged onto the almost pristine trail, taking in the peaceful surroundings. The endless trees were washed white, being set on the coldest side of the mountain.

“This is pretty sweet, Matt. I feel like I’m in a cool club, now.”

“You are. Even my friends don’t know about it.”

Heather looked at me. “Really?”

“Yeah. My mom works here, so I don’t want to cause any trouble. I’ve only been on it a few times myself. But I think I can trust you to keep it secret, right?”

Heather grinned. “I’m going to tell everyone I meet!”

We set off. The trail was indeed deserted, though a few other skiers in the know had already carved some lines into the deep powder. About halfway down I stopped and Heather pulled up beside me.

“Wow, this is great!” she breathed. “My dad would be so jealous if he knew.”

“Do you think I should show him? You know, get in with his good side?”

Heather looked at me with glinting eyes. “Nah. Keep it our secret for now.”

“Ready for the next half?”

“I don’t know. When do we get to the part where you take advantage of me?”

I laughed. “Not going to happen. I’m happy just looking at your face, Heather. I feel like I’m in paradise right now, honestly. I need nothing else in the world.”

Heather’s face softened into a delicious smile as she let out a sigh. “Paradise ... So true! Lead the way then.”

We resumed our journey through the powder drifts. It was a beautiful thing, certainly the best of the three or four times I’d ever tried this trail. All too soon, I knew we had to cut back across to Annapurna. We slipped back into the woods to ski over to the real world.

We took the hidden trail a few more times before the west side closed down for the day. Seated on the double lift once more, Heather gave me a hug.

“What a great day, Matt. I always liked skiing, but never this much!”

“I know. Makes it much more fun when you’re around.”

“Isn’t the main mountain open a little longer than the west side?” she asked.

“Until four.”

“You think we can reach the quad lift line to get in one more run?”

I checked my watch. “If we ski like crazy. It’s almost quarter of. We’ll have about five minutes by the time we get to the top.” I gave her a sidelong glance. “Are you saying you want to race?”

“Maybe,” she said impishly.

“All right! What trail?”

“The Belt is fine. Race starts as soon as we get to the top.”

“And ends?”

“At the quad line.”

“You want a thirty second head start?”

She slapped my arm. “Whatever! I’ll be waiting on the chair for you. That is, if you even make it in time.”

I laughed. “Hey now, I didn’t know you were that fast!”

“Or maybe you’ll be a bit slow,” she suggested. “But anyway, I wanted to tell you something.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“It’s about your Christmas present.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s a gift for both you and Lara.”

I shrugged. “Cool.”

“It’s something fun that we can all do together ... I just wanted you to know.”

I eyed her with raised brows. “Do together?”

“Yeah. I promise you’ll like it,” she confided.

“Will Lara like it?”

“Sure.”

“Sounds a bit—”

“Shh, I’m not saying more! You just have to trust me.”

“I told you, I do,” I said slowly. “And I’d love it if Lara felt better, so if you think she’ll like it, then I’m game.”

“I can’t promise anything, but it might help.”

“Does it involve anything like what we talked about?” I asked. I felt slightly jittery as Heather looked at me carefully.

“Talked about?” she asked with a curious look.

I found it hard to believe she had no idea what I meant, but she was going to make me work for it. “The other night. In my room? Three Days?” I hinted.

Heather smiled. “Oh! Hmm ... It does involve Three Days. Definitely.”

I felt a twinge in my middle. Holy crap. Was she going to try to make a move with Lara? The thought was a little nerve-wracking, but strangely exciting, too.

“Okay. I trust you, Heather. I like surprises.”

“Good! I promise it’ll be awesome! Well, if it even happens!”

If it even happens... ? My head was abruptly filled with all sorts of visions as I rose off the chairlift and slid to a stop a bit past the end of the ramp.

“When are we going to do the gifts then?” I asked as I adjusted my gloves.

Heather was nowhere near me, of course. She was already gliding away, descending the first bit of slope while I stood there like a doofus. She looked back at me and gave a little wave. I laughed as I joined the chase.

She was surprisingly quick, but my longer skis and increased inertia would give me the advantage, I knew. I aimed for the tightest lines around packs of skiers and soon started gaining on her as I entered the steeper sections. She saw me getting closer and tucked down to move even faster. We took the trail’s sharp right turn rather tightly, but fortunately no one was standing in the blind spot.

Look out!

An out-of-control novice snowplowed right into my path, wandering unpredictably across the snow like a drunkard. Suddenly cut off from a clean line, I swiped into two quick parallels to avoid taking anyone out, almost coming to a complete stop. Then I pushed around the congestion, ignoring the dirty looks of some women nearby who were most put out by my haste. I was free again, but the move had cost me. I saw Heather burning down the long straight, having been unimpeded.

Again I started to reel her in. Heather seemed to have all the luck avoiding other skiers, while I was twice surprised by someone unexpectedly stopping in the middle of the trail for no reason at all. It required only slight course corrections to avoid them, but it was enough to take an edge off of my speed each time.

At last, I was close behind her as we burst out under the chairlifts and entered the last stretch. Things flattened out, so both of us frantically began pushing pole to keep our momentum. The lift lines came into view. Heather glanced at me a few times, sensing that she was losing too much speed. She was right.

“So close!” she called out resignedly as I moved ahead of her.

I pulled up sharply and slid into the lift line just a few seconds before she did, producing a small fan tail of snow that plastered the catch fence. I pumped my hands into the air triumphantly.

“Wins it!”

“Hey, you! Slow it down!” one of the lift operators yelled at me. “This is a slow zone!”

I gave the man an apologetic wave as Heather pulled up alongside me. She was grinning broadly as she delivered a swat to my leg with her ski pole.

“Cheater.”

I looked at her, wide-eyed. “Cheater? How’s that?”

“You heard the guy. This is a slow zone. You only won because you ignored the slow sign back there!”

“You were going just as fast as me!”

“I was not!” she retorted righteously. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have passed me!”

She had a point, but really, it was a technicality.

“Whatever! I’m not letting you get away with that one. I won fair and square, and I even gave you a head start.”

Heather laughed, her face finally relenting. “Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to be that close! I thought I’d still be up by the lift crossing right now.”

“Well, some dude cut me off. He almost plowed into a group of nuns, too!”

Heather giggled. “You’re silly! But damn, that was fun,” she breathed.

We pushed forward into the boarding zone. We were the last ones in line, having just made the closing time, so we had the quad chair to ourselves. Heather smiled at me as she pulled her hat over her head again. The sun’s rays had disappeared behind the mountain, replaced by the gibbous moon that was just peeking over the eastern slope. It would be a short-lived sight, since it was shining through a shrinking gap in the mounting clouds. Darkness was coming fast, with snow likely again tonight.

“So, last run. What do you want to do?” I asked. “Race again?”

“I don’t care. Just loving being here with you.” She pressed closer to me. “Too bad we’re not in a gondola, huh?”

“Why do you say that?” I asked innocently.

She raised her brow suggestively. “Then we’d be warm.”

“Yeah, the wind’s picking up,” I mused. “You want my coat?”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

I did. Since there was no one seated in the two chairs in front of us, nor any of the ones behind, we didn’t keep the macking as chaste as we had earlier when Aongus was around.

“Mmm ... Do think anyone would notice if I gave you a blowjob?”

I laughed. “Probably.”

“Good. Let’s do it then, because skiing with you has made me really horny.”

“Really? I don’t know,” I murmured.

Heather raised her brow at me. “If you don’t want one, that’s cool. I guess I can wait.”

I looked behind us again. The chairs were all still empty, of course. We were crossing over the trail we had just raced down. None of the skiers were looking up, and why would they?

With a little bit of struggle, I managed to loosen my pants. Heather didn’t waste any time following through on her words. Her mouth was wonderfully wet and warm. I let myself relax into the rhythm of her movements. Her hat bobbed up and down, slowly at times while she let her tongue work its magic on my throbbing shaft. Then faster as her lips tightened and the pressure increased. Her throat issued the occasional murmur as she got into the act.

We crested the first half of the mountain and emerged from the woods once again. I watched the last die-hard skiers getting off the mid-station lift that ran parallel to ours. Part of me wanted them to look up at us and wonder!

A swirl of pleasure started to build up inside me as her warm hand slipped out from her mitten and added a second rhythm to her movements.

“Oh, that feels so sweet,” I hissed.

“Good,” she cooed, popping off for a moment. She offered me a sexy glance. “Have you ever fantasized about doing this?”

“I don’t know, but it sounds like you have!”

Heather giggled. “Maybe. But we should really finish this up before we get to the top!”

She returned to it with even more vigor as we approached the final ascent. I was soon on the razor’s edge. I let out a grunt as the pleasure increased past the point of no return, wondering if she was going to make me burst within her mouth again, like she had that intense night in my room a week ago. I offered a warning, just in case.

“Here it comes,” I groaned.

But the top of the lift came into view over the final ridge just as I spoke. Heather immediately sat up, knowing full well that we were in plain sight of the summit lift operators.

“Oh well, a few seconds too late,” she lamented, her Tabasco cheeks crowning an evil grin as she finished me with her hand.

I didn’t care, because the pleasure was fantastic. I groaned quietly as the orgasm spread out from my middle. With a self-satisfied smile, Heather giggled at the slight mess she had produced on the front of my pants.

“Oops. A little snow and that’ll come right off,” she remarked.

“Yeah,” I agreed dazedly, as I buttoned up. “Thanks, that felt amazing.”

“Any time! I love your ski pole!”

“Heather,” I groaned.

“Yeah, I know, I know!”

The chair slowed to a crawl as we debarked. Heather gave the operators a cheery wave. I made for the edge of the trail to clean up with the powdery snow there.

Heather suddenly called out, “Race is on, by the way! Any trail you want! See you at the bottom!”

“What? Hey!”

She was going to take her advantage while she could. I hurriedly cleaned off the rest of the cum that had landed on my pants. I probably would’ve made for an odd sight, but few people were around to see the act.

I hadn’t been prepared to race, so Heather was long gone by the time I was on my way. When I finally started along the trail I chose, it took me a second to realize that she was the small dot speeding down the mountain. She was positively flying on this incline, much steeper than what we skied for our first race. I made some broad esses to keep control of the pace, but soon realized that if I didn’t cannonball straight down, there was no way I was going to catch up. She had thrown all caution to the wind, so I’d have to as well.

I lost Heather among the skiers still milling about the mid-station bowl. I aimed straight for Racer’s Edge, hoping that I wouldn’t encounter any icy edges or undefined bumps. Light was fading fast, so it was hard to make out the terrain as the shadows melded together.

The trail steepened significantly once more. There she was again, halfway down already. I knew I was probably going to be beat. Still, I tucked in and hoped for the best. Distances could be deceptive on steep sections of trail. I was probably closer than it seemed.

The ground fell away with alarming velocity. From an earlier run on this trail with Aongus, I knew that it was free of any large moguls. Still, any little bump could spell potential disaster at this blistering pace. The speed was an immense rush as I bottomed out, still making chase. I was definitely catching up now that she was in the slow zone. It was going to be close.

Then I felt it. A slight nudge on my right foot. Even though I was already decelerating considerably on this flatter section, I was still unsteady from the speedy run. To be honest, Heather’s stimulating chairlift ride still had me in a bit of a daze as well!

The edge I caught was just enough to screw up my balance. The next instant I was inevitably tipping over my left ski, watching the snow gradually approach. There was no saving it, even with a desperate flail of my poles. With a glancing blow, my side hit the ground. I spun and slid down the trail for a bit, skis chattering. I came to rest just short of the catch fence, cursing and wondering how long it had been since I’d last fallen while skiing. Years... It was such a stupid little fall, too. I wondered if Heather had seen me. Fortunately there was a little rise ahead and she was out of sight. Still, how embarrassing.

My skis had remained attached, so I immediately collected myself and started off again, brushing the snow from my jacket. A moment later, I rose over the last little hill and saw the lodge area. I had no trouble spotting Heather despite the large crowd of skiers milling about. She was standing by the racks, her skis already off and her arms raised in conquest. She maintained this statuesque pose as I made my way down the last stretch and pulled to a stop right in front of her. She was hopping and dancing around now, her cute plaits whipping across her face, her eyes afire. She was clearly stoked at having beat me.

“Wins it!” she cried. “Man, you were slow! I even had time to go inside and buy a hot chocolate!”

She pointed to a Styrofoam cup sitting on the nearby ski rack. Someone had obviously left their garbage there by mistake, and Heather was nothing if not amusing. And cruelly opportunistic.

“Very funny,” I smirked.

“It’s true. Why are you covered in snow?”

“I ... wiped out,” I admitted sheepishly.

“No way, you fell?”

“Yep. You must have been flying, though! You stomped that run. I think you would’ve won even if I didn’t bite it like a dork.”

“Ha, I swear I was airborne half the time! I don’t think I’ve ever gone that fast. But I knew this was the only way to beat you. Blowjob on the way up the mountain, hauling ass on the way down!”

I winced, as Heather had announced her strategy a bit too loudly. No one seemed to notice, though, so I clicked my skis off and pulled her into a hug.

“Tie game,” I said.

She pulled away and gave me an offended look. “What? When did you ever win a race?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, yeah, I forgot: the slow zone.”

“Exactly,” she said smugly. “But I’m a nice Heather, so I’m not going to take the point for the first race, even though you DQ’ed. So it’s one-zip for me!”

I considered her happy face for a moment. She was radically edible, really.

“Actually, it’s three-zip for you,” I murmured.

Heather looked at me suspiciously. “How’s that?”

“Well, you’re lighter than me and on shorter skis, so that has to count for an extra point. And...” I leaned in close to her ear. “You’re so damn hot, you were melting the snow around you. That must have slowed you down too. So that counts for another.”

Heather tittered, slapping my chest with a happy hand. “Oh, Matt! ‘So hot I was melting the snow?’ And you thought I was bad!”

“What?” I said defensively. “It’s true!”

It was true. Indeed, she immediately proved it with the smoldering gaze she gave me, despite her protests.

“That’s a silly way to score things,” she said primly after composing herself. “I don’t know where you came up with the idea that you can just make things up whenever we play a game, but I don’t need any help from weird-ass rules, thank you. I’m up one-zip, fair and square!”

I just shook my head and laughed. “We’ll just have to settle it tomorrow, then. But now that I’m onto your pre-race strategy, it won’t be as easy!”

“We’ll see about that!” Heather chirped, before pointing over my shoulder. “Look, there they are.”

I turned to see Aongus, Sarah and Frej emerging from the lodge. I waved for a bit until they spotted me. When I looked back at Heather, she was taking a ‘sip’ from the Styrofoam cup. Her eyes flashed as she looked at me over the edge.

“Oh, whatever!” I groaned. “You’re such a faker!”

But when Heather pulled the cup away from her face, a brown milk mustache covered her smiling upper lip. A little steam was rising from the cup, I could now see. What the hell? When I wiped out, I was out of her sight for ten, maybe fifteen seconds. Impossible!

“I was thirsty,” Heather said simply. “You see, I spilled my drink on the lift, so ... Anyway, you want some sweet chocolate?” she cooed, holding the drink out to me with a vicious grin. She licked the cocoa from her lips with decided exaggeration.

I leaned close to look into the cup. Hot chocolate, and the cup almost full... I could only shake my head as the adults converged on us, wondering if she really did have magic.

After warm showers and dinner, Heather and I converged on Lara’s room while the adults went bowling up at the resort. Lara was looking more alive than she had the night before, but she was still quite introspective.

“I’m hanging in there,” Lara said wearily. “Finished my book. It was lame. Started something else. Just feeling pretty blah, though.”

After some small talk, I broached the inevitable subject, despite my unease at wanting to revisit the depressing feelings of the night before.

“Have you heard from Pete?” I asked gently.

Lara sighed. “Yeah. He called.”

“What did he say?”

“I’m done with him,” Lara said evenly. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I can’t get back with him. He’s been acting too weird lately. I just can’t trust him. I need to move on, figure out my shit, and see what happens.”

“Did you tell him that?” Heather asked.

Lara was still for a few moments. Then she started crying. We moved immediately to the bed to sit beside her, hold her, and comfort her as she tried to explain through her sobs.

“No, I didn’t get the chance. When he called, he said he wanted to take a break. He said he’s confused, he wants to be with this other girl, Rebecca, but he doesn’t want to make me mad, and stuff like that. He sounded almost crazy about it. I don’t know why. I don’t understand. But it’s over. It’s over.”

Heather looked at me and pouted, both of us knowing that it was going to be a long night.

Shannon called later that evening. I winced as she greeted me, realizing that I’d promised to call her when we got home from skiing.

“Did you and Heather still want to model for me?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’re still up for it. Sorry I didn’t call you. We’ve been hanging out with Lara. It’s over between her and Pete.”

“Oh no! That really sucks. How is she?”

“Pretty much like you’d expect. But maybe she’ll be okay. She usually seems to get happy pretty quickly after bad things happen. Still, maybe this one’s different.”

“I sure hope she feels better soon.”

“Me too. Anyway, can we still do it tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, Clara said to use the studio whenever we wanted. After dinner then? You want me to pick you up?”