(rivals to lovers, small town, sports) (Season 2 ongoing) After a devastating Olympic loss puts her career in a downward spiral, an aging skier returns to her laid-back mountain hometown to rediscover her love of her sport and instead finds herself...
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Juniper couldn't deny that Summer was a beautiful skier.
She watched her as she kept pace a distance behind on their warm-up run. Ahead, Summer carved big, smooth turns across the hill, getting used to the feel of the mountain and the snow under her skis after months away.
Summer was technically skilled, but it was more than that. She turned skiing into art. She flew down the hill as though born to do this, her skis kissing the snow through every turn with no wasted motions. She spoke the language of the slope and it pulled her down like a lover.
Skiing had never looked so sexy.
Everyone agreed that Summer was probably a once-in-a-generation talent. People had been calling her a phenom since she was twelve or thirteen and already breaking records. Juniper had known they weren't exaggerating from the first time she'd seen her ski. Her talent had been exciting. It hadn't felt like a threat. Until the Olympics. The slalom race. The loss that had made her see what everyone else must have known all along: that Summer was going to replace her.
Why did anyone need washed-up Juniper James when they had the phenomenal Summer Li?
No. That wasn't true. She tried to wrestle that thought into submission. Reminded herself that she hadn't been replaced by Summer or anybody else. The coaches wanted her back. Even Summer wanted her, in more ways than one.
It helped, a little. As long as she didn't think about how fragile this glossy bubble they were living in really was.
At the bottom, Summer slid to a stop in a spray of snow. Her cheeks were wind-bitten and a big smile split her face, and as Juniper pulled up beside her she couldn't help but think about last night. That mouth on her neck. Those hands, and the way Summer had leaned into her, so warm against her back-
It had literally just been a massage. They hadn't found time after dinner to take things further. But, god, it had really worked for her.
It was too cold out to be this heated.
"So?" Juniper asked. "How does it feel to finally be on the snow again?"
"Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I never really believed that it wouldn't happen, but, I don't know, it's hard not to worry. So it feels really good to forget that and just be able to focus on getting back into race shape." Summer laughed, bright as a ray of sunshine on this grey morning. Juniper wished she could pick up that crystalline sound and hold it against her heart.
This early, and in these miserable weather conditions, the lift was empty. They slipped right up to the loading line and the chair swung under them. Their skis knocked together while they settled. Summer lowered the bar over their laps as they left the protection of the lift station and the icy wind slashed into them.
The weather didn't bother Summer. She kept smiling and kept talking, telling Juniper all about what she was working on and the milestones she was hoping to hit.
