(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 was trying not to worry. Summer's interview was tomorrow - or maybe tonight, the time difference was confusing - and Ava still hadn't shared anything.
The first few days after the breakup Ava had furiously texted Holly, asking for forgiveness, to explain, for another chance, but she'd gone silent since Holly blocked her. Not even a byline about the record snowfall that had shut down the whole town for hours yesterday.
Not worrying was easier said than done. Like, Juniper knew that even though Summer was afraid, she was going to be fine. She suspected Summer's nerves were more about her fear that until she actually raced, she couldn't say for sure that it wasn't true that she'd never race again. And maybe a little bit about potentially being outed before she was ready. But Summer had been in the public eye for years now, and she'd managed to stay pretty private for that whole time, even after her injury last year. She was better at the publicity side of the job than she gave herself credit for, even if she didn't like it.
Still. It was hard not to feel guilty. Summer should be focused on getting ready for her first race. Instead, this whole mess was distracting her.
Juniper, on the other hand, was glad for all the things she had to distract herself. Today that distraction was the Crystal Peaks youth team. She'd agreed to ski with them, and she'd been here all afternoon joking around with the kids, giving them tips, talking racing.
No one had guilted her into it this time. It had been her idea. She'd been thinking a lot about the future of her career, and for some reason, she kept coming back to that conversation she'd had with Summer on Christmas Day. How Summer said she used to look up to her.
It had felt strange, then, but maybe that was just because it was Summer, who was such a phenomenal skier, and who she was also fucking. Or maybe it was weird to hear Summer say she'd admired that nude photo shoot when Juniper was fully aware that she'd done the shoot mostly to piss off her mum, although she'd loved the experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.
But then she'd thought about Mike's daughter Elizabeth, who wanted to quit even though she loved the sport, and how Holly had dropped out because they couldn't imagine a future for themself in ski racing, and, well, how shitty she'd been to Summer when she joined the national team.
She didn't know whether she'd ever win another race, but maybe she could still make a difference to other kids who loved skiing. So she'd called Mike and asked if the team would like to have her for a practice. His enthusiasm had just about knocked her socks off.
It had been a good day. Like Summer, these kids were mostly here because they loved the sport. Not that there weren't moments when they were frustrated, or bored, and now, as the light began to fade, tired. And yeah, some of them would be devastated in a few years when they realized they just weren't quite good enough for the national team. But for now, they were here, having fun. And that was enough, wasn't it?
