Disclaimers: See Part 1
Better Than Carmen
By Foxfire
Dragging my eyes away from the two attractive lesbians making out in the corner of the Gondola, my eyes caught Eph's, who gave me a strange look and leaned forward as if she was going to say something. I held my breath in anticipation.
“You got a problem, kid?” Her eyes were narrowed, searching my face for expression.
My first thought was a flare of anger at being referred to as ‘kid'; I hated that with a passion, and this woman was barely five years older than me.
I then realised that there had been a question, and I needed to answer it quickly before it looked like I was thinking of an excuse. “Of course not, why do you ask?” I replied, as politely as I could.
“Just wondered why you looked away from them so fast.” She sat back now, waiting for me to take the bait.
“Would you sit and watch them get it on? If you're asking me if I have a problem with lesbians-” an eyebrow raised at my attempted statement, before James cut in.
“Basically, she's a dyke too.” He nudged me with his shoulder and smiled proudly, as if he'd helped me out by saying it for me.
I smiled back at him tightly, and murmured “Thanks James. Had that one covered myself.” As I felt my cheeks flush with colour.
Ephiny's hard look had transformed into a curious one, as she looked back and forth between me and my best friend. Her lips curled slightly into a smile, and she nodded at me in defeat.
James began talking to me about the conditions of the snow, and I attempted to look like I was listening as I watched Ephiny and Lara out of the corner of my eye. I still couldn't get over how attracted I was to the dark haired woman, but I didn't want to even think about what I couldn't have. I was fascinated by the relationship between the two women opposite me, because I couldn't work it out. As I watched, Eph turned her head towards Lara slightly so that they made eye contact, and something unseen and unheard passed between them. A little slice of jealousy flashed through my head, and then James' posh accent pushed through the daydream.
“Looks like it's quite icy up here, I'll go in the middle of the group, Faye... Faye! Hello?” The glaze over my eyes disappeared and his face came back into focus. “You wanna sweep?”
I smiled apologetically, and nodded in acknowledgement as the gondola pulled to a stop and the group exited.
Twenty minutes later we were all fastened into our respective skis and boards and setting off down the piste. Beth led the group, though we weren't keeping to any particular order or pace. The only person with a set position was me, as I had taken the role of sweeper at the rear of the group. My job was to make sure everyone was in front of me, and anyone that wiped out or lost equipment was my responsibility. It was a total reversal from my usual gung-ho attitude and I relished the opportunity to show these older women that I was not just a ‘kid'.
James sped off elegantly alongside Rachel, who looked more than capable, albeit a little nervous at the daunting piste layed out in front of us. Beth and Keeley wove in opposite directions on skis but kept at the same pace so they crossed each other's paths every time. Ephiny and Lara were boarding, and it was obvious to me that neither was particularly experienced. I found my eyes wandering to Lara every couple of minutes as I took in her almost complete silence and the beauty of her features from close range. I kept a safe distance behind her as she glided downhill in front of me, using the opportunity to stare freely at her ass. As we descended the mountain and no problems had arisen with the skiers ahead of me, I began to get frustrated with having to hang back and be sensible. This was a black run. A dangerous and difficult piste that was just begging me to let go of my senses. Halfway down I decided enough was enough, and that a little showing off wouldn't hurt my chances of impressing the sexy Latino lady I couldn't take my eyes off. I dropped back, letting the group get far in front of me, before I hopped a few times until my board was facing straight downhill, and I began to slide at an increasing pace. The wind rushed through my loose hair, hit my face in icy blasts and pulled at my jacket as I let myself be taken over by the freedom surrounding me.
“Woohoo!” I screamed at the top of my voice as I swerved off piste and flew over a bump under the freshly fallen snow, which propelled me 3 feet into the air. This truly was the best feeling in the world! I landed amateurishly back on piste, and couldn't control my board as I fought to keep upright against my entire weight and gravity working to my demise. I began to spin and tumble uncontrollably and all I could think of to do was to curl up until I lost momentum or hit something. I wrapped my arms around my head as a protective shield and stiffened my knees so that they didn't bend oddly if the board caught. After what seemed like an age and a stout beating from a frozen fist, I finally crashed into something that broke my fall. I heard a gasp as the wind was knocked out of the body I had bowled over, but my goggles were plastered in a thick layer of compact snow and I couldn't see who, what or how.
“Uhhh.” I heard a slow, pained wheeze beneath me, and I scrambled up and off to stop myself causing further harm. Pulling the caked goggles off my head so that my vision was now unrestricted, I finally saw the damage I'd done. Lara was bundled up on her front with her face in the snow, outstretched arms currently moving inwards to cradle sore ribs. A wave of sheer panic and embarrassment crashed over me as I realised the damage I had caused through my own stupidity.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry! Are you ok?” I dropped to my knees and pulled Lara up so that she could open her lungs up and breathe. A few deep intakes later and she was breathing normally again, though her arms were still wrapped around herself and I knew that she was hurting. “Are you ok?” I repeated, needing reassurance that she wasn't going to collapse and die halfway down the mountain. She looked up at me shyly and nodded. Her mouth opened to speak, and then a harsh shout from somewhere below us interrupted.
“What the fuck did you do?! Lar? Are you alright?!” Ephiny had stopped about 50 feet down the slope and was glaring back up at me like she wanted to kill me with her bare hands.
Lara glanced at me nervously. “Help me up will you?” she murmured to me. Once on her feet, she waved shakily at her friend and shouted back “I'm fine! See? You can carry on Eph!”
Ephiny shook her head, then silently turned and continued her weaving down the slope.
Lara turned and looked at me again, and I could see a pain in her eyes. I actually couldn't believe that I had crashed full pelt into a woman I was unbelievably attracted to. Not only had I just completely embarrassed myself in front of her, but I'd managed to wind and flatten her in the process. This was not my plan for leaving her breathless! And to top it all off, I had royally pissed off her friend, who would no doubt be waiting to kill me at the bottom of the mountain.
“You really got me there.” She smiled, and then winced as she tried to laugh. “Ow.”
“I am really sorry Lara. I lost control and I couldn't see where I was going. Is there anything I can do? I mean, do you wanna go down on my back or something?” I babbled as I gestured down the mountain, and felt my cheeks flush.
“No, I'm ok to go on my own. Don't worry about it, no harm done. Much.” She smiled again, this time showing perfect teeth. A feeling shot through my body, down to my groin.
“Please let me do something. I feel fucking awful.”
She looked at me with a slight curl in her lip as if she was considering what I could do. I watched as she bit her bottom lip and fiddled with her gloves. I laughed nervously as the silence between us dragged on. Finally, she turned to look at me again.
“How old are you?” it came out quite rude and abrupt, like there was a wrong answer and if I happened to say it then a guy in a clown suit would shuffle up to me and shoot me with a gun that fired a flag saying “bang!” Lara's tone shocked me, as this was the first question she had asked me, and it was one of the first sentences she'd actually spoken in my presence.
“Erm... 18?” I answered like a question, unsure of what effect it would have on the outcome of this conversation.
Lara sniffed, looked off to the side into the distance and bit her lip again. She took so long to reply that I began to dust the compact snow off my jacket and salopettes. I looked up at her one last time and seeing that she hadn't even changed her facial expression, moved to carry on down the slope. At a much, much slower pace than before.
I began to slide off, when I felt a hand catch mine and Lara said “Wait.”
I turned and looked at her expectantly, hoping she was finally going to say what was on her mind and that it wasn't something to do with suing me now that she knew I was legally an adult.
“Would you like to have dinner with me?” she spoke so fast that I thought I'd misheard her.
“What?” I laughed, thinking it was a joke.
“You heard me.” She whispered, her cheeks colouring. I felt my eyes widen in realisation. I suddenly felt shy and cautious. The hottest woman I had ever layed eyes on had just asked me to have dinner with her after I nearly killed her halfway up a mountain. I had obviously knocked myself out with the fall and this was a dream. A really good dream.
“Umm... sur-“
“You don't have to. I mean, don't feel like you've gotta cause of all this.” She pointed at the dent we'd made in the snow.
“No, I'd love to.” I smiled and looked at the floor, hoping she wouldn't see how happy I was.
“Really?” she sounded so unsure of herself. I didn't understand. “I mean, cool. Um, how about tomorrow night at my cabin? We're meant to be going to the karaoke night, but I can get out of it. I'll cook, you be there at half seven?” she wasn't making eye contact with me now, but the small smile painted on her pace was a giveaway to her excitement.
“Half seven at the cabin.” I confirmed, thinking about the prospect of the next evening.
Lara pushed past me unceremoniously and laughed as she took off. I followed closely behind with an insane grin plastered across my face.