Thwiiing.

Thwiiing, thwiiing.

Dana’s phone alerted her to three more incoming messages. Tapping and flicking, she popped into WhatsApp to read the latest from her besties, who were on Spring Break in Daytona Beach.

Freezing ur fukkin ass off yet girl? Londa included various laugh and smile emojis.

Wish you were here! Ana’s message was accompanied by a thumbnail of a pale and dark body showing lots of skin.

Dana tapped on the pic and pinched it open to zoom in. Londa was cocked sideways, her dark booty thrust out, the only evidence of a thong being the thin orange strip across her hip above her otherwise-bare butt. Her titty was sort of covered by a small orange triangle, pressed into Shanie’s pale-turning-sunburned form, which was donning a much more modest bikini than her companion.

We all do! Shanie’s message included another pic, selfie-style, with her, Londa, and Ana all making kissy faces while two unknown guys hung over them, making frankly stupid faces and hand gestures.

Thwiiing. Another message just now.

To Dana! Ana’s next picture was the three of them with just the arms of the guys wrapped around their midsections and their hands wrapped around sweating raised bottles of Coors Light.

Dana smirked and wrapped her cold hands around her own beverage—a steaming mug of hot cocoa—a pretty one with whipped cream and sprinkles. She snapped a photo.

“Taking pictures of your food?” Russ’ voice didn’t startle her, but brought her back to reality. “You kids.”

“A drink, goofy. Watch my stuff? I’ll be right back.”

Drink, food, yeah, Russ said to himself, shaking his head. His attempts at being clever seemed to fall flat. And ‘kid’, really? That made him feel worse. He didn’t want to talk down to Dana. What a fine line between being friendly and not wanting to seem like he was flirting.

Dana slipped out the side door of the lodge, chilled hands operating the camera controls on her phone. She lined up the majestic snow-covered peak behind her, a ski lift hauling people up to it through the powdery pines. Great smile, she told herself. Lowering her goggles over her eyes, she snapped some more, the timbers of the lodge caught in the reflection of the lenses.

Back inside, Dana slipped into her chair across from Russ, who was smiling and shaking his head. “Yeah, selfies too. Kids these days, right?”

“Sorry, that didn’t come out right. I’m not judging.”

“My friends are blowing up my phone, telling me I should have gone with them on Spring Break to the beach in Florida.” Dana posted the first smiley mountain photo to the WhatsApp group. Wish Y'ALL were HERE. Jealous? She followed it up with her cocoa pic, then took her first sip, both she and Russ laughing as she had to swipe the whipped cream off her upper lip.

“Well, it’s cool that you’re here. A lesser person may have ditched her family to go get crazy with friends.”

Russel Kort and Dana Whalen made a little more chit-chat, some awkward but most quite comfortable, while she sipped her cocoa and he enjoyed his coffee. He gave her a little friendly advice for someone just a little more than a semester into her college career, and she found out a bit more about his job and life. He was now a junior engineer for a city’s public works department, and ran 10K’s every other month or so, contemplating working up to a half marathon. Still single, but both of them pulled back rather than wading deeper into a conversation about their love lives.

Thwiiing.

“You’re not going to get that?” Russ smiled as they both looked at her phone, which she had turned face-down five messages ago.

“Nah, I’m sure they’re just giving me shit. Probably drunk shit.”

“Already? It’s one o’clock here, what, three o’clock in Florida?”

“You don’t know my friends.”

“Ha ha—college wasn’t that long ago for me. I know the type—not to put your friends in a box.”

When they finished their drinks, Dana scrolled through their messages, including the more reasonable Ana trying to cover for Londa’s lewdness. “Yep, they’re in that box!” She laughed, stuffing her phone into the inside pocket of her jacket while she pulled it on. “Ready to hit the slopes?”

The rest of the afternoon, till the ski lists started closing at four o’clock, the two had fun challenging each other with the mogul-iest blue runs and even two black slopes. Neither were expert skiers, but had been enough times that they knew what they were doing, and young enough to be able to absorb battering bumps and a few tumbles.

On the way up one almost-empty lift right before it closed, the light wind was at their backs, giving the ride a quiet stillness.

“Ahh,” Dana whispered. “I love it up here.”

“Bundled up in the cold? Better than being in a bikini on the beach?” Russ hoped that she wouldn’t think that he was imagining her in a bikini. He wasn’t, was he?

She did smile at him with a sideways glance, though. “Honestly, yes. I mean, I love my besties and I love the sun, but mountains and trees are prettier than a beach, I think. And this is so peaceful.” She dug her phone out, careful not to drop it from her chilly hands, and scrolled to a pic of Londa and another chick twerking on the crowded beach with two Beach Patrol vehicles in sight. She showed the photo to Russ. “This? Not so peaceful.”

He laughed. “Yeah, a world of difference.”

Dana scrolled past the message from Ana: This azz is meant to show in a bikini, not bundle up in 3 layers of pants! Complete with a pic of that ass in her bikini. She scrolled past her reply: My ass looks hot in ski pants, fyi! She was a little embarrassed, wondering how much of that Russ took in.

“Thanks for hanging out today, by the way,” she said, stowing her phone again. “Better than being by myself.”

“Well, I’ll take that as a compliment!”

It was Dana’s turn to kick herself mentally for what she said. “Shit, sorry, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, we’re compatible. Ski-wise, you know, kind of the same level.” She now felt a nervousness in her stomach, like when she was tongue-tied talking to a guy she liked. She didn’t like Russ like that, did she? Nah, he was too old, and lived far away. “When dad went down, and the others bailed, I was afraid the trip would be ruined, but it’s nice having a buddy.”

“Went down? Don’t say it like that. Just needed to take it easy.”

“Oh, he went down. You weren’t around for the leg cramps?” They tried not to laugh too much at her Dad’s expense.

Dana’s dad, Todd Whalen, wasn’t quite the athlete he used to be, and his knees and muscles were screaming after the first day of their Spring Break ski trip. Fortunately, there was more to do around the resort area – they had picked a location that wasn’t too remote, being a short shuttle ride away from plenty of shopping and other recreation venues. Russ’ parents, Raymond and Vicky, were along too, the Korts and Whalens having made this one of their frequent combined family vacations. Dana’s mom, Tammy, couldn’t pass up a shopping excursion, and Vicky, not the biggest fan of cold weather and altitude, convinced Ray to stay off the slopes for the day so that the two couples could spend the day in town.

Dana and Russ each came here to pack in as much skiing as possible, and were adamant that they’d take to the slopes by themselves if no one else was up for it. So, the “youngsters” were kind of left as a pair, and had actually excitedly taken off earlier in the morning than the bigger group would have, efficiently getting to the lift lines before they opened. It was even kind of cool to learn that they each were fine with stuffing granola bars and snacks in their pockets to avoid having to take too much time for lunch.

“Well, I’m glad you came. It’s nice to see you again.” Russ playfully elbowed her. “I’ll bet your Dad is glad you’re not on the beach with… with that going on.”

“Yeah, they’re cool, but a couple of them are kind of crazy. Londa especially. Dad does kind of worry about me getting, well, an expanded college experience.”

“She sounds like the kind your Dad is worried about. Might lead you down the ‘slippery slope’?”

“Fuck,” Dana said, face-palming. “Not you, too!”

“Ha, sorry, couldn’t resist using one of Todd Whalen’s famous quotes.”

Dana loved her Dad, but as all Dads have, he had certain quirks, and one of the most glaring was his proclivity to issue warnings to whomever would listen about the perils of dipping one’s toes into something out of bounds, referencing the beginnings of a slow slide. Being alone with a guy leading to sex, drinking a beer leading to drunkenness and weed leading to harder drugs… staying off the slippery slope was the best way not to risk ending up at the bottom, he reasoned.

“Speaking of slippery slope, you’d better get your ski tips up, or you’ll be heading down this one on your ass.” They were approaching the top, and in a few seconds, they stood up as the lift chair dropped them off.

On the way down, Dana caught herself admiring Russ’ form. Skis together, knees absorbing the moguls, and a bit of air with a kick at the bottom of the first run. Running to stay in shape was paying dividends out here in the thinner air, and she admired the discipline he had maintained, silently judging the likely future beer guts on the guys her friends just may hook up with. In true engineer form, Russ had mentioned doing specific jumping exercises in preparation for this trip over the last few weeks, and even digging out his old inline skates to help with balance.

On the way down, Russ caught himself admiring Dana’s form. Skis together, edges cutting swiftly between the moguls, with a little “I can do that too” jump as she approached him. When she sailed past him in a tuck, he noticed – her ass did look hot in her ski pants, as her jacket pulled up just enough to give him a view. He never would have thought so a few years ago, as she was always skinny and awkward, but playing soccer the last two years of high school and turning eighteen as she entered college had given her late-blooming body some lean and toned curves. The removal of her braces had left her with a pretty, gleaming, confident smile.

When they passed the upper lift, it was closed for the afternoon already, so they headed down, excited to have made the lower lift before it closed. Time for one more run! They took their time, traversing across the slopes, trying a few jumps, and cutting their own narrow paths through the powder amongst the trees between marked slopes. Finally, at the bottom again, the last lifts were shut down for the afternoon, bringing their day to a close.

The Whalens and Korts had booked their rooms in a ski-in, ski-out lodge nearby, so just a few minutes of cross-country skating and poling on the flats had them at the entrance.

“Whew,” Russ said, popping his boots out of his skis. Dana pulled off her goggles and hat, shaking out her blonde hair.

“Yeah, that was a workout. Seems like your training paid off. You could almost keep up with me,” she teased.

“Thanks for being my snow bunny today.” He raised his hand for a high-five, which she reciprocated. “Snow buddy,” he said, trying to correct himself. “Ski buddy.” Fuck, fuck. Did I really just say that?

Dana felt a tingle. Did he intentionally make that slip? They had been a bit more flirty since their afternoon drink stop, but was it just friendly banter, or a little more? He was almost ten years older, and had been kind of like a big brother to her when the Korts and Whalens lived in the same neighborhood for a few years. Once or twice, a schoolgirl crush came and went, though recently she really didn’t consider him a romantic interest… but this was kind of a new Russ, and, she was kind of a new Dana.

After Russ and Dana knocked most of the snow and ice off their boots, skis, poles, and outerwear, they pushed through the lobby door and clomped their way down the hall. Opening the door for her, he followed her into their suite.

The families had rented a comfortable suite for this trip. There was a large common room with sofas and chairs and a gas fireplace, a small kitchenette, and two closed-off bedrooms, each with two queen beds. A sliding glass door led out to a hot tub and deck overlooking a brook with dense forest a few yards away.

“First thing,” Dana sighed, discarding her jacket, “dry socks.” She unclipped and removed her ski boots with a grunt, peeling off her thick wool socks and inner sock liners. “Well, first thing, a pee. Then dry socks.”

Russ took off his own boots and socks as Dana took off toward the Whalens’ room. Her slim, closely-fitting long-sleeve shirt and snugly-fitting pants really did make her butt look nice.

By the time Dana returned, wearing her favorite thick, fluffy socks, Russ had his face in his phone, tapping away at the screen. “Seems like we missed the excitement while we were off Wi-Fi.”

Dana dug in her jacket pocket and grabbed her phone, bypassing half a dozen presumably rude comments from her WhatsApp group. It was only then that Russ noticed Dana had removed her ski pants and was down to the skin-tight leggings he assumed she wore as her inner layer.

She and Russ traded messages with their parents, piecing together the situation by filling in each other’s blanks. One of the two resort shuttle buses was involved in an accident on the road into town, causing quite a delay. Leaning on the kitchenette counter, Dana caught him eyeing her when his typing paused. Twice.

“Yeah, it’s almost five o’clock. I thought they’d be back by now,” Dana said, trying not to sound like she had that tingling feeling again. “Glad it wasn’t the bus they were on.”

“Oh, they’re still stuck in town. The two-lane road is shut down. So, traffic is backed up, and they have to wait another whole round trip because only one shuttle is running now.”

The text message chatter died down in a couple of minutes, everyone guessing it would be well over an hour till everyone would be back.

Russ got both of their sets of boots opened up on the bricks of the fireplace, fiddling with the gas knob to get the fire lit. Once the flame was going in the fake logs, he opened their jackets near the fire and stretched out his bare feet, leaning back on his hands.

“It’s kind of nice to have the place to ourselves for a bit.” Dana stood beside him, pulling her thick outer shirt up over her head, generating crackles of static.

“Oh yeah?” Russ couldn’t help but notice her small athletic breasts fit neatly within her tight t-shirt. For the first two days of the trip, she had lounged in jeans and sweatshirts, so her form-fitting clothing was a feast for his eyes. But he tried not to let on.

“I mean, it’s just been ‘go, go, go’ since the trip started.” Dana felt flushed, trying to pull back from what may have been interpreted as flirting. “The airport, the shuttles, and let’s face it, our parents are loud.”

“Especially when there’s wine. And it’s been a year since our dads have seen each other, so, trying to outdo each other with their stories.”

“Peaceful.” She sat in front of the fireplace, which happened to be right beside Russ. “Like up on the mountain,” she added quietly.

He pulled off his long-sleeve shirt. “My sleeves are a bit wet, too.” His tank top gave Dana a view of his form, and she liked what she saw. He wasn’t muscle-bound, but was slim and solid, arms very much like she imagined his legs to be, fit and toned from his running regimen.

After a minute of watching the fire, Dana spoke. “Gosh, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself for an hour with peace and quiet.”

“There’s something I’ve wanted to do.” Russ was close enough that all he had to do was sit up and lean over to bring his face down to hers. Her eyes widened and she stopped breathing for a moment, but she didn’t move, so he finished closing the gap, capturing her lips with his.

After a few seconds, Dana did move. She brought her hand around to the back of his neck, leaning into the kiss, tasting his lips. She could have squealed in delight, knowing now that this is what she had wanted, happy that he made the move that she wouldn’t have made.

“So, how long have you wanted to do that?” Dana smiled when their lips came apart.

“Honestly, since this afternoon, I guess, since we stopped for cocoa and coffee. You felt the same thing hanging out today, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Russ rolled over onto Dana, their kisses becoming more passionate. All of a sudden, she let out a giggle.

“What?” Russ asked.

“You know what my Dad would say?”

“Hmmm?”

“Alone together, clothes coming off, but ‘just to dry.’”

“Oh,” he dropped his head and shook it. His face was right at her breasts, but she didn’t seem to mind. “I’m not going to say it.”

“Could this be… a slippery slope?”

“You had to say it.” Their kisses involved quite a bit of tongue for the next minute.

“Slippery can be fun.”