“Damn, I forgot about this!” she shrieked as she slid down the slope.
Lance wedged to a stop, but Michele slid right past him. “STOP GIRL!” he laughed.
“I can’t!” Her eye’s widened and then she frantically spotted JC. “JC! Make it stop!”
He smiled as he grabbed her arms before she could fly bye. “Ever heard of wedging, sweetie?” he asked once she had come to a complete stop.
She clutched him for dear life. “Wedging? What the hell is that?? I just wanted to stop!”
JC laughed. “Lance, she’s worst then you.”
“I didn’t think that was possible,” he said as he slid next to them.
“I’ll get the hang of it,” she said with confidence. “Ahem….now what’s wedging?”
JC and Lance busted out laughing. “What’s so funny?” Sydney asked.
“Michele asked us what wedging was,” JC laughed.
“It’s a reasonable question!” she said as she stomped one of her skis.
Lance cleared his throat. “Sorry, it’s when you do this,” he said as he moved the tip of his skis inward. “That’s how you slow down.”
“Oh yeah! Now I remember,” she exclaimed as she copied his position.
“Yeah, there ya go,” he said. “And when you go down a hill, the wider the wedge, the slower you go.”
She nodded. “Okay it’s coming back to me now.”
“Where are Georgia and Joey?” JC asked.
He chuckled. “They were still down when we left.”
“There they are,” Sydney said when she saw them riding up the lift.
They both easily slid down the slope and then glided to them. “Nice of you guys to wait.”
“We told you we would,” JC said with a laugh. “Glad to see ya’ll managed to get up.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Georgia mumbled. “It was a pain in the ass if you tell me.”
“You know you enjoyed it,” Joey flirted as he nudged her with his hip.
Georgia rolled her eyes. “Is he always this confident when it comes to his flirting?”
They guys laughed. “Always.”
“They’re just jealous,” he said to her.
“Whatever you say, Joe,” he said and then pulled his poles out of the snow. “So which way should we go?”
“How bout that way?” Sydney said while she pointed to the right with her pole.
“The trail is nice and flat and we can ride that till we find an easy slope to start out with.”
“Sounds like a plan,” JC said and then they both started to push off with their skis.
The six of them stayed close together as they pushed themselves along the flat trail. A few people wanted to go faster then them, so they were zooming by them left and right. One guy zoomed so fast past Sydney on his snowboard, she almost lost her balance and fell. “Damn, WATCH IT BUDDY!” she yelled.
JC chuckled. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just hate showoffs,” she mumbled and then pushed on.
“Here’s a nice little trail,” Lance said as he stopped. “It’s green…greens are the easiest, right?”
“Yeah,” Sydney said as she peered down the slope. “That seems tame enough.”
Georgia looked down and then flinched when I guy swept by her and flew down the slope. “I don’t know about this.”
Joey laughed as he patted her hand that rested on her ski pole. “Just take it nice and slow,” he said with a wink.
“That’s easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “Okay here goes nothing. I might as well go first, since I’ll take forever.”
“You and me both, girl,” Michele said as she made her way down the slope.
They all went down one by one, slowly zigzagging across the mountain. Sydney felt kind of awkward, because it’s been awhile since she skied, but as soon as she got the hang of it she quickened her pace. “Look out, girl,” she teased as she swooped past Georgia.
“Don’t do that!” she said as her body wobbled on the skis. She just laughed and kept on skiing.
“Thought you hated show offs,” JC teased as he caught up with her.
“I do,” she said as she turned and leaned on her left leg. “I’m far from showing off.”
“Yeah, sure,” he teased as they continued to ski side by side.
“Hey, you’re a natural,” Lance said as he skied next to Michele.
“I guess I am,” she said as she smiled easily. “You know, this is kind of fun!”
“Sure it is, you’ll be skiing the blacks before the end of this trip.”
She laughed harshly. “Oh, I don’t think so. A blue maybe, but not a black!”
He shrugged. “Maybe next trip.”
JC and Sydney were the first to make it to the bottom of the trail. Sydney stuck her poles in the snow and looked up at them. “They’re coming along.”
JC laughed. “Joey looks so funny! He looks like a baby fawn trying to stand for the first time!”
Sydney covered her mouth with a chuckle. “He sure does!”
JC looked at her while she laughed and when they made eye contact her laughter slowly died. “Sydney…again, I’m sorry for what happened up there.”
She shook her head. “No need to apologize. I just think we started on the wrong foot.”
“I like you a lot, Sydney, you’re a blast to hang out with. And I hope we can become good friends this week.” She smiled warmly up at him and then looked at his out stretched hands.
“Friends?” he asked.
She grasped it. “Friends.”
He cleared his throat. “And, uh…I want to apologize for being so nosey the first night, too.”
She just smiled up at him. “Okay.”
He looked at her weird. “Not the response I was hoping, but I deserve that. But, I hope that..uh…everything works out with….what’s his name?”
“Who?” she asked as she stared in his eyes. They were truly captivating.
“Um…you’re boyfriend?”
“My…Oh! Brad, right. Sorry, I wasn’t all there.”
He gave her another look. “Obviously. You were almost in a trance, there.”
“Ahem…sorry, I don’t know where I was. And thank you, I hope things work out for us, too.”
“Hey, move it, I’m out of control!”
JC and Sydney both looked to see a man flaring on his skis and heading straight for them.
“SHIT!” JC yelled and then quickly pushed Sydney out of the way and fell on top of her just as the out of control man swooped bye.
“Sorry, sorry,” a woman was yelling as she skied bye. “It’s just my out of control husband that can’t ski..sorry, sorry…”
JC turned and saw the woman skiing after her husband. He cursed breathlessly and then looked down at her. “Are you all right?”
“Y…yeah,” she said shakily as she looked up at him. “What the hell just happened?”
“A lunatic on skis, that’s what,” he said as he casually brushed the snow out of her hair.
“Are YOU okay?” she asked.
His hand paused in her hair and he smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. “Then your capable of getting off of me.”
He eyed her. “And I actually thought you cared…I’m hurt!”
She laughed and pushed at him. “Get off, before you bury me in this snow.”
“Well, well,” Joey said as he looked down. “Now you know how we felt.”
Georgia punched his shoulder and ignored his cry as he rubbed his arm. “Are you guys okay?” she asked seriously. “We saw what happened.”
“Yeah, we’re good,” JC said as he rolled off of Sydney. “Scared the hell out of me.”
With some help from the guys, they both finally managed up on their skis.
“That guy was crazy,” Michele said. “He almost knocked me down, too!”
“If you’re that bad, stick to the bunny slopes,” Lance said as he shook his head.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving,” Joey said as he hunched over and grabbed his stomach.
“I could go for some food, too,” Georgia said. “Hey, there’s a place right at the bottom of that trail.”
“Sweet!” Joey said and then pulled Georgia to her side. “She spotted that sucker right away. A woman after my own heart!”
“Aww, you’re such a sweet talker,” she teased and then pushed off of him. “I’ll race ya down there?”
“Woah, getting a little confident are we? Okay, you’re on.”
Lance chuckled. “That race is gonna be like the tortoise and…well I sure as hell can’t say hare. It’s more like the tortoise and the tortoise.”
Michele laughed as they skied down towards the restaurant that was nestled in the side of the mountain. “That was pretty funny, Lance.”
“Hey, my comedian in me comes out every once in awhile,” he said with a wink.
“Move it slowpokes,” JC said as him and Sydney skied by.
“Ignore them,” Lance said. “They just don’t understand how important it is to savior the art of skiing.”
She laughed. “Of course. The slower, the better… That’s what I say!”
“You just stick by me during this trip, and I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
“Aww, are you making me your official ski buddy?” she asked.
He grinned as they pulled up to the place. “Sure, if you want the position.”
She laughed as they clicked off their skis and then rested them against the rack. She slipped an arm through his. “I’d love to take the job.”
They quickly stood in line to get their food, and the guys had their heads low and their face covered so know one would recognize them. They decided to sit outside on the deck at a booth in the corner. Sydney sat at the head of the table, and Joey and Georgia sat together on one side, and the other three, with Michele in the middle sat on the other side.
“Hey, we better check in with, Lonnie,” Joey said with a mouthful.
"Oh, let me, let me!” Sydney said as she reached for JC’s walkie-talkie.
He looked at her weird. “What are you doing?” he asked when he gave it to her.
She just grinned and cleared her throat before pushing the button. “Yes, I’m looking for a big, strong man, with muscles of steel,” she said in a sexy voice.
The guys were shocked at first, but they covered their mouths as they busted out laughing.
“Okay, who is this?” Lonnie’s voice asked.
“This is Trix, and I’m looking for a strong man to show me a good time,” she continued while everyone at the table was turning red from laughing so hard.
“Okay, okay,” Lonnie said with a laugh. “I don’t know which girl this is, but you have already been corrupted by them and I don’t like it.”
“What boys?” she asked innocently. “Oh, you mean those NSYNC boys. Who would want them, when I could have a man like you.”
Now the whole table was laughing so hard, that everyone was looking at them. JC couldn’t speak because he was laughing so hard, but he tried waved his hands at her. “No…more…can’t…breathe!”
“Now, what’s your name, sugah,” she purred in the speaker.
“You know very well that my name is Lonnie,” he said as seriously as possible, but he couldn’t help but escape a chuckle in there.
“Ooo, Looonie,” she said as she let it roll on her tongue. “That sounds shexy.”
“Okay, this has to be Sydney,” he laughed. “Enough girl, people are starting to stare over here. Tell you’re little pimps to be careful and to be at the bottom of the hill by nightfall.”
“You got it, sweet thang,” and then handed it back to JC on a laugh. “That was fun.”
Joey wiped a tear. “That was…the funniest thing…I’ve heard in a long time!”
JC still couldn’t stop laughing. “I…I can’t stop laughing,” he said and then looked at her. “Something tells me you’ve done that before.”
She chuckled. “Guilty. It was my famous prank call voice in high school.”
The table busted out laughing. “Oh, that was the best Lonnie prank ever!” Lance exclaimed. “You definitely beat Chris’ prank, and that was damn good.”
“What did he do?” Michele asked, still tickled.
“He dressed up as a woman and pretended to hit on him.,” he said with a laugh and then JC and Joey laughed at the remembrance.
“Oh, I don’t think I beat that!” Sydney laughed. “Did he not know it was him!”
“NO CLUE!” Lance exclaimed with a laugh. “He thought she was insane!”
After spending a good five minutes laughing, they finally managed to collect their composure. Sydney cleared her throat and took a sip of her water. “Damn, are ya’ll always this exhausting?”
JC chuckled as he stood up and picked up his tray. “Always,” he said as he ruffled her hair while he walked past her.
Sydney let out another laugh. These guys were just what she needed this trip. The guys made her laugh and made her feel like she could be herself without any worry. She had never felt this happy in a long time. And whenever she was around them, especially around JC…Brad never crossed her mind.
That night, after a long day of skiing, the six of them, plus Lonnie walked tiredly up the hill towards their condo. “I am SO tired,” Joey said as slowly walked up the hill. “Are we really going out tonight?”
“Oh, dear lord,” JC said in shock. “I never thought I’d hear that come out of Joey’s mouth, hell has frozen over ladies and gentlemen.”
“Ha ha,” he said tiredly. “I just need a nice long shower and a quick nap and I’m good to go.”
“Where are we going?” Sydney asked and almost jumped for joy when she saw their condo’s in sight.
“Don’t know,” JC shrugged. “Just out to dinner, maybe go to a bar later.”
“I just want food!” Sydney said. “I didn’t have much at lunch.”
“And that’s not like her,” Georgia said with a laugh.
“Nope, it’s not,” she laughed.
“Lonnie, we are SO making the security guards drive us down from now on,” Lance said out of breath. “I mean the tour kept me in shape, but this is ridiculous.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t want to climb that any more than you do,” he said and then let out a breath. “Damn, it’s about time.”
“Lonnie!” Greg yelled as he ran toward him. “We got problems with the condo.”
They all stopped next to them. “Problems?”
“Yes, the furnace is broken,” he said. “We noticed it was getting cold in the house so we called the place and they sent someone down.”
“Please tell me they can fix it,” Lonnie pleaded.
He sighed as he shook their head. “It’s a mess, Lon. They were suppose to check to make sure it, before we checked, supposedly they were having problems with it.”
Lonnie cursed. “Damn. I guess we’ll just have to move to another condo.”
“That’s gonna be a problem,” Greg said. “There isn’t any left.”
“What!” they all said.
“Not one!” JC asked.
He shook his head. “Afraid not. It’s either freeze to death, or end the vacation early.”
Joey shook his head. “No way in hell I’m leaving early.”
“There’s no way in hell I’m freezing to death,” Greg said back.
“Well, hell, guys, just stay with us!” Georgia offered. “There’s more then enough room.”
They all looked at her and then Joey arched his brows. “That’s a good idea.”
“I don’t know,” Lonnie said warily. “It’s gonna be crowded.”
“Lonnie, our home is a bus,” JC stated. “We’re use to being crowded.”
“True, but THEY aren’t.”
“We don’t mind,” Michele said. “I’m sure they can bring trundle beds and stuff. And we our beds are big for sharing.”
Lance grinned. “You offering to share your bed, eh?”
She turned red. “Well, I meant…you know…however…”
He chuckled and put an arm around her. “I know, I’m just teasing ya.”
Lonnie shrugged. “Okay, it’s settled. Greg, start moving everyone in their place.”
It took awhile, but sooner or later everyone got moved in and situated. All three girls piled into Michele’s room; since it was a king size bed they had more then enough room. JC lucked out and got Sydney’s room by himself, and Lance and Joey moved into Georgia’s room. The security men all stayed in the den downstairs. The couch folded out to a bed and they ordered trundle beds to be delivered as well. It was very crowded, but it was just something they had to get use to, because the furnace was not going to be fixed anytime soon.
“Are we almost ready to go out?” Georgia asked as she trotted down the steps.
“I’m starving.”
“Once JC is ready we are,” Lance said as he flipped through channels on TV.
“The dork decided to spend his time on the computer, instead of getting ready. He just now got in the shower.”
She rolled her eyes and plopped on the couch. “Great. Well, he better hurry.”
“Is that my cell phone?” Sydney asked, straining to hear.
“Sounds like it,” Georgia said.
“Oh, shit!” she said as she stood up and ran up the stairs. “I was suppose to call Brad an hour ago!” She quickly ran into her old room where she had left the phone to charge and dove for it. “Hello? Brad?”
“Well, I’ve been waiting here for over an hour and…”
“Brad, I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly. “It’s been kind of crazy today.”
“You never forget to call me!” he shot back. “You’re always call me right on time, what gives?”
“I know, Brad, I’m…” She paused when she heard the bathroom door open and she almost dropped the phone when she saw him come out. Steam from his shower swirled around him and he was only dressed in a towel. Her mouth turned dry at the sight of his chest and she could see his muscles moving as he dried his wet hair with a towel.
He obviously hadn’t noticed her yet, or he would of known that she was practically drooling. She noticed a bead of water slide down his chest, over his ripped stomach and then disappeared as it traveled over his hip and under the towel. She had to bite her lip to keep her from groaning at the sight.
When she finally looked up, she noticed he was staring at her and felt herself turn red. A grin slowly crept on his face, and she was so shocked that she couldn’t speak.
“Hello...SYDNEY!” Brad said on the other line. “You still there??”
“Oh! Yes, I’m still here,” she said and then turned away from the wonderful sight and looked out the window. “Sorry.”
“Look, obviously your distracted,” he said angrily. “Just call me later.”
“Brad, no...wait!” Only the click and the dial tone answered her back. “Son of a…” With a sigh she turned around and jumped when she saw him still standing there with his hand on his hips. “You’re still here.”
He gave her a weird look. “Yeah, considering this is my room now, remember?”
“Oh! I…I’m sorry I forgot,” she said and then started to walk to the door.
“I’ll let you get…”
She stopped talking when he reached out and grabbed her arms softly. She looked at his hand on her arm and then up at those beautiful eyes. Damn those eyes! She cleared her throat. “What are you doing?”
“Are you okay?” he asked concerned.
That soft voice and gentle eyes almost made her loose it. She was emotional right now, since she had gotten off the phone with Brad. He always seemed to make her cry. But this was too much. She didn’t want JC to be concerned for her, she didn’t want him to be sweet and considerate. But unfortunately he’s all that and more. “I...I’m fine,” she managed.
He shook his head. “No, you’re not Syd,” he said as he gripped her shoulder to turn her to him. “Look, Syd, I know you don’t know me very well, and I don’t know you well either. But it pains me to see someone hurt this way.”
Her eyes started to shimmer with tears. “He’s just…He’s just a hard person to understand, he’s really not bad, JC…”
“Is it enough?” he asked. “Do you really need a man who is okay with you some of the time, when you can be with someone who makes you feel special all the time?”
The first tear escaped her as it trailed down her cheek. “I don’t know what to do, JC? I care about him, but I don’t know if I can take it anymore.”
“Shh-shh,” he murmured and then took her in his arms. “It’s okay, you’ll do what’s right.”
She relaxed in his arms and rested her cheek against the crook of his bare shoulder. It felt good to be held by him. His arms were comforting and his body gave her warmth. She let out a sigh as she wrapped her arms around his bare waist and held on tight. “Thank you, JC.”
He closed his eyes and kissed the top of her head. “What are friends for?”
She looked up at him. “That’s exactly what I need right now. A friend to lean on.”
He reached up and cupped her face lightly and the planted his lips on her forehead. “Well, you can count on me.”
She smiled as she reached up and grabbed his wrists. “Thank you. I know I can.” She slowly pulled his hands away and gripped them before she let go.
“I’ll let you get ready, there’s some hungry people down there.”
“Okay, tell them I’ll be down in a minute,” he said.
When the door closed behind her, he let out a soft curse as he started to dig through his bag. He knew she needed a friend, and he would be there for her, no doubt about it. But he didn’t trust himself at all. He was afraid he was going to cross over that borderline of friendship and ruin everything with her. He did know one thing though; his feelings for her went way past the borderline. He just had to make sure he didn’t act on those feelings.
Next Chapter
