(rivals to lovers, small town, sports) [WATTYS 2024 SHORTLIST] (Season 3 coming soon) 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 spor...
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Summer had picked Crystal Peaks specifically because it was nowhere. The alpine team didn't train here. The resort didn't host any major ski events where she might run into someone she knew. Her dad and brother weren't around to give her a hard time like they would at home in Whistler. And she had been promised that no one would be told where she was. She had been assured that she would be given as much privacy as she needed until she was ready to race again.
It would be an understatement to say she was not happy to see Juniper James. She was even less happy that Juniper James had just wrapped her arm around her shoulders and was grinning at her like they were friends.
Juniper was not her friend. Yes, technically, they were teammates, but alpine skiing wasn't really a team sport, and Summer did not appreciate being manhandled by anyone, let alone this woman who had turned out to be the most disappointing hero.
She ignored the small part of her that remembered she had once been afflicted with a massive crush on Juniper. That part of her was currently fist-pumping. That part of her was a fool, because even if Juniper wasn't the worst person she had ever met - which she was - it wouldn't change anything. Summer had a strict no-dating rule. If she wanted to win a gold medal, she couldn't afford the distraction.
She shook the arm off. "I can walk, thanks."
"Of course. My bad." Juniper just smiled and sipped her coffee, as though indulging a grumpy child. That got Summer's hackles up, but before she could reply, they reached the table and Juniper gestured at a person who could have been her twin. "Summer, this is my annoying little sibling, Holly."
Summer didn't know what she was thinking when she agreed to this lunch. One James sibling was bad enough, now she had to deal with two?
Except she did know why she had said yes, and it was one simple, slightly pathetic reason: she had done such a good job of isolating herself that she missed talking to people who weren't her family or her doctors.
Well, that, and she wanted to know why on earth Juniper wasn't in Austria.
"Oh. My. God." Eyes huge, Holly leapt to their feet and reached over the table to grab Summer's hand, pumping it up and down. They were wearing an ice-blue Crystal Peaks zip sweater and a name tag that read Holly, they/she. "Summer Li? I'm such a fan. June didn't tell me you were gonna be here, too."
"I'm as surprised as you are," Juniper said, sprawling into one of the chairs and toeing the other towards Summer. "I promised you'd give her a tour and some local insights."
"Of course! I'd love to help however I can. How long will you be here?"
Summer settled more primly into her seat and pulled the fleece blanket over her lap. It seemed a bit mad to eat outside when the temperature hovered just below freezing, but at least there were cushions on the chairs and a propane heater pressed warmth into her back. "I'm not sure yet. It depends on a couple of factors."
