(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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Not serious, Juniper reminded herself when Summer slept over the second time, and then the third.
Not serious when Jie invited her to have dinner with them and she went out for a walk with Summer after and they spent an hour in the woods, not even kissing, just watching the pale green ribbons of the northern lights even though the moon was too bright to see them clearly.
Not serious when Summer tied her to her headboard and made her come four times in a row because she'd beat Summer in training that day. When Summer crushed a personal record she'd set before her injury and wanted an erotic massage as her reward.
Juniper wasn't lying to herself. They had always been serious. Even when they'd hated each other it hadn't been casual. She wasn't just jealous of Summer's medal; she'd had to make her whole career slump Summer's fault. She'd let Summer down one time and for years after Summer had acted like she was the worst person alive.
She'd probably be a mess for this woman even if they hadn't started fucking.
No, she wasn't lying to herself anymore. She was trying to keep her perspective.
Not serious, Summer had said, panicked, when Holly walked in on them.
Which didn't mean Summer wasn't into her. In fact, Juniper was pretty sure she was. But Summer had told her enough about Elliot. She got it. No matter how she felt, no matter how Summer might feel, their relationship had limits.
Summer's career came first. Juniper might have started imagining what it would look like to be together officially - sharing hotel rooms on the road, celebrating their wins and commiserating over their losses together, listening to Summer's voice over the phone when they were apart and dreaming about the next time they'd be together - but she didn't expect Summer to change her mind. If Summer didn't think she could balance a relationship with her racing, then Juniper couldn't ask her to try. She could never live with herself if she fucked up the most important thing in Summer's life.
The smart choice would have been to end their benefits, but Juniper had never claimed to be smart. She loved having sex with Summer. She loved when Summer slept over and when Jie invited her for dinner. She loved that since Jie and Holly knew now, and weren't weird about it, they could stop sneaking around and just be.
It was too late, anyway, to get out of this cleanly. And she wanted to be a good memory for Summer, not a bad one. Not something she would be ashamed to tell a future lover about.
So she didn't end it. She let herself enjoy the last two weeks they had together. Because the truth was, she couldn't regret any of it when Summer just made her so fucking happy.
The night before Summer and Jie left Crystal Peaks, Holly and Juniper had them over for supper. Carla came too, and the mood was bubbly and celebratory. They talked about everything and nothing: Summer's plans to meet the team in Italy, the latest drama in Holly's knitting circle, the skiing reality show that Carla was addicted to (which turned out to be the same one the barista had mistaken Juniper as a cast member of all those months ago). Summer had only ever looked happier on that first day back on her skis.
