THE SLOPES | shawmila

four.

Camila loved the city, but she had to admit that waking up to the sounds of nature and no honking horns and sirens was actually nice.

She rose early, wanting to get plenty of mediation in if she was going to go on the slopes today. She couldn't believe she agreed to actually try, but something about Shawn was very convincing.

She usually wasn't scared about things like roller coasters, but going down a mountain seemed so different. She reminded herself that at least Max was a professional and would likely make sure she didn't die or anything.

Camila kept on her pajamas as she went to make coffee. The house was so wonderfully silent this time of morning. She stepped out onto the porch, the threadbare rug across the wood floor keeping her feet from freezing inside her socks.

She started her usual beginning stretches, losing herself in the routine and feeling her blood flow and endorphins kick in. She stared through the screens out onto the snowy stretch of trees.

Camila was posed carefully when she heard the door open behind her. She didn't move from her tree pose, one leg up. Instead, she just looked over her shoulder at Shawn, silently lifting a finger to her lips and pointed out through the screen.

Shawn walked closer, looking through the screen at what Camila had been watching.

Two white tailed deer were out in the snow, only a few yards from the porch. They'd been grazing in the sparse grass coming up through the snow and Camila didn't want to scare them away.

Shawn smiled, daring to step even closer until he was right beside her. The deer didn't seem to notice. Shawn sipped his coffee, watching the deer graze. Camila kept facing forward, though from the corner of her eye, she was actually watching Shawn.

She knew now that he had to have stolen some of her conditioner last night. It was the only way to explain how amazingly soft his hair looked right now.

Camila tried to go back to her yoga, switching to the other leg now and stretching her arms out. After a moment, Shawn put his empty mug down on the floor and stood beside her, going to copy her tree pose.

Camila rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to laugh. She knew what he was doing, Nick always did the same thing, trying to copy her yoga poses and goof around when she was trying to be serious. Nick always lost his balance on purpose to make her laugh and she expected something like that from Shawn now, but to her surprise, it seemed he wasn't actually goofing around at all—he actually knew what he was doing.

She tried not to let her shock show on her face, instead turning on her acting face once more as she switched poses. Her legs went down and she went into a lunge pose, Shawn copying her effortlessly.

It was like that for a while—Camila leading and Shawn following through increasingly more advanced moves. They didn't say anything. There was only the sound of their even breathing in sync.

She kept her eyes on him, watching the way his arms flexed when he moved. He was wearing too many layers for her to get a good look at his muscles, but maybe that was for the best.

She jumped when there was the sound of branches snapping in the wind outside. In an instant, the two deer took off into the woods.

"I didn't know you did yoga." Shawn said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I've done it for years now." Camila said. "It's super relaxing."

"It is." He nodded. "My sister doesn't really mind it, but she definitely doesn't get meditation. She thinks it's boring."

"Sofia says so too!" Camila laughed. "She doesn't get how you just sit there with your eyes closed."

"Do you do it every day?"