Page 110 of All You Need Is Gloves
I stay silent for a beat, two beats, to let the suspense drag out. “Guess who’s just been cleared to start training again?”
The shriek she emits makes Tabby jump off my lap. Soon enough, Alara takes the cat’s place to pepper my cheek and jaw with light kisses that make laughter rumble in my chest. Tabby meows loudly, and when we turn to her she’s perched on the coffee table like a petulant child, glaring at her mom for disturbing her peace.
Alara turns back to me, wrapping me in a tight hug. “About time! I knew you could do it.”
I sigh with relief, burying my face in the crook of her neck. “I thought this day would never come.”
“You’re so dramatic.”
“But you love me.”
“I do.” Softly, she places her lips upon mine, and I feel like I’m melting on the spot. Grinning, I’m ready to deepen the kiss, but she pulls away before I can do anything. Then, she stands and runs up the stairs, disappearing as if she were never there in the first place.
“The hell you’re doing?”
She has the audacity to taunt me with a cute giggle. “Getting my gear. Come on, superstar, don’t you want to ride?”
Standing on top of the pitch of the halfpipe is my own version of being on top of the world.
The sky is cloudless, the sun beaming down on me as I adjust my goggles. Behind me, Alara is waiting for me to do the first run, sheer excitement emanating from her, and Gaby is ready with her phone out, set to film my every move. I think it’s sweetthat Dr Ellis is there too.Just to make sure you’re not hurting yourself, he told me, but I know he’s just impatient to see me ride again.
Man, does it feel good to be standing there. I’ve been waiting for this moment for months, and, to be completely honest, it feels surreal.
My heart’s ready to fight its way out of my body, my gloved hands shaking with anticipation.
“Go, D,” Gaby urges, so much eagerness to her tone.
“Don’t rush him,” Alara reprimands, which makes me grin. Look at her defending me again.
Without so much as thinking, I slide across the pitch, then fall down the slope toward the pipe wall. I then go airborne, rotate 540° in a backside direction with a front flip, and land to ride forward again. I hear Alara’s hoot through the adrenaline pumping in my veins as I perfectly land my McTwist.
Rushing toward the opposite wall, I gather enough speed to spiral into a Frontside 1080 tail grab, the three-spin-stunt ingrained like muscle memory. I smile, then propel myself into a backside triple Cork 1440, landing with smooth precision.
Fuck, I feel so alive. So at home – right where I belong.
This is a different kind of dopamine and serotonin seeping through my system – this is what’s been fueling me since I was a kid. Alara’s love is similar, on a stronger, deeper level, but it makes me feel as high as I am right now.
I lose myself in rotations and flips and grabs, grateful to be doing what I love.
Grateful to be surrounded by people who believe in me even when I think the worst of myself.
Grateful to be loved, and to have the honor of loving such a beautiful woman as Alara.
Grateful for the universe that brought me back here when I had no idea of what I was doing or which direction I was headed.
I’m alright, and that’s all that matters.
