Page 56 of One Winter Knight
“Oh, it is. I want to try it. There’s a ton of skijoring out by my sister Grace. Maybe I can catch one where they match you with a rider before I head back for the spring semester. She keeps sending me pictures of sad chickens in sweaters.” He sighed as he showed me a bunch of photos.
“I didn’t know you could put sweaters on chickens,” I replied. They were so cute, too.
“Tutus as well.” He showed me more pictures.
I did a little happy dance, overwhelmed at the sheer cuteness of chickens in tutus.
He chuckled. “If you like that, here’s a hedgehog in a top hat.”
“That monocle.” My hand went to my mouth. “Does Grace have a farm?”
“No. But she’d probably like that. They have bunnies, too. Oooh, look, they’re going to start.” Hale put an arm around me and I snuggled into him, wanting the closeness after what we’d shared.
I pulled Carlos to me as well. “Fastest wins?”
“Fastest and most precise. You get penalized if you miss jumps, don’t grab a ring, and stuff like that,” Hale explained.
“I’d try it.” Carlos nodded.
A horse galloped down the track, pulling someone on skis behind them. The skier went over jumps, swerved fire, and grabbed rings, before coming to a stop. The judges gave them a score.
The next person was a snowboarder, and the horse was fucking beautiful. I took a video and sent it to Saoirse.
Me
Us?
Saoirse
That looks insane. Still on for later or are you going to stay with them?
I’d booked time at the spa for us.
Me
Still on. Have fun.
We watched some more.
“This is fun, but I’d like to hit the slopes a little before I meet Saoirse at the spa,” I finally told them, checking the time.
“Sounds good to me, though I can’t handle the difficult slopes. I didn’t grow up doing this. I learned when I played with the Bantams,” Carlos admitted.
“Wait a sec? I want you to see this,” Hale told me. People were out tidying up the course.
Suddenly, someone came out on a snowboard, pulled by four fat little fluffy dogs. No jumps, no fire, just the dogs running through the flat part of the course, pulling a young woman.
The crowd cheered. I squealed at the cuteness. The dogs woresweaters.
“Skidoodling,” Hale told us. “Maybe you can do that.” He clapped Carlos on the shoulder.
“I would absolutely do that.” Carlos nodded.
“Me, too,” I agreed. It finished and I put my arm around Hale. “Ready to go?”
“Yep, I just wanted to watch a little and have you see some skidoodling. So, you and Saoirse are super serious?” Hale asked.
“She moved from Ireland for me, I’d say so.”
