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slope to be gone this long,” He said. His eyes never blinked, his face
hardened, or was that my nerves.
    Where the hell is she?
    “You will have to ask Hanna. They
all look the same to me. I was about to head up…”
    “Hey, dad.” Hanna came out of the
locker room looking refreshed. She ran up and gave him a hug.
    “Hey sweetheart. I was just
asking Sterling which slope you were…”
    “I took him on a medium run.” She
teasingly stared up at me. 
    Is she crazy? Turn away Hanna
or he will suspect .
    “Good to hear. Hey we’re just
about to feast. Come join us, Sterling”
    “Yes, please come,” She begged,
sounding too excited for someone who’s just a teacher talking to her pupil.
    “I think that I’m going to head
up and rest. You know take it easy for the rest of the night.” My heart was
fighting to get out of my chest, my nerves were on edge.
    “I won’t take no for an answer.
You’re here by yourself and you stay locked up in your suite too much.” He
patted me on the back then walked off with Hanna at his side. Discussion over.
    Dinner was as awkward as ever, me
talking to the parents of the daughter I’m sleeping with. They wanted to know
more about me, where I came from and what I did. I answered politely not trying
to say too much, wanting to get out of there. As if things were not awkward
enough, they asked me why my wife didn’t come.
    “This was a business trip and
since the job wanted me to stick around to talk to the big boss when he got
back they offered this ski trip.” Hanna grabbed my hand under the table and
squeezed it tightly.  A simple touch by her shot a current up my body.
    But I wasn’t sure if she grabbed
my hand staking her claim or trying to relax me. As much as I wanted to
continue to hold her hand, the pit in my stomach grew. I pulled away unable to
face her.
    I excused myself to go to the
restroom, but in all honestly to gather myself together. This was some heavy
shit I was in.
    I just met her. How is she
under my skin?
    When I left the stall, there she
was by the mirror.
    “What the hell are you doing in here?
This is the men’s bathroom,” I asked walking over to the sink.
    “Don’t worry I locked the door,”
She said reaching over and taking my junk in her hand. For a split second my
mind instantly succumbed to her touch. Just that quickly I imagined being
inside her again. But I managed to snap out of it, and stepped back removing
her hand. This was crazy. It was like she had some kind of hold over me.
    “This is not a game and your
father is not a stupid man.” I washed my hands splashing water on my face, not
believing this bullshit right now. “Hanna, you have to get back to the table.” I
was doing my best to not freak out. “We both can’t go missing at the same
time.” I inadvertently snapped at her but then felt bad when her head hung low.
“I’m sorry, but please.” I held her shoulders.
    “What’s wrong? I came because you
seemed upset, Sterling. You’re not regretting this are you?”
    “Just give me a minute to think,
Hanna.” But when she didn’t move I saw in her eyes what I knew to be true. What
she had said earlier in her sleep was true. She was in love with me. Young love
happens so fast, and when you’re in it you lose logic and reasoning. Nothing
makes sense other than that love.
    What have I done?
    I held her close removing the
threatening tears. “No regrets, Hanna. Now please go back and I will meet you
soon.”
    “Okay.” She walked to the door
then stopped. “But I will see you later, I mean after dinner?”
    If I were a smart man I would
have said no, but lately I haven’t been too smart. “Yes, of course,” I sighed.
    I made through dinner and headed
for my room. I headed straight to the bar, took two shots of tequila. I turned
off all the lights and fell back on the bed. Tonight was too close for comfort.
    What was it about this girl that
spun me irrational? Was it the excitement, the risks, what? One