Snowed In

“Yup. That’s why we’re here,” he confirmed. “That wasn’t even a trail.”

“Not anymore anyway,” Jeremy added. “We were all hurtling down some unmaintained, long-abandoned trail. No wonder the powder was so deep.”

“Nothing at the bottom either,” said Shane. “No gondola. No lift…”

A queasy thought twisted in the pit of my stomach. “Think we caused the avalanche?” I asked. “Going down the old trail, the snow all deep and—”

“No,” said Shane. “Whatever triggered it happened much higher. Way above where we were skiing.”

“Or snowboarding,” said Jeremy.

“More like trying to snowboard,” Shane jabbed.

Jeremy chuckled and nodded. “Ouch man.”

“Hey, if the shoe fits…”

We wandered apart for a bit, following the curve of the ancient, graffiti-covered walls. The back half of the lodge seemed built right into the mountain. There were no windows. No doors. And yet at the front…

At the front, most of the giant, once-picturesque windows had been smashed in by cascades of snow. Caked with ice-covered versions of previous avalanches, from long ago.

The whole place was absolutely freezing. Like some big, dark refrigerator, with the door closed and the light turned off.

And us trapped inside.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. My legs went weak as I realized it was Jeremy’s.

“So you really think we came down on the other side of the mountain?” he asked.

I nodded mechanically.

“Then they wouldn’t even be looking for us here, would they?”

Slowly I shook my head. “Probably not.”

“Well fuck,” he said defiantly, and the word itself sent a bolt of electricity through my body. God, he was gorgeous. Beautifully put together with a sharp, stubbled jaw and a deep, baritone voice.

And hey, why the hell was I noticing all this stuff anyway?

“Do you have any other frat-brothers on this trip that might be seeking us out?” I asked awkwardly. My lips were so numb I could barely form the words properly. “What did you guys call yourselves before… Delta Lambda… something?”

“Mu,” said Jeremy. “Delta Lambda Mu.” He shrugged. “And no, unfortunately not. Normally there would be six or eight of us on a trip like this, but this time around it was just Shane and I.”

“Too bad.”

“Yup,” he agreed. “It’s also too bad it took this long to finally meet you,” he winked. “Been around each other all week, and this is our last stop.”

Last stop…

The phrase was disconcerting. I decided to chalk it up to a poor word choice.

“Like I said, it’s too bad,” Jeremy went on. “Especially since you and I have a lot in common.”

I let out a genuine laugh. “Oh, I doubt that.”

“Really?” He squinted at me through the corner of one eye. “Sorceress or thief?”

I blinked. For a second the question didn’t register.