Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

“I need some help!” I shouted, digging without even looking back to see if anyone had heard me. But, seconds later, the patrolman was next to me again, helping me uncover Sarah. When we finally pulled her out, she wasn’t breathing.

The man pulled open her jacket, leaning down to press his ear to hear chest. “She’s still got a heartbeat!”

I pushed him out of the way and straddled her hips, performing CPR. It’d been many years since I’d practiced, but I still remembered the lessons from my Boy Scout days as if they’d been just last week. My own heartbeat rose with each passing second, my body beginning to shake.

“Come on, Sarah,” I said as I pressed down on her chest before leaning over to push more air into her lungs. “Come on. You can do it.”

Time stood still as I continued performing CRP on Sarah. All I could do was think of the things I wished I’d said to her back in the room. All the things I wanted to tell her now.

Her body arched as she sucked in a gasp of her, choking and sputtering as she did so. She still didn’t open her eyes, but she was breathing now, which was definitely a good sign.

“Oh thank god!” I lifted her gently and hugged her tight, not wanting to ever let go with her.

The patrolman said something into his walkie-talkie. I was too busy crying to pay much attention to what he said until he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Take her down the mountain. They’ve got an infirmary set up down at the lodge. I’ll wait here with the other one until someone else can get up here to bring him back down.”

I nodded, carrying Sarah over to the snowmobile, being careful not to jostle her too much. My heart still pounded, threatening to leap from my chest and make its way down the mountain without me. Luckily the snowmobile had straps to hold her in, else she’d have probably fallen right out.

“They’ll be waiting for you when you get down there. Just take it easy and try not to hit too many bumps.” Even the patrolman looked panicked and worried, which just made me feel even worse.

I patted him on the shoulder and smiled, glad for his help. Even though I was sure I wasn’t his favorite person in the world right then, he’d done his best to help me find Sarah. For that, I would be eternally grateful. “Thank you so much.”

He nodded. “Just be careful.

Once I was sure Sarah was secure and not going anywhere, I hopped back onto the snowmobile and made my way back down the mountain. The trip down took much longer than the one up, since I had to be careful with Sarah on the back.

I was halfway down when two ski patrol snowmobiles zipped by my, heading in the direction I’d just come from. At least they wouldn’t have to wait up there too long, though I wouldn’t have minded if Billy had been left up there for the rest of the day.

The fucker deserved it for almost getting my sister killed.

Like the patrolman had said, they were waiting for me when I pulled up in front of the lodge. Two medics rushed over when I came to a stop and immediately began loading Sarah onto a stretcher.

I jumped off, waiting to help if they needed it. But the two loaded her with easy, as if they’d done this a million times. Even as we walked, they were taking her vitals, checking her breathing and heartbeat.

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked, following them into the lodge. Part of the lobby was cordoned off for a small infirmary, white cloth blocking the inside from view.

“We’re not sure yet.” When I tried to follow him into the tent, he put a hand on my chest to stop me. “we’ll let you know as soon as we know something. You need to wait out here.”

Before I could open my mouth to respond, Craig was at my side, pulling me to a group of chairs and couches where most of the guys sat. I hadn’t even noticed them when I’d walked in, nor the group of onlookers that had gathered in the lobby to see what was going on. “Come on, man. Let the medics to do their job. Okay?”

Numbly, I nodded. She’d started breathing again. That had to be a good sign right? That had to mean she was going to be okay. I tried to focus on that, tried to focus on all the good outcomes. She hadn’t been under the snow all that long, so chances were, she would be just fine, I told myself.

What the hell was I going to do if something happened to her?

I’d only just gotten to know her. Even though we’d lived together for the past few years, it wasn’t until this week that I really began to pay attention to her. We’d been friendly, sure, but we’d always pretty much existed separately, only coming together when we had to.

Now though… I couldn’t imagine life without Sarah at my side any more. I didn’t care what my father or Craig or Billy or anyone else thought. I loved Sarah and would do anything I could to be with her for as long as possible.

Even if that meant moving across country. Even if that meant giving up everything and starting over from scratch. If it meant I’d have Sarah by my side, then I would do it all without a second thought.

Craig tried to get me to sit, but all I could do was pace. Once again, I felt useless, helpless. I hated not being in there with her, at the very least holding her hand and letting her know she wasn’t alone. Yet, all I could do was stand out here and wait.

When the lodge doors opened and Billy walked through them, everything inside me boiled up at once. This was all his fucking fault, yet he was fine, like nothing had even happened, while Sarah was in there fighting for her life.

I stalked over to him, my hands balling into fists. When I approached, he opened his mouth to speak just as I swung my first, hitting him in the side of the head and knocking him to the ground. Before I could do anything else though, Craig was there, grabbing my arm.

“Chill dude,” he whispered into my ear. “This isn’t going to help anything.”

Despite Craig’s words, anger still flooded through my veins. I glared down at Billy, wanting to pummel him into oblivion. It was only due to Craig holding my arm that I didn’t.

“This is your fucking fault!” I shouted at him, unable to hold back. “It’s because you she’s in there. What the fuck were you thinking, taking her out on the backcountry like that? Even if there hadn’t been an avalanche, you knew she was a beginner! She never should’ve been out there!”

Billy flinched, holding a hand to his face where I’d struck him. “Look, I’m sorry man. I know it was stupid. I wasn’t thinking okay? I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

I glared at him, not yet ready to accept his apology, by my anger had subsided enough that I no longer felt the urge to pummel him until his was as red as his jacket. Craig seemed to sense this and released my arm, taking a step back.

Still though, I didn’t want him near Sarah. I didn’t even want him to look at her, much less speak to her. Not only had he nearly gotten her fucking killed, but he’d thought it was a great idea to go out on the slopes with her only minutes after he’d tried to fucking blackmail me.

Fucking asshole.

“Stay away from her, okay? I don’t want you going anywhere near Sarah ever again, do you understand?”

Billy nodded, frowning down at the grounded. Then he looked up again, his gaze darting from me, to Craig, to the

rest of the guys. “Look… Can I talk to you in private for a moment?”

I frowned, but nodded, not quite sure I wanted to hear what he had to say. But at least in private, if he said something I didn’t like, I was free to knock his head off without Craig standing there to stop me.

Craig patted me on the back. “I’ll be over with the guys.” He glanced over at Billy and frowned. “Try not to kill him, okay? I don’t feel like explaining to your old man why you’re in jail.”

I snorted. Jail was the least of my concerns right now, but I nodded anyway. If I was in jail, I wouldn’t be able to be there for Sarah, which meant, at the very least, I wouldn’t kill him today. Maybe bloody him a bit, but he’d be able to stumble back to his room after.

Billy lead me over to a corner, away from all the people, but still in full view of where the guys sat. Probably an insurance policy, I figured, just in case I decided killing him was a good idea.

“Look…. About this morning. I’m really sorry. What I said was stupid. I was angry and wasn’t thinking.” He ran a hand through his hair. “When we were out there? All she could do was talk about you. Yeah, she was pissed at you for something, but she still couldn’t stop talking about you.”

Blinking, I stood there, shocked. I’d expected she wouldn’t have wanted to even hear my name after this morning. Yet she’d talked about me the entire time? My heart swelled and I fought back a grin. That meant there was still hope for us.

That meant maybe she’d forgive me for being such an ass.

“I’ll delete the recording, I promise. And I won’t say anything to your father or anyone, okay?”

Nodding, I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “I still don’t want you around Sarah, okay? If she ever found out what you tried to pull, she’d kill you herself, understand? So go back to your room and don’t bother us for the rest of the trip.”

“Okay, I guess that’s fare.” He smiled sadly, then shuffled off toward his room.