I got to work an hour early in an attempt to set everything up correctly and possibly stretch and warm up before Olive got here. I may or may not feel like flexing a little bit in front of her; she is not easily shaken it seems, and I want to see that pretty little jaw drop to the floor.

“Hey, what are you doing here so early?” I hear Coop holler from across the giant locker room.

“I’ve got a girl coming by later and just thought I’d, uh, get ready.”

We both brought girls here all the time; it wasn't like this was my first rodeo. But it may be the first time that I’ve been anxious about a girl coming here.

“Two hours before your shift begins?” His grin broadcasted every one of his thoughts.

I shrugged my shoulders as if it was nothing. “Yeah. You know…” I drag my sentence out, unsure how to end it. It’s not like I could pull out anything extra for Olive, but I was too excited to wait it out at home.

His stupid grin grew even wider, and he crossed his arms and leaned against the lockers. “Oh, I get it. You’ve got it bad for some girl and now you’re looking to impress her even more.”

I don’t have it bad for Olive. No way. I simply wanted this to work out for her and her family. And I wouldn’t mind impressing her a little since, up to this point, she had been so unaffected by my natural charm. “Nahhh,” I said, but didn’t meet his eyes.

“So, who is it? Someone local?” Knowing Coop, he’s going to keep digging until he finds what he’s looking for.

“No. Well yes. Kind of. She is from here but moved away and hasn’t been back in a while. I met her on the plane.”

His chuckles bounced off the locker walls. “You met her on the plane? Damn, that’s pretty cool. So, when’s she coming?”

I looked down at my phone for the time. 8:03. “Two hours.” Coop pointed to my bag and said, “Go ahead and suit up, I’ll get everything else ready.” I nodded as a quick thank you and put on my layers. With a low of eleven degrees and the sun barely peeking over the snow-covered mountains, I pulled on my moisture-wicking long-sleeve athletic top and long underwear as my base. I layered from there to end with a top look of all black from head to toe, except for my silver reflective Oakley snow goggles. My short dark hair was loose and wild before I placed a matte black helmet on top of it. With my ski gear all together, I looked like the Grim Reaper only, instead of bringing death to everyone's doorstep, I brought snow and flirty winks.