Preacher Man // ross lynch + driver era

22

"How are you already struggling on the bunny slope?" Ross asks, referring to the easiest trial they have.

I pout, my pants covered in snow for the third time since we got here. "I told you I'd be bad!" I whine.

He laughs at my frustration. "Keep your skis pointed together at the front, if you keep them wide you are only going to go slow and fall. And you need to simultaneously move your arms to stab the poles beside you, baby."

I hold my poles in my hands and look around at all of the successful children near us. "My brain doesn't work that way, it wants me to walk like I usually do. Ya know, one foot in front of the other," I explain.

"You're getting better. Keep trying," he persuades as he stands in front of me to observe me. He's at least three feet ahead of me. "Come to me. I'll try to catch you if you fall instead of letting you fall on your face again."

I groan softly to myself and begin to move my poles behind me, trying to focus on pulling myself forward. I manage to pull myself down to Ross and my eyes are wide. In reaction, I put my arms up in the air excitedly. "I did it!" I yell happily.

He smiles at my expression. "Good job, babe. Only took you thirty minutes to get three feet without falling," he teases, his gloved hands reaching out to me.

I smack his hands away. "Don't tease. Milestones!"

"Yes, Hayls! Perfect," Ross cheers me on once I successfully ski down the entire baby slope.

Many kids have successfully learned how to ski in half the time that I needed, but that does not mean I didn't get it done. "A professional in the making," I wink as I wobble into his arms.

"Oh, I know," he smiles and adjusts the ski mask to cover his mouth better. "Ready to go to a different slope?"

I sit on the ski lift fifteen minutes later. "I don't like this," I whimper as it begins to take off. "I really don't like this."

"Heights?" He questions once we begin to get to the height where it stabilizes.

I nod. "Only with stuff like this. Ya know, where I can potentially fall to my death too easily. I'm fine with rollercoasters surprisingly," I say. I turn to stare at him to avoid looking at the ground.

"I can start moving around so it shakes if you'd prefer that motion," Ross teases.

I shake my head. "I will push you off this so fast," I say and grip my hands onto his thick jacket.

His head tilts back in laughter at my panicked state. "See, we're already almost there," he looks ahead of us where we get off. "Just don't fall when trying to get up."

"Why would you say that! Now I'm going to fall," I laugh and he smiles cheekily at me.

We went three hours of more skiing and it was surprisingly very successful. I fell less and less as time went on. Ross looked genuinely impressed.

And damn, does that man look good skiing.

Now we are sitting in the little hut located on the mountain with both of us drinking coffee to warm up. "Are you having fun?" Ross asks.

I nod. "Yes. Thank you again. Are you?"

I watch as the couple beside him move off of the couch, so I move from my singular seat to sit next to him. "Yes. A lot," he says. Ross leans over and pulls off his gloves to put his hands over mine. "We can ski for about another hour or so then we could call it a night. Don't want you to get sick," he mutters and lifts his hand to swipe his finger across my bottom lip. His eyes inspecting every inch of my face.