was using Cason figured this was her husband and apparently he had been caught cheating on her. Who in the hell would cheat when they had a beautiful girl like her at home? She wondered how the hell that happened. More importantly she wondered when it had happened. Was that the cause of Adler’s recent loss of concentration? Cason saw Adler’s eyes finally lock on hers in the crowd as she headed back up for her second run. She hoped this giant mishap didn’t turn her run into a disaster. This could be dangerous. Cason turned back towards the guy but he was long gone.
***
Adler couldn’t believe he had the balls to show up at her competition, and then to act like nothing had happened, she wanted to kill him. At least no one at the top of the pipe heard her conversation. She knew Gordy was down there somewhere. She hoped he’d understand why she didn’t talk about it. She kept her marriage separate from her career. She walked into the warming tent and took a seat. She’d have a little while before it was her turn to ride again and she needed to get her head in the game. She was four points out of first and sitting in third place. She knew Amy had a Mctwist in her bag of tricks and she would definitely throw it in her final run. If she wanted the gold she was going to have to do a lot more than attempt her new trick, she’d have to land it and she knew it.
Amy watched Adler sit down on the aluminum chair. She was quiet which wasn’t normal. They were usually razing each other at this point in the competition. Adler’s run was good, but typical and not signature Adler Troy. It was cautious just like her qualifying run.
“You okay?” Amy walked over and asked.
Adler forced a smile. “Yeah, just trying to figure out how to beat you.”
“Oh please. You have more in your bag of tricks than I ever thought about attempting. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the gold.” She grinned. “You just look a little spooked. How’s your head?”
“I’m fine.” Adler looked back out at the pipe. “Amy you have the run to beat me, you just need to throw it down. If it’s not my day then it’s not my day.” She shrugged then realized she must sound like a figment of herself. She was usually pumping everyone up. “Maybe I am letting my head get to me a little bit. Hell, we probably all are after these last eighteen months.” She smiled. “If you want my gold you better step up. I’m not going down without a fight.” She said and they both laughed. It felt good to laugh, but nothing helped to clear her mind. Her nerves were razor sharp edges.
Adler pulled her chair over to the side and turned her I-Pod back on. She listened to a handful of motivating songs while she tried to get her focus back. She was visualizing her run in her mind and concentrating on the blue lines of the pipe when the official tapped her on the shoulder. It was her time. This was it. She was either going to throw down a hell of a ride, fall on her ass, or cruise through without a podium run. She strapped her boots into the bindings on her lime green board with pink, black, and white writing. It wasn’t exactly her choice of colors, but it had kick-ass graphics and her sponsor made the board especially for her ride at Winter X.
When the green light flashed Adler stood up and angled her board down the mountain towards the pipe. She hit the frontside wall with more speed than she anticipated, that caused her to get almost two more feet of air than any of the other riders so far. She threw a sick air to fakie, then went right into a backside nine and into her new trick the front side ten-eighty. She held her breath until the board landed smoothly. She carved back across the icy pipe and spun into a frontside ten-eighty and finished with a cab seven. She felt numb, but she was rode flawlessly. She threw her arms in the air and shredded to a stop at the base of the pipe. The cheers from the crowd were so loud she could barely hear the
***
Adler couldn’t believe he had the balls to show up at her competition, and then to act like nothing had happened, she wanted to kill him. At least no one at the top of the pipe heard her conversation. She knew Gordy was down there somewhere. She hoped he’d understand why she didn’t talk about it. She kept her marriage separate from her career. She walked into the warming tent and took a seat. She’d have a little while before it was her turn to ride again and she needed to get her head in the game. She was four points out of first and sitting in third place. She knew Amy had a Mctwist in her bag of tricks and she would definitely throw it in her final run. If she wanted the gold she was going to have to do a lot more than attempt her new trick, she’d have to land it and she knew it.
Amy watched Adler sit down on the aluminum chair. She was quiet which wasn’t normal. They were usually razing each other at this point in the competition. Adler’s run was good, but typical and not signature Adler Troy. It was cautious just like her qualifying run.
“You okay?” Amy walked over and asked.
Adler forced a smile. “Yeah, just trying to figure out how to beat you.”
“Oh please. You have more in your bag of tricks than I ever thought about attempting. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the gold.” She grinned. “You just look a little spooked. How’s your head?”
“I’m fine.” Adler looked back out at the pipe. “Amy you have the run to beat me, you just need to throw it down. If it’s not my day then it’s not my day.” She shrugged then realized she must sound like a figment of herself. She was usually pumping everyone up. “Maybe I am letting my head get to me a little bit. Hell, we probably all are after these last eighteen months.” She smiled. “If you want my gold you better step up. I’m not going down without a fight.” She said and they both laughed. It felt good to laugh, but nothing helped to clear her mind. Her nerves were razor sharp edges.
Adler pulled her chair over to the side and turned her I-Pod back on. She listened to a handful of motivating songs while she tried to get her focus back. She was visualizing her run in her mind and concentrating on the blue lines of the pipe when the official tapped her on the shoulder. It was her time. This was it. She was either going to throw down a hell of a ride, fall on her ass, or cruise through without a podium run. She strapped her boots into the bindings on her lime green board with pink, black, and white writing. It wasn’t exactly her choice of colors, but it had kick-ass graphics and her sponsor made the board especially for her ride at Winter X.
When the green light flashed Adler stood up and angled her board down the mountain towards the pipe. She hit the frontside wall with more speed than she anticipated, that caused her to get almost two more feet of air than any of the other riders so far. She threw a sick air to fakie, then went right into a backside nine and into her new trick the front side ten-eighty. She held her breath until the board landed smoothly. She carved back across the icy pipe and spun into a frontside ten-eighty and finished with a cab seven. She felt numb, but she was rode flawlessly. She threw her arms in the air and shredded to a stop at the base of the pipe. The cheers from the crowd were so loud she could barely hear the
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