Previously … on Snow Bunnies:

“Are we doing anything together tonight?” Shane asked, a grin curling at her lips. “Go, call her, ask her out, take her to dinner, no ***** though” Bette ordered in a motherly way, “Yes Mom” Shane cheekily responded.

“And I was also wondering … if maybe you’d like to have dinner or something tonight” Shane asked clearly and with apparent confidence. “Sure, that’d be nice” Tash answered, a little surprised but growing more excited the more she thought about it.

“So? Do we have a date?” Dana asked, giving Shane a wink, “We do … and I have a second one later tonight” she proudly declared, drawing congratulations from her friends. Bette raised her glass “To the start of something new for Shane”.


**********

The gang leave the warmth of the cafe, heading out to reclaim their skis and take on the afternoon. Alice and Dana were saying their cutesy goodbyes as they were to be going in opposite directions for a portion of the afternoon. “I’m gonna miss you AllyBear” Dana babytalked, “Not as much as I’ll miss you DaneyBoo” Alice responded as they snuggled up close together and rubbed noses eskimo style.

Bette raised an eyebrow as she witnessed the display. She leaned in and spoke softly to Tina “were we ever this sickeningly cute?”. Tina smiled, placing her hand on Bette’s crossed forearm, “Bette, we were worse than this”. Better rolled her eyes and shook her head “well then we really have some apologising to do”, she suggested. “Baby, you realise that Alice was probably thinking exactly like you are now, when we were all lovey dovey. Now its her time … let her have it, something this loving can’t be a bad thing for the world” Tina rationalised. She always had a way of seeing both sides of the coin, a trait that Bette loved in her. Bette simply smiled and covered Tina’s hand on her forearm with her own hand. “Oh my God, she called me BABY” Bette thought as that one word rang out musically in her ears.

Shane’s impatience was growing as she reached forward and grabbed the hem of Dana’s jacket by way of hurrying her along. “Come on lovergirl, plenty of time for all this later, we’ve got skiing to do”. Alice pouted as her girl was dragged away, “You mean you’ve got some mackin’ to do Shane” she cheekily suggested. Shane winked back, turning to shout “Maybe I wanna work some of my magic on your girl”. Dana was gobsmacked, she turned to Alice and started shaking her head with eyes dramatically wide. “Oh don’t make me hurt you *****!” Alice warned, stabbing her ski poles into the snow with a thud. Shane couldn’t help but giggle, naughtily wiggling her tongue at Alice who was trying her best not to laugh.

Dana and Shane sat on the bench, waiting to meet up with Tash who was going to give them some private instruction. Shane shuffled her skis nervously, a cute sight not un-noticed by Dana. “Relax Shane, I’ve never seen you like this before, so … nervous”. “So … human” Shane added, causing them both to laugh. “Well that is true …” Dana began, “I’ve always thought you were a ***** machine!”. “I get by …” Shane retorted, “but maybe it’s about time I tried being a love machine”. “I dunno, I think being human suits you, but I’m sure you would thrive at being a love ma-Shane” Dana joked, albeit rather lamely. “Oh Geez, Dana, you gotta tell that one to Alice, she could use that in future”. Dana smiled, knowing that Shane was probably right, Alice was never one to miss out on an opportunity to make fun of those she loved.

Tash spotted Shane and Dana chatting on the bench and just watched for a moment. Always a keen observer, it was after all part of her job, to watch her students techniques and help them improve, Tash studied the interactions between the two. From what she knew of Shane so far, she could tell that she was quiet, unassuming, yet somewhat guarded about who she really was. She seemed shy, quite the opposite of how her close friends saw her, particularly if she was on the prowl. Tash did not know it yet, but she just may have seen a side of Shane the others haven’t seen. The caring, loving, innocence of a woman who underneath it all just wanted to be loved. A smile lit up Tash’s face as she moved over toward the waiting women.

Dana noticed Tash approaching and gave Shane a not-too-subtle shot to the ribs with her pointy elbow. Shane flinched and shot Dana a glare before realising Dana was looking at someone. Shane’s face mirrored the smiling glow of Tash. Shane rubbed her ribs and nudged Dana back playfully, trying to disguise the blatant “she’s here” notification that Dana sent her way. “Thanks so much for helping us out Tash” Dana gratefully acknowledged. “Yeah, we think we’ve almost got it, but just wanted to get a few more tips and some confidence”. Tash smiled, seeing right through Shane’s ulterior motive. “Hey, no problems, I’m happy to do it” Tash responded, “besides, it means I get to hang out with … with more fun people my own age”. Now it was Shane’s turn to get a glimpse at Tash’s motives.

Shane and Dana impressed Tash with how much they’d learnt and been able to commit to memory on their first day of skiing. For Shane, the extra lessons were a way of impressing Tash and winning her affections. What she didn’t count on was that she would actually have FUN skiing, or that she would find falling over so amusing. She hit the snow only once during their afternoon session and managed to take Dana down with her. Quite a sight to see them tangled together, Dana spreadeagle on top of Shane. Tash couldn’t help but laugh as she tried to help them up. Alice however, who was travelling overhead on a chairlift, didn’t quite see the humor in it, especially when Shane knew she was watching and decided to ham it up. Shane grabbed Dana’s butt with a slap and started wriggling under her, making over-exagerrated groans. Her face a picture of staged ecstasy, and her responses to Dana’s innocent questions was priceless.

“Shane, can you help me up?” Dana begged. “Oh Dana ok I’ll try baby” Shane shouted as she watched Alice seething. She caught Tash’s eye and nodded toward the ski lift by way of explanation. Tash looked up and saw the reason for Shane’s mischievious ways . “I think my leg is cramped up” Dana groaned as she tried to push herself up. “Mmmm here let me rub it” Shane responded as she started to rub the back of Dana’s thigh. Tash tried to stifle her giggles as she glanced up and saw that Alice was almost out of the chair and ready to bungee down to strangle Shane. Dana eventually righted herself and was on her feet.

Shane and Tash were both laughing hysterically as Tash extended her hands to Shane and proceeded to help her up. Their hands stayed held for a few more seconds after Shane was standing safely. The moment not lost on either of them as they smiled softly into each others eyes, their little world interrupted by Alice screaming like a banshee. “Shane you are a dead woman when I catch up with you, do you hear me? You better pray that you don’t fall down or I’m leaving ski tracks all up and down your boney *****!” Alice shouted all in one breath down to Shane. Dana was none the wiser and struggled to hear what Al was saying, instead waving back and yelling “Hiiiiiiiii baby … did ya see me? I falled down gone boom! … what? … there’s ski tracks that go up and down the where?”. Tash and Shane laughed more as Alice’s wild flailing figure soon disappeared into the distance.

“Well I think on that note, I’m gonna go take a rest for a little while” Dana announced, dusting the snow off of her jacket. “I think I’ll go with ya Dane, I need a caffeine hit” Shane added, “Tash? You gonna come with?”. “Nah … I’m gonna go spread my wings a bit, get a few big runs in” Tash answered, noticing that Shane looked a little disappointed, although she tried her best not to show it. There was silence as Shane nodded reluctantly, she had hoped to get to know Tash more today. Dana sensed the moment was awkward so she excused herself. “Ok, well I’m heading in, thanks again Tash, I’ll be sure to mention you in my gold medal acceptance speech for un-graceful ski tumbling”. Tash extended her hand to shake, “it was my pleasure Dana, you did really great, you’re ready to go up and down with Alice” she giggled. Dana wiggled her eyebrows at the suggestion, “Mmmmmmm that sounds like fun, cya!”. “I’ll be in there in a minute Dane …” said Shane as she smiled softly at Dana. “Sure, no problem” Dana smiled back, giving Shane a wink.

“So Miss Shane … I believe you asked me out on a date earlier” Tash began playfully, calling Shane’s bluff. “Wow … umm yeah, I didn’t think you’d remember me asking” Shane stumbled, a little taken aback, she didn’t think Tash would be the one to broach the subject. Tash took a step closer, leaning in as she spoke “how could I forget?”. Shane blushed and looked down at her boots, rubbing the back of her neck in what Tash noticed to be her familiar nervous movements. Eyes cast down in shyness, rubbing her neck or dragging her slender fingers through her hair for comfort. She was noticing a lot about this intriguing woman, and wanted to notice a whole lot more. “So tonight …” Tash stated, “how about we go to FrostBite, it’s just down the road from that bowling alley we were at last night”. Shane was internally gobsmacked, Tash remembered that they saw each other at Bowlarama. Maybe Tash was as taken with Shane as Shane was with her. Shane could only hope that were true, and from the look of things, it was certainly turning out that way.

“Sounds like a plan” Shane remarked, “So what time shall we go? Do you want me to pick you up? What do I wear?”. Tash found Shane’s nervousness so cute, had she even been on a date before? “I’ll come by at 7pm and we’ll go from there, dress neat casual, and don’t panic so much, this is supposed to be fun”. Shane chuckled, trying to compose herself since it was apparent Tash noticed how flustered she was becoming. She hadn’t been on a date in a very long time, and all the encounters since that period in her life had somewhat overshadowed those innocent times. “Okay … I’ll see you then” Shane finally spoke, “Thanks again for today, I hope it didn’t put you out too much”. “Don’t be silly, I was happy to do it” Tash answered, smiling as she recalled how clumsy Shane was to start with, and how she got on so well with those kids. “If you ever need me, for ski instruction or … whatever, well, you have my number okay?” Tash nervously stumbled over her words, trying unsuccessfully not to be so obvious. “Deal, see you tonight” Shane confidently purred. “Seeya Shane” Tash farewelled her, softly brushing her palm down Shane’s upper arm before skiing off to the chairlift.

Shane was melting, that gentle touch sent her senses into overdrive. She headed into Blizzard on cloud nine to meet up with Dana. As Shane sat down, Dana immediately noticed the grin on Shane’s face. “No prizes for guessing how all that went” Dana joked. “She’s picking me up at 7pm, we’re going out for dinner” Shane started, “and … she touched my arm”. “Oooooh” Dana sang sarcastically, “So when are you two getting married?”. Shane gave Dana a playful shove for her troubles “Gimme a break Dana, I haven’t done this in a long time, and I’m just … excited thats all”. “I’m sorry Shane, I’m such a bad friend, I should be happy for you not bringing you down” Dana apologised. “It’s okay, you’re spending more time with Alice, her acid tongue had to rub off on you sometime” Shane explained, suddenly realising what she’d said and joining Dana in her devilish laughter. “Oh yeah, she does have a pretty potent tongue” Dana winked.

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~tbc~