And then we were all on the ice for the medal ceremony, three teams of whooping, beaming, emotionally exhausted athletes who couldn’t remain still, standing with coaches who were also beaming. The whole thing was a blur of lights and music and adrenaline.
I stood with the gold medal around my neck while cameras flashed endlessly and national flags climbed toward the ceiling overhead.
Across from me, Luka stood beside Mila beneath the Velkaran flag, bronze resting against his chest.
And when our eyes met again, everything else disappeared.
Then it was over, and we were heading off the ice, still buoyed by the crowd’s energy.
Noah leaned in as we headed through the tunnel. “Well, I think we all know howyou’llbe celebrating tonight.”
Heat shot into my face. “Shut up.”
“Oh, he’sblushing,” Brooke announced in a tone of sheer delight.
Mark intervened before the situation could deteriorate further. “All of you behave yourselves.” His tone carried the impossible optimism of a man who’d forgotten he coached Olympians. “Press conference first thing tomorrow morning. You can celebrate tonight, but try not to destroy the Village.”
Noah looked offended. “You say that like it’s happened before.”
He snorted. “Hmm, let me think. That might be because it has.”
Noah coughed. “Okay, that’s fair.”
Laughter followed us down the corridor beneath the arena,athletes and coaches and officials all moving through the aftermath of competition.
But underneath the noise, underneath the awareness of the gold medal still hanging heavy around my neck, there was only one thought repeating steadily through my head now.
Luka was coming to my room tonight, and this time, neither of us intended to stop.
Then I grinned.
How many condoms would achieve their freedom?
The thought lasted all of three seconds before the truth hit me. If Luka knocked on my door tonight and announced that all he wanted was to crawl into bed beside me and sleep with his head on my chest while the world stayed outside for a few more hours?
That would be enough too. More than enough.
At some point I’d stopped counting down to the next time I saw him.
I’d started wondering what happened after that.
Then Noah yelled something across the corridor about celebratory tequila being “part of the Olympic experience,” and the moment shattered.
I laughed and followed the team toward the elevators, already hearing the knock on my door later that night.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dean
I should have known better.
I’d chosen a quiet corner of the cafeteria to grab a coffee and scroll. It still amazed me how few athletes were around.
Maybe they’re all in the city, having a good time.
I should have been celebrating.
I was sitting in a corner of the cafeteria researching things that would have made thirteen-year-old Dean spontaneously combust.
