Fighting for the Edge (33 page)

“She didn’t tell you we hooked up in Paris?”

Chris looked back at her, his eyes now wide with confusion and disbelief. Her throat turned sour with bile, and her whole body began to tremble.

She shook her head vehemently. “It wasn’t…” she choked as tears of shame mixed with the bile. “I was drunk…”

“You knew what you were doing,” Damien said and then turned to Chris. “I’m just trying to help you out, man. You might think you’re getting something special, but she’s just another slut.”

Chris’s jaw clenched and he slammed his fist into Damien’s mouth, sending him stumbling backward. Aubrey watched numbly as Damien touched the blood oozing from his lip and then charged toward Chris, swinging his own punch. Chris ducked and shoved him, setting him up for another hit, but Shawn jumped between them.

“He’s not worth it,” Shawn said, pushing Chris in Aubrey’s direction.

Damien grunted and held his hand to his mouth. “You deserve each other.”

He disappeared into the darkness, and Aubrey clutched her stomach. She thought she might be sick. The people standing around them whispered to each other and glanced at her with raised eyebrows. Everyone nearby had heard what Damien said about her.

Chris stared at his bruised knuckles and then slowly lifted his head. She didn’t want to see his eyes. Her heart couldn’t take it if he looked at her with disgust.

Before he could turn to her, she raced toward the door, pushing her way through the crowd. She burst out into the frigid night and flagged down the first taxi she saw. As they took off for the Village, she slunk down in the backseat, still holding her stomach.

She’s just another slut.

She bit down hard on her lip, holding in the suffocating cry. She kept it in during the ride, but as soon she reached her dorm room, tears flooded her eyes. How was she ever going to face Chris? Would he be able to look at her without thinking of her with that piece of slime?

She sat on the edge of her bed and dropped back onto the blanket. She should’ve known things were too good between Chris and her. The stupid mistakes she’d made in her past were bound to come back and screw her over.

A knock rapped on the door, and she shot upward. That had to be Chris. But she wasn’t ready to see him. She didn’t know when she’d ever be ready to see him.

“Aubrey?” he called.

Just hearing his voice brought another round of tears. She covered her mouth and turned toward the window.

“Aubrey, please open the door,” he said lower.

She stood motionless, trying to catch her breath. His pleading tempted her to throw open the door and wrap herself around him, but she couldn’t make herself move.

“Please talk to me.” His voice grew even deeper with emotion. “I’ll stand here all night if I have to.”

She had to say something because she believed he
would
stay out there all night. She crept to the door and leaned her head against it.

“I don’t want you to see me right now,” she said, sniffing back tears.

“I really need to talk to you.”

She rubbed her forehead. It might be better to face him now and get it over with. Air all her dirty laundry so he’d know just the kind of girl he was dating.

She turned the knob and retreated with her back to the door.
Okay, so I’m not quite prepared to literally be face to
face with him.

His footsteps stopped a few feet behind her, and he took a moment before he spoke. “I’m so sorry you had to hear that… garbage.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear it, too.”

He hesitated and then asked quietly, “What happened in Paris?”

She hugged her arms over her chest and stared at the floor, still not turning around. “Even though we won, I was upset because I didn’t skate well, and I drank way more than I ever have. I don’t remember much except Damien buying me shot after shot. Everything else is a blur.”

“He took advantage of you,” Chris seethed.

“I don’t remember how things happened…” She pressed her temple. “I never should’ve drank so much. It was my own fault for staying in the bar so long.”

“It’s not your fault that jerk didn’t have the decency to walk away when he saw the condition you were in.”

“I wish I could blame it all on him, but I can’t.” Her head swayed back and forth as she walked further away from Chris. “Maybe it’s good this came out now. I don’t want you to be mistaken about who I am.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve only dated two girls. I’ve dated half of Cape Cod.”

“Aubrey…”

“I’ve made lots of bad decisions when it comes to guys, and I’m not–”

“I don’t care about any of that.”

She felt him come up behind her, and he put his hands on her waist. “Look at me,” he said softly.

It had taken her so long to find a guy she could trust – someone who made her feel safe and cherished. She wanted to believe more than anything that something so good could last, but those old fears, those walls she’d had around her heart for so long… they hadn’t completely gone away.

Chris moved in front of her, but she kept her head down. He gently pushed the curtain of hair away from her face and tilted her chin up to him, and her eyes were forced to meet his. She carefully looked into them and let out a tiny exhale. They held the tenderness she’d come to know so well. Not a trace of disappointment.

“I know exactly who you are,” he said. “You are the most beautiful, lovable, funniest, exciting woman I’ve ever known.”

She relaxed into his touch, and he continued, “I don’t care about anything that happened in the past. The only thing that matters to me is who you’re dating now. I know the guy pretty well, and he’s head over heels, wants to be with you day and night, beyond madly in love with you.”

The smile she felt on her lips came from a place deep inside, behind the walls that were slowly crumbling. There was no reason to be afraid anymore. It was time to look only to the future and to the happiness waiting for her with Chris.

She reached up and gave him a feathery kiss. “You’ve made me a believer.”

“In what?”

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again. “Everything.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aubrey looked up into the cheering crowd and felt the sense of satisfaction she’d hoped for after her final competitive skate. The audience was on its feet, wildly applauding the perfect free dance she and Nick had just performed. They’d skated perfectly in all three phases of the ice dance event, ending their career with no regrets. She couldn’t ask for anything more.

Nick took her hand after their bows, and they met their smiling coaching duo at the boards. Natalia swept her into her arms while Peter embraced Nick.

“Beautiful! Magnificent!” Natalia exclaimed.

“I don’t think we could’ve given any more,” Aubrey said.

Peter put his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the kiss and cry, and she peered into the stands for Chris. He said he’d be near the top of the closest section of seats. His waving arms caught her eye, and she smiled and blew him a string of kisses. He did the same until she had to sit to wait for the scores.

She and Nick linked their arms and their hands together and stared at the small monitor. They were currently in fourth place after the compulsory and original dances, where she’d expected them to be. Marley and Zach had skated amazingly so they were right ahead of them in the standings. The Russians were in first, and the second-place Italians would skate next.

The announcer read the marks, and Peter and Natalia clapped at the high score, their best of the season. Aubrey held her breath, wondering if it could be enough to pass Marley and Zach. It wasn’t likely, but she had a sliver of hope.

“… and they are in third place,” the announcer declared.

Her shoulders dropped. They’d almost certainly be bumped down to fourth once the Italians skated, so their podium dreams were pretty much dead.

“We did everything we could,” Nick said while hugging her. “We went out with our best.”

She squeezed him hard. He’d had nothing but a positive attitude since she’d messed up at nationals. They didn’t usually get very emotional with each other, but she’d been more sentimental lately than she’d ever been.

“You’re awesome,” she said, her voice wavering. “I just want you to know that.”

He cleared his throat. “Of course I know that.”

She laughed and slapped his back, and he held her tighter. “You’ll always be my girl.”

They stood and she waved at Chris as they left the kiss and cry. He patted his heart and pointed at her, bringing a huge smile to her face. She might not win a medal, but she’d leave the Games with an even bigger prize.

A long line of media awaited them in the mixed zone backstage. They started at the head of the line and saw Marley and Zach further down amid the chaos. Aubrey wanted to go congratulate them, but the NBC reporter started firing questions at her.

She and Nick moved slowly along the line, repeating their happiness with their performance to every member of the press. As one of the print journalists prepared to interview them, a buzz spread through the area, and Marley rushed up to them and grabbed her arm.

“You got bronze! The Italians fell!”

Aubrey stared at her, unable to process what she’d said or form a coherent response.

Nick gaped at Marley, too. “Are you serious?”

Peter and Natalia pushed past the reporters, and Natalia cried, “You win medal!”

Aubrey’s head spun in all directions. This couldn’t be some kind of mistake, could it?

Nick began whooping and laughing, and Marley choked her with a hug. Peter and Natalia swooped in for more hugs, and the news finally sank in. They’d won a freaking Olympic medal!

They did more laughing than talking during the rest of the interviews. Neither of them could put into words what they were feeling besides shock. They learned the Italians had fallen on one of their footwork sequences, similar to the mistake she and Nick had made at nationals. She knew how awful they must feel, especially screwing up in front of their home crowd. But she and Nick had earned their spot on the podium with three stellar performances. No one could deny that.

When they stood on the podium a few minutes later, she couldn’t stop smiling and staring at the medal hanging around her neck. It was so much more than just a shiny piece of metal. It was the culmination of all the early mornings at the rink, the cuts and bruises, the political games they’d had to play. She and Nick had battled through it all together and had thrown down the best performances of their lives at the biggest event of their career.

After they posed for all the official podium photos and took a victory lap, they scooted off the ice, and Aubrey saw her parents, Chris, Em, and Sergei standing in the first row above the kiss and cry. Chris climbed over the railing and jumped to the ground, and he lifted Aubrey into his arms for a long embrace.

“I’m so happy for you,” he said in her ear.

She pressed her face to his neck and left a tiny kiss. “It makes it even better having you here with me.”

He set her down, and she looked up at her parents. They wore genuine bright smiles, something she didn’t see on them often.

Her mom leaned over the railing, stretching to grasp her hand. “We’re so proud of you.”

Aubrey squeezed her hand and gave her the bouquet she’d received on the podium. “These are for you.”

She held the flowers to her nose. “Thank you, honey.”

Her dad angled forward and reached out for her hand, too. “You deserved this. I know how hard you’ve worked.”

Her throat tightened as she felt the warmth of his gesture. “Thanks, Dad.”

She took a deep breath and made her way over to Em and Sergei. Em bounced up and down and then tried to hug her through the bars of the railing.

“We’ll see you at the USA House. I get to be a cheerleader this time!” Em shook her red and blue pom pom.

“Gold and bronze for Team Cape Cod,” Aubrey said. “Not too shabby.”

Chris hooked his arm around her. “Best team on the planet.”

“Will you wait for me to change so we can ride to the party together?” she asked him.

“I’ll wait for you anytime, anywhere.”

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. She knew every day couldn’t be as perfect as this one, but with Chris by her side, she had a feeling they’d come pretty close.

****

“That was such an incredible race,” I said as Sergei and I walked through the Village five nights later on our way back from the Palavela Arena. “But I will never allow our kids to do short track speed skating. It scares the living daylights out of me watching people I don’t even know. I couldn’t imagine if my kid was out there, about to get his hand sliced off by somebody’s skate blade.”

“It is nerve-wracking.” Sergei chuckled. “We’ll encourage them to stick to figure skating. You know, if we have a boy and a girl, they’ll be a ready-made pairs team.”

“No, no.” I shook my head. “I’ve told you my feelings on sibling teams. I want our kids to have a normal brother-sister relationship and not have all the stress of being a pairs team.”

“Think how much they’d probably be in synch, though, since they’re twins. The Petrov kids would be unstoppable!”

I laughed. “Nope, I’m not changing my mind.”

We drifted toward one of the benches along the path, and Sergei cuddled me against him as we sat. We only had one more day in Torino, and I was prepared to be an emotional basket case at the Closing Ceremony. These Games had been the two most memorable weeks of my life for so many reasons.

“Speaking of the twins, we haven’t talked about names yet,” Sergei said.

“I’ve been thinking about some the past few days. What if we do one Russian name and one American name?”

“I like that.”

“I’ve been trying to think of names that have special meaning to us, and I thought of Aquinnah, where we had our first kiss. We could call her Quinn.”

“Quinn Petrov.” Sergei smiled. “I like it a lot.”

“I was having trouble coming up with a boy name with special meaning, though.”