Maya nodded. “She’s going to be so pissed about this.”
“Yeah.”
“Vodka pissed, I’d say.” Maya shrugged.
“I guess I would be too,” Finn said. “Come on, Mai, let’s go find her, see what’s going on?”
Walking beside Maya, Finn’s guts churned. This wasbecause of him, because of what had happened in the shower. He should have left her alone, shouldn’t even have flirted with her in the hot tub—it was selfishness, pure selfishness and pity for himself that had made him go after her. It was the evening of one of the biggest competitions in her life, and he’d let his stupid ego and his desire for her take over.
“She’s lucky she made it into the finals,” Maya said. “What do you think put her off? I saw her dad down here—when he should have been up there, with her. I think that didn’t help. Not on top of Becky getting Valestré.”
Finn nodded. “That did cross my mind.”
“I don’t like this, Finn.” Maya’s face clouded over. “Coach wasn’t at Sam’s training this morning either.”
“What?” Finn’s mouth dropped open. “That’s unheard of.”
“I know. Yikes—that doesn’t look good.”
Ahead of them, at the entrance to the ski center, Jake Harrington stood, glowering like a bull ready to charge. His eyes flashed when he saw Finn. Finn groaned inwardly.
“What now?” he muttered to himself as Maya scarpered by Jake, into the warm and cozy ski center. Louder he said, “What’s up, Coach?” as Jake stood in his path.
“You and I need to have a talk. Now.” Jake’s shoulders went back. Finn backed away.
“Sure, is everything okay?”
“No, everything is not okay.” Jake stormed around the side of the cabin. “Explain this to me.” He shoved his phone under Finn’s nose, the Instagram post of Finn and Sam in the hot tub dazzled Finn’s eyes.
Crap, crap, crap. Finn swallowed. How the hell was he going to explain this? Maya had posted the pic before their conversation and it was as hot as hell, and definitely something Finn had never wanted Coach to see.
“I told you, on day one, to stay away from Sam.” Jake’s voice was low and charged with anger. He towered over Finn. “I told you she was on track for a medal. That nothing was to get in her way. You told me you wouldn’t mess with her. Am I right?”
Finn nodded. Damn. He’d never even thought of what might happen if Jake saw the post. He hadn’t realized he had Instagram. Jake had never liked a post, posted a comment, or mentioned it in real life. Now that he saw it through his coach’s eyes—through Sam’s dad’s eyes—he could see how it looked.
It looked like they really were together. Just as they’d planned. He kept his eyes on the screen as the post gathered more and more likes, as comments rolled in. Jake swiped his hand away and started reading out the comments while Finn cringed.
“Have you something to tell me?” Jake snarled.
“No.” Finn pressed his lips together. What the hell was he going to say? That they were pretending to be a couple on social media so that they’d get a deal that would give them both some control over their own lives? That they’d had a steamy shower room session earlier? That he’d fallen in love with Sam the moment he’d first spoken to her, and deeper every day since? There was nothing he could say that would make it right in Coach’s eyes.
“I sincerely hope so,” Jake said. He took a menacing steptoward Finn. “Because what happened earlier shouldn’t have happened.”
Finn paled. Shit. Did Jake know about them in the shower? Surely not. If he did, then he wouldn’t be so calm, if you could call hisI’m going into battle, and I will annihilate you if you get in my waystance calm.
“Coach—”
Jake continued. “Something put her off tonight. If it was you, I swear to God, Finn, you won’t compete in this sport again, because … shit.” Jake rubbed a hand over his face, dragging his features down, making him look a decade older than he really was. “Keep away from her. I mean it. I’m not losing anyone else.”
Finn blinked. That hit somewhere betweenwhat theandtotally unexpected.
Jake quickly looked away, like he regretted the slip. He squared his shoulders before trudging away through the snow, his shoulders down and his face grim.
What the actual…?Finn breathed out and leaned against the cabin, the cold seeping in through his jacket. No one seemed to have noticed the altercation between them, thankfully. It had clouded over, and tiny flakes of snow had started to fall. On the slopes the groomers were out preparing for the competitions tomorrow. The ski center lights switched off as the last of the staff left for the night. Pushing away from the cold wall, Finn trudged through the snow in the direction of the town. Lingering near the ski lifts, he looked down at the yellow glow of the lights that made the town look alive. Music and singing from the nearest bar carried up the snow-coveredmountainside. People seemed to be in couples, everywhere he looked.
Coach’s words kept coming back at him.Stay away from Sam. Keep away from her. I mean it. You won’t compete in this sport again… Shit. What was he supposed to do now? He’d promised to keep his distance—promised not to mess it up for her. And now here he was, falling apart after just one make-out session, one super-hot, intimate and unreal make-out session, with Sam—the one girl he wasn’t supposed to touch. His head spun. Had that moment meant the same thing to Sam—because if it hadn’t, then what? Had she gone along with it as a part of their fake-dating plan? Nothing about it had felt fake to him. Not even for one second.
Kicking up some snow, Finn trudged onwards, a thought forming in his mind. He groaned, annoyed with himself imagining it was real. Sam had never said anything about wanting it to be more than fake dating—and stupidly, neither had he. No. He’d just hopped into the shower with her and said that rules were stupid.Damn—that could mean anything. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He’d been talking about that rule they’d made—that stupid pact to stay away from each other—and in the heat of the moment, he’d assumed she knew that. But he hadn’t actually said it. And neither had she.Crap. He felt stupid. He’d been floating around all evening imagining that she’d wanted him as much as he wanted her. He’d even pictured a life with Sam by his side, not as a training partner, but as his best friend and lover.Wow!
