“I did it,” he said quietly, then again more loudly. “Hell yeah! I did it!”
He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, kissing the tip of her nose before running his hands through his hair, leaving it standing on end. He’d done it. He’d done it. Yeah! All the hours of training, the long days and the arguments he’d had with himself about whether it was going to be worth it or not … the sacrifices … He looked at Sam as she ran to high-five Maya who was filming it all. She was his biggest sacrifice. A hollow feeling began to form in his stomach. He’d won gold, but Sam still needed hers. He’d always imagined that she’d have hers first. She looked back at him, her face lit up with a genuine smile, her eyes sparkling with pride. She pointed and he turned around. They’d brought the podium out. Turning back to her, he pulled a silly smile and shaped his hands into a heart. She blushed, and then he was on the podium, the crowd was cheering, cameras flashing.
Someone placed the medal over his head and the weight of it surprised him. The ribbon on his neck was sharp. Lifting the medal, he looked at it, tears in his eyes. His mom would be so proud. Blinking away the tears, he tried to keep his composure. The air sizzled with energy as someone pushed a huge bottle of champagne into his hands and he followed the other medalists in shaking the bottle and spraying it everywhere, much to the crowd’s delight.
His eyes darted to Sam. Surrounded by their teammates she was cheering and clapping him on. He grinned back, his head light as he picked up the gold medal and looked at it before looking at Sam again. She gave him a thumbs up, her face bright and smiling. His heart almost burst. Seeing Sam smile at him like that, like he was hers and she was his, was the real gold, and felt special, almost secret.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught Maya filming them and he forgot all his misgivings. She could record them all day long if Sam just kept smiling at him that way. Stepping down from the podium he waved to the crowd, the medal comfortably heavy against his chest, but his heart as light as a snowflake. Maya was beaming, nodding at him as he moved toward Sam. She had that sparkle back in her eyes, one that he hadn’t seen in days now. Finn started walking faster, closing the distance between them in no time. There was no one else he wanted to be with.
“Hey,” Finn said, his focus on Sam.
Sam slipped her arm through his, her bright smile warming his heart. “Come on, let’s go celebrate! Do we have to call you Goldie from now on?”
Finn burst out laughing. “Sure, if that helps you remember who I am now.”
Sam shoved him. “Oh, I know who you are, now—Mister Goldie McGold Medal Winner!”
Finn playfully pushed her back, laughing as she scooped up a snowball. Dodging her throw, he fell over. Jumping up, he grabbed a handful of snow before running toward Sam. Her giggles and shrieks as she ran, ducking from a possible impending snowball, made him smile. Catching her, he held the snow above her head, his eyes crinkling as she cringed.
“No! Don’t! Finn!” She gasped, laughing as she tried to catch her breath. He stood there, watching her, her cheeks flushed with cold and joy. He could still feel the sting from last night—her walking away without any explanation at all. He still couldn’t work out what he’d said or done, but what he did know was that everything was better now shewas here. Everything. He grinned and lowered the snowball, loving how she wriggled in his arms, how she laughed and threatened to cover him with snow if he dared drop it on her.
Laughing, he held her tightly, until a familiar shape grabbed his attention.
From the barriers, Coach Harrington was watching them intently. A sharp pain twisted in Finn’s chest. He looked at Sam, at her beautiful smile, the way her hair escaped her braid no matter how tightly she plaited it. He longed to brush her hair back from her eyes and feel her shiver under his touch. He wanted to count the tiny freckles on her nose just so he knew how many there were. His heart contracted. Everything about her was perfect. Dropping the snow, he laughed and hugged her instead. Deep down he knew he’d never do anything that might hurt her. In fact, he’d do anything to protect her.
16
Sam
Sam brushed snow from her collar, relieved that Finn hadn’t rubbed it in her face, and that some of Finn’s die-hard fans had found them and interrupted their snowball fight. The way he’d looked at her … the way his lips had parted. God, if he hadn’t let her go, she’d have kissed him. And that would have been a huge mistake—fake-dating plan or not. One kiss could turn this whole moment on its head, and this was Finn’s moment. He deserved to celebrate his win without her stealing it away from him. And she deserved it too. Kissing him now wasn’t going to make anything any clearer. Not when she was still thinking about how natural it had felt to be with him in the shower, as if they were meant to be together. What did that moment mean to him? Did he feel the same way?
She tugged at the cuff of her jacket, her fingers restless as she watched Finn talking with some fans. He posed for a photo with a couple of young teenagers who’d been waiting for him after his win, and her chest ached. He was focused,yet something was off. There seemed to be a slight change in his manner. His jaw was tight despite his smiles and laughter. Every time their eyes met, she felt like she was burning up inside with desire. But she didn’t see that reflected back from him, not even in a fake way. Maybe she was overthinking things, but she shook her head. Was she? It wasn’t like he was angry with her, but there was definitely something there, something unspoken now between them. She exhaled slowly as he smiled at her, trying to push the feeling aside. Shemustbe reading too much into it.
One of the kids tapped her arm and asked her to take a photo of them. Nodding she took his phone and cajoled the group into laughing and smiling. Finn caught her eye; his expression was unreadable. It was driving her crazy.
“How’s my girl?” Maya’s voice cut through her thoughts, soft and careful.
Sam turned, smiling, glad to see Maya. “I’m fine,” Sam lied. “I’m so happy for Finn.”
“Me too.” Maya seemed a little tense. “I was worried …”
“Worried?” Sam handed the boy back his phone and turned her full attention on Maya. “What about? Finn?”
Maya pulled a face. “You know me, I’m always worried.”
Sam tilted her head and raised her eyebrow. “You literally never worry. You’re the most chilled person I’ve ever met.”
“Fine,” Maya admitted. “I had a moment when Viktor pulled off that trick that made me panic, but our boy, well, he did it—he really did it!”
“He did, didn’t he?” Sam said. “I never doubted him.”
She could hear giggles behind her as more fans arrived to ask Finn for a photo. A frisson of jealousy flashed through her as a glamorous woman handed her a camera to take another photo. She huffed as she looked at the small screen, wishing she could take the photo without the woman in it.
“If she was any closer to him, she’d be in his boxers.” Sam sniffed as the woman wrapped her arms around Finn, squealing about how fit he was.
Maya nudged Sam. “Should we tell her that it’s not aBuild-a-Boyfriendworkshop that’s going on here, or do we let this play out?”
Sam grumbled as Maya laughed. Finn seemed to be enjoying the moment. His wide smile wasn’t lost on Sam. She squinted at the screen and took just one photo as the breeze blew a strand of the woman’s hair across her face.
