He made Robbie shake on it.
Finn slumpedonto the bench and rested his head against the wall.
Robbie hadn’t said a word after they left the ice, just headed for the lockers, moving so slowly Finn was toweling off before Robbie even finished stripping. Robbie liked to hum in the shower—his voice was a smooth tenor, pleasant—though he usually went for strange or obnoxious when picking song choices. Right now, Finn could hear the water running full blast and nothing else.
He should probably check to make sure Robbie wasn’t trying to drown himself.
But what would he say when he got there?I’m sorry you’re so worried about your brother and kid that you fell on your ass on live TV? It’s okay, it’s not like your emotions can’t cost us the whole competition? Don’t worry, only a million people saw you screw up?
Or better yet,I’m sure your kid, who managed to drag himself to the live show despite everything, isn’t at all disappointed, even though this whole competition was his idea in the first place.
Yeah. Definitely not that one.
A tentative knock sounded on the door, and Finn pulled himself to his feet with a gusty sigh. He didn’t want to give blanket permission for anyone to enter. Thankfully they’d been last tonight and didn’t have to worry about another sweaty skater looking for the showers. The rest of the men had already been through.
Finn cracked the door open and found Imogen and Sawyer on the other side.
Sawyer stared up at Finn with wide unhappy eyes. “Is he here?”
“Shower.” Finn considered. “If you stay in the change room, I can poke my head in to tell him you’re here.” He wasn’t sure if it was the right move. What if Robbie wanted space from Sawyer for as long as possible? Then again… Sawyer probably couldn’t do more damage to Robbie’s ego than Finn could. If nothing else, the kid’s presence would probably soothe something within him.
After making sure the kids stayed near the door—Finn did not need to hear it from their parents if Imogen ventured further into a men’s locker room—Finn found Robbie standing miserably under the spray, staring at the wall. He held his uncapped shampoo in one hand but seemed to have forgotten to use it.
“Robbie?”
He jumped. “Yeah?”
“You okay?”
Robbie shrugged. “You?”
“I’ll live. Uh, Sawyer is here. Want me to send
him—?”
“Here?”
“Other side of the wall. I can tell him to go wait further—”
“Tell him I need three minutes.” He squeezed shampoo into his hand and then looked sheepishly back at Finn. It was his first show of emotion other than resignation since they left the ice. “Er, can you bring me my bag? I forgot to…”
Finn looked around and found only discarded clothes. Not even a towel. He snorted. “Sure. Imogen is with him, and I think we’d all prefer it if you didn’t flash her.”
“Yeah, I don’t think CAS would approve.” Tiny flicker of a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Finn nodded and went looking for his deliveries, then returned to the door. “He needs three minutes.”
Sawyer sighed heavily. “He’s trying to wash off the stench of defeat.”
Imogen stepped on his foot and looked at Finn. “You were good, though.”
“It’s my dumb dad’s fault anyway.” Sawyer scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor. “He ruins everything.”
Ouch. Finn caught eyes with Imogen and shared her wince. He didn’t think there was anything he could or should say to that.Robbie is perfectly capable of fucking up all by himselfwasn’t going to help, and in this case he probably didn’t deserve it.
Finn wasn’t going to take his own hurt out on the kids—especially not Sawyer. “Do I stink like defeat too?” he asked instead, hoping for a redirect.
He jumped when the answer came from behind him. “Never. You always smell like a princess.” Robbie put a hand on either side of Finn’s waist to nudge him out of the doorway. “Hey, kid,” he said with a slight smile at Sawyer. “Hi, Imogen.”
