“Maybe.” I patted his shoulder. “Ready?”
“Hundred.”
“What?”
He grinned back at me as he slid towards the far end and the hack, raising both thumbs in the air, then making a heart with both hands.
Yeah. I’d never stood a chance.
CHAPTER 29
PERRY
The atmospherein the arena for the first game was so light, so happy, it felt like a natural extension of the team itself. It was clear where the crowds’ hearts were, and I put that down to Alan’s calm leadership, and Evan’s beautiful heart that he willingly put on display before anyone could rip it open for him.
I couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for the Pickering team. Then I remembered throbbing cheekbones and black eyes, and felt a little less sorry for them. After all, they had picked the Darrens so they could deal with that choice.
It wasn’t surprising to see that their team wasn’t as cohesive as ours. We’d already ironed out a lot of our glitches, making communication easy, so even when an end didn’t go our way, we could regroup because we were all in the same headspace.
“Do you think we’ll still be hearing from Curling Canada or the Olympic officials?” I asked Alan during a momentary break between ends.
“Maybe. The answer is the same now as it was yesterday though. If they say anything about our relationship, of how they would like us to behave, we ask them if they would like that in writing for our lawyers, and would they please make the same demands of the heterosexual couples on the ice.”
We already knew the mixed doubles team included a husband and wife duo who both already had Olympic records of their own.
“Fuck, I hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said, thinking how much it would suck for them to have a spotlight on their relationship, rather than their game. On the other hand, wouldn’t it be nice to show people their biases in simple black and white?
He put an arm around my shoulders and told me to look at the crowds in the stands. “Those are the people who matter here. Organizations and committees don’t want to be on the wrong side of the people who bring in the money and attention, and that’s the fans. Right now, we have them on our side. I feel bad for the twins. They could have just as much support, have all the underdog energy, if they would just stop being douche canoes.”
I grinned. “Yeah.” I touched my cheek. “Poor guys.”
Alan gently kissed the spot that had once sported bruises, then gently eased me away. “Go take your shot, darling. We have a gold medal to win, and a country to represent.”
We did win that first-of-three game. It wasn’t a blowout, but it wasn’t a nail biter, either.
We went into game two with confidence, and immediately, the twins engaged a new strategy, trying to distract and sidetrack us and run our game clock down with nasty banter every time we had to deliver a stone.
“Ignore them,” Alan advised.
Evan scowled at him. “If they say one more mean thing about Perry?—”
“Ev.” Alan clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Who cares what they say? They want to take you out of the game. Don’t let them.”
“You’d think a grown-ass adult wouldn’t still react to bullies,” he said. “But I can’t help it, when they mock.”
“You’d think grown-ass adults wouldn’t still be bullies. Yet here we are. Don’t sink to their level.”
“He’s right, Ev,” I said. “They can mock me all they want. Seriously. If the best they can do is make fun of my hair and call me fem, whatever. Playgrounds are more vicious than that these days. Let it go and focus on the game. We’re here for a bigger reason, yeah?”
He nodded and I let out a relieved breath. “Good deal. Let’s get this end started.”
I got it. I really did. I knew they were picking on me because it got to Evan. It was the only way to get through his tough skin. He didn’t care what people said about him. He cared about me and they knew that.
So I spent as much time between him and them as the game would allow and noticed that Carol did the same when I couldn’t. The only good thing about the situation was that it kept me from getting in my head about the crowds and the cameras.
Going into the eighth end, having the hammer, with the score in our favour by three points, I felt good about the game. Not cocky. But optimistic.
Which, of course, is when Jason decided words weren’t enough anymore.
