Drew studied her face. Her voice was upbeat, but he could hear an undertone of sadness. He wanted to ask more but could see it was affecting her, so he tried to lighten things up.
“So, how would it work, the fake-dating slash photo diary exchange?” he asked.
“Well, what do you need for your assignment?” she asked, not so subtly glancing down at the bacon on his plate. He smiled and pushed the plate over to her as she cast her porridge aside and took a bite. Drew paused and thought about it for a moment. His original plan had been to capture a wide array of behind-the-scenes photos of all the athletes he came in contact with, but Ari provided an opportunity to focus on one specific story.
“I never get to use my film camera for work. It’s too risky to rely on images I can’t see until I’ve processed the film. But the photos I take with it always turn out better,” said Drew, puttinga plan together in real time. “So, I could document your journey on film. I already have the New Year’s photos from the day you found out you were becoming captain. I could make it a whole full-circle thing. From being a relatively low-key player in London, to the underdog captain everyone’s rooting for in St. Moritz.”
“I don’t think everyone’s rooting for me,” she said, shaking her head.
“But they will, that’s the power of a good story. And I know I can tell one through photos. Let me come to training with you, take photos of you out and about in the Village, ask you questions about each step of the journey. I have no idea what I’m going to do when I go home to Wisconsin, but I’ve always wanted to be a photojournalist. This could either be the final thing I do before I start fresh back home, or it could be the project that impresses Zeus enough to hire me again.”
“So, we would both get something out of this arrangement,” she said, nodding.
“Exactly. We just need to figure out the terms,” he said. He pulled out his phone and typedFAKE-DATING PLAN.
“Are you making notes?” she asked, amused.
“I was a star student before I dropped out. Of course I’m taking notes,” he laughed. “We should probably get our story straight. If your friends or teammates ask, how did we meet?”
“That’s easy, we met on the roof of Zeus’s New Year’s Eve party. We spent the night talking, kissed at midnight, exchanged numbers, and the rest is history.”
“So, in this version of events, you stayed?” he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. But when he looked up from his phone, she was looking at him. She glanced down at his lips for a second.
“It’s what I wanted to do, I just… couldn’t.”
Drew studied her for a moment. Noticed the way she held hisgaze without flinching, even when she couldn’t finish putting her explanations into words.
“I understand,” he said. They’d both been in a vulnerable place that night. “So, if your friends or teammates ask, is this a casual situationship, the start of a long-distance relationship, or are we in love?”
“In love?That feels like a bit of a stretch,” she said, teasing him. “Didn’t you lie about being in love with your ex? I’m not sure you’d fall for me that fast.”
Drew cringed, remembering just how much he’d divulged that night.
“Can we impose a no-bringing-up-rooftop-confessions rule?” he asked, uneasy.
“No takebacks.” She smiled.
“Damn,” he said in mock defeat. “So, what you’re saying is that given my track record, I couldn’t possibly fall in love with you?”
“Givenmytrack record, you definitely could.”
“So, to make it believable, inour story, I have to be the one who says ‘I love you’ first.”
“Why?”
“Because if I toldyouI love you first, I would mean it,” he said plainly. She rolled her eyes, seeing right through him.
“I bet you tell all your fake girlfriends that.”
“Just my favorites.”
“Right, we need some ground rules,” she said, trying to put an end to the flirtation. “Rule number one. We’re both busy, so we only have to commit to three fake dates on my end and three photo ops on yours.” Drew nodded. They felt like reasonable terms.
“Rule number two. We need an expiration date,” he said.“At the end of the Olympics, I’m flying back to Wisconsin, and you’re flying back to London. But we should decide on a clear end point to stop things from getting complicated.”
“How about we start tomorrow and end things on the day of my final match?” she suggested.
“And when’s that?”
