Tonight I’m the King of Kitz.
And she is not my queen.
Not anymore.
***
Katharina
The hallway is quiet.I feel safer here, away from the roar of the afterparty, the heels, the diamonds, the champagne breath of victory.Lukas’s door is slightly ajar, soft yellow light spilling into the corridor like the room itself is too tired to close up properly.
I knock gently.“You decent?”
“Barely,” comes the reply.Muffled.
I step inside.
Lukas is sprawled on his bed in sweats and a hoodie, one sock half-off, one hand holding a half-eaten protein bar like it betrayed him.The TV is on mute, showing looping highlights of the race he didn’t finish.
“You skipping the glitter and glory?”
He shrugs.“Didn’t feel like wearing a tux with a limp and medical teams waiting to scan my knee first thing in the morning.”
I nod.I get it.
“I came for a quote,” I say, holding up my phone.“Something for the sponsor wrap.You were still technically one of the team’s podium contenders this week.”
He groans.“Sure.Here’s your quote: ‘Not finishing sucks.Also, my right ski can go to hell.’”
I smile faintly.“I’ll clean that up.”
He watches me for a second.Then says, out of nowhere, “You know he was somewhat lost before Sölden.”
I blink.“What?”
“Thomas,” he says.“The guy was losing motivation.Didn’t care about points, thinking he had nothing more to prove.And then you showed up.Things changed.”
I sit at the foot of his bed.“I don’t think I’m the one who fixed his racing mindset.”
“No,” Lukas says.“I think you scared the hell out of him, and that was a good thing.”
That pulls me up short.
He continues, voice quieter now.“He’s been untouchable on the hill this season because he had something to prove.To you.That’s what you gave him.And yeah, he got weird and possessive and jealous, but that’s just Thomas.Emotionally constipated, competitive idiot.Doesn’t know how to want someone with no need to own them.”
I stare at the muted TV.Thomas flying through the air like he was built from sinew and fury.
Lukas says, “You’re scared too.But you do want him.Don’t pretend you don’t.”
I look down at my hands.“He’s surrounded by people who want him now.Celebrities.Sponsors.Half of Europe.He doesn’t need me.”
Lukas gives a dry laugh.“Katharina.I have known you since October only, but you look like a fighter.So maybe fight for what you want.”
That lands.Hard.
I stand.
Thank him for the quote and head for my room.
