I barely need to raise my voice for her to hear me. Thisplace is so damn loud all the time. I have no idea how I’m going to get any sleep while we’re here.
“Maybe they’ll have gummy bearsandear plugs.”
Liv laughs and grabs her navy Team USA vest off her bed, swatting my feet off of her blanket.
“Nowthatis a good idea.” She reaches her hand out to me and helps me off the rickety bed.
As soon as I stand, the bottom portion of the bed dislodges itself from the top half. I groan and throw my hands in the air. “Seriously?”
Liv grabs my arm, putting an end to my dramatics, and loops hers through mine.
“Living the dream, baby. Living the dream.”
We’ve stopped at three different grab and go stations and unfortunately there’s not a gummy bear in sight. We did secure some ear plugs, so at least that’s something.
We don’t need to meet the team for transport to the arena for another half hour, so we decide to explore the Village a bit.
The place is packed. Athletes from all over the world sporting their countries’ colors occupy the space and it’s extremely humbling.
The entire world could be a dumpster fire, but being here, with all of these people from different ends of the earth, it quiets the noise a little bit.
We’re at war in our own country and with other countries, but all of that fades to the background in a place like this.
Sports are more than just a form of entertainment. The hockey community is my family. The rink is where I go to find peace. It’s where I go to find my support. But the Olympic Village? This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
Athletes from different countries sit at the tables together, laughing and sharing stories. In just a few hours or days most of them will be competing against each other, but they’ll also be cheering each other on. The atmosphere here is different.
It’s hopeful.
In a world where hope seems to be lost much of the time, the Olympics bring just that.
I’m taking in the scene around me when Liv’s elbow jabs me in the arm, causing me to lose my footing.
“What the hell, Liv?”
When I look at her, her eyes are zeroed in on something across the plaza. I follow her gaze to see a group of four men, sporting USA winter jackets, coffees in hand.
“Isn’t that, Luke?”
I nearly trip over my own feet when I see him.
His chestnut hair is all over the place from the wind, his cheeks rosy with the cold. At six-foot-three, he stands four inches taller than me, and my god he looks good in red, white and blue. But that’s not what causes me to stumble. It’s those piercing blue eyes that nearly knock me off my feet.
Lucas Morgan is every woman’s dream. He’s also my brother’s best friend.
I’ve been doodling his name in my notebook since the fifth grade when my brother, Connor, brought him home for the first time. He now occupies every dirty dream I’ve ever had. And my best friend is the only person who knows about the crush I’ve been harboring all these years. If my brother found out, he’d never let me hear the end of it.
One drunken night our junior year of college, I spilled my guts to Liv after we went to one of Luke’s bonspiel tournaments. He actually used to be one of the curling coaches at our alma-mater when we played at Wisconsin, too. Even though I rarely saw him, just knowing he was there was enough to keep my crush alive and well.
And now here he is in all his glory, the skip of Team USA’smen’s curling team. The skip is what they call the captain of the team in curling. Essentially he’s the team leader and strategist. During play, he directs the team and is responsible for making decisions on shot selection and overall game strategy. Honestly, I feel like he has more responsibility as skip than a hockey team’s captain. The team’s success literally rests on his shoulders and his decision making. He’s worked his ass off to get to where he is, training just as hard as I have to get here.
I just can’t believe he’shere.At the Olympics. With me. At the same time.
I’m lost in my Lucas-induced haze when Liv’s hand starts waving in front of my face.
“Oh god, we’ve lost her. Hello? Char? Are you with me? Or are you busy daydreaming about the man who has no clue you exist?”
Her last comment breaks the spell. “You bitch. He knows I exist.”
