I start the shower and open the Spotify app on my phone. As I’m trying to pick a playlist, a text comes through from you guessed it, my best friend.
Connor
Hey man. How’s Sweden? I’m hoping to fly out next week. Been dealing with some shit at home.
Knowing that if I don’t respond, he’ll just end up calling me later, I type out a quick text to avoid an awkward conversation on the phone with him.
Sweden is good so far. Excited for the Opening Ceremony tonight. Everything okay?
I don’t dare mention we’re staying in a hotel. I’m not ready to dive into the shitty residences at the Village because, knowing Connor, he’ll immediately worry about his sister.
Connor
It will be. Maybe you’ll see Charlotte tonight! If you do, tell her to call me. Been trying to get in touch with her all day.
Of course he has. Not wanting to lie to my best friend but also not knowing what the fuck to say, I try to put an end to the conversation so I can hop in the shower and try to figure this all out.
Will do, man. Chat later? I’m about to get in the shower.
Connor
You got it. I’ll be looking for ya when I watch the Opening Ceremony! Love you, man
Love you too, brother
Closing out of our text thread, I press play on my Old School Rap playlist. Hoping Weezy and Eminem will help me clear my head, I step into the scalding hot shower.
The steam envelops me and after a few deep breaths, I’m feeling a bit better already.
Connor may be my best friend but Charlie is…Charlie. She’s special in a way I can’t quite explain.
When she called me fearless last night I didn’t agree with her. But when she explained why, I began to see her beyond her physical beauty. She saw who I was as a person, back at a time when I couldn’t even see myself.
If only she knew that I let what everyone say back then affect me in a way I’m not proud of. I had just lost my sister and I hated the world. The hatred I felt for every asshole who talked shit about me because I chose curling over hockey is something I’m ashamed of.
But Charlie…she didn’t see me as broken or hateful. She saw me as brave. At a time when I was afraid of everything that might come next because all I’d known was heartbreak and loss, she saw the good in me.
Maybe it’s time I focus on the good. I need to stop worrying about the bad and everything that might happen and concentrate on what’s right in front of me, because there is so muchgood.
Tonight I’m going to enjoy the Opening Ceremony on my first trip to the Olympics.
And hopefully I get to share that moment with the same woman I’ll be sharing a bed with afterward.
The roar of the crowd in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium is near deafening as we wait anxiously for our turn in the parade of athletes.
It’s been absolute chaos since the moment we arrived earlier this afternoon. But it’s been the best type of chaos. Athletes from across the globe have all gathered for their chance to walk in the parade with their country.
I crane my neck, attempting to search for a set of blue eyes I haven’t seen yet today. When I woke up this morning, Luke still had his arm wrapped around my stomach, but that’s not the appendage that caught my attention.
I’m well aware that men have a tendency to wake up with morning wood, but as he snored softly behind me, I couldn’t help but wonder what he might be dreaming about to make him stand at attention when he was still unconscious.
For a solid two minutes, I lay there and basked in the comfort of being in his arms. I may have also rubbed my ass against his dick, trying to wake him in the process. But when he moaned and held me tighter, I knew I needed to get out of there before I turned around and climbed on top of him
He said he needed time. So as quietly as ever, I slinked out of bed and met my teammates for breakfast.
That was nearly twelve hours ago. Time’s up, buddy.
I’m kidding. Sort of.
