My team and I opted to head back to the hotel for dinner instead of the Village, figuring it would be packed after the Opening Ceremony.
I’m mid-sip when Wyatt causes me to nearly choke on my water.
“So did you seal the deal last night, Skip?”
Jimmy grumbles something unintelligible under his breath as I set my glass back on the table.
“That’s none of your fucking business, Wyatt.” My words come out clipped, but as always, he doesn’t get the hint.
He’s wearing a stupid grin when he speaks again. “That’s a no, then.”
“Wyatt.” It comes out as a warning and he lifts his palm in surrender.
“Fine. Don’t answer. But at least tell me you kissed her?”
I’m halfway out of my chair when Brendan shoots his arm out in front of me, keeping me in place.
“Enough.” He looks over at Wyatt now. “Wyatt, shut the hell up. Have a little respect for your skip. And Charlie for fuck’s sake.”
This is why Brendan makes a fantastic third. Not only does he keep my ass in check, he has a great head on his shoulders. As the ‘vice-skip’, he works closely with me on strategy anddecisions during game play. He’s not only a good shot with the stone, but he’s smart as hell. Always focused and calm, we make a great team. And he makes an even better friend.
Wyatt mumbles his apologies but I still reach over and smack the back of his head.
“Ow, what the hell, Luke? I said I was sorry.”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms against my chest. “The next time you have her name in your mouth, I’ll make it so you can’t speak for a week. Got it?”
Wyatt’s dumb ass salutes me and I take a calming breath attempting to tamper down the annoyance coursing through me.
I’m grateful when Jimmy changes the subject.
“What time are we meeting tomorrow morning to head to the Curling Center? And are we meeting in the lobby or at the bus stop?”
Our first matchup against Great Britain is five days away but that doesn’t mean we aren’t preparing. We have a sheet of ice booked for tomorrow to practice on and then again in a couple of days.
“I was thinking we could meet in the gym here first. We need to get in the right mindset. I was thinking we could do a yoga session followed by some stretches. I’m not sure what the facility looks like over there, so I don’t know if there’s space to do any of that.”
The guys nod their heads in agreement so I continue.
“Once we see what the Curling Center is like, we can plan to warm up and cool down there if there’s space. I’d prefer to do it there rather than warm up here only to sit in a bus afterward.”
Brendan clasps his hand together in front of him on the table and then looks around at the team before chiming in his thoughts.
“I agree. Ideally, the curling facility will have room for allthat but knowing what the living quarters look like, I’m not very confident that there will be any extra space there.”
Zack scoffs next to Brendan. “Honestly, I’m concerned that there won’t even be pebbles on the ice. Did you see the hockey facility a couple weeks ago? There was a giant ass hole in the ice. If they can’t handle that, how the hell are they going to be able to maintain the curling sheets? It takes way more precision and care.”
Fuck. I didn’t even think of that.
“There’s no point in worrying about something we don’t even know to be true. Let’s focus on what we can control. And that’s our mindfulness. We need to be mentally and physically prepared, no matter what the ice sheet conditions may be. Once we know more, we can adjust.”
My teammates all nod their heads and I’m grateful that no one challenges me on that. Not that they usually do. Okay,Wyattusually does but he must know I mean business because even he is silent.
We finish up our dinner and then head up to our rooms.
I haven’t heard from Charlie yet tonight, so I’m assuming she’s still out to dinner with her team.
The light on the door turns green and I push it open, not bothering to pick my head up before walking into the room.
