Kirby cupped Mara’s cheek. Another risk. Mara didn’t lean into her palm, but she didn’t pull away either. “It’s okay. You can’t be anyone but yourself.”
That was the big question mark, though, wasn’t it? Kirby didn’t know Mara. She suspected no one did.
Mara’s eyebrows dipped at that, and her eyes moved like she was reading Kirby’s words from a book in front of her and didn’t like the sentence structure.
Kirby needed a minute to breathe. She stood up and left to grab Mara’s sunglasses from Jordan’s room. Jordan and Brandilyn had acted like they were holding a Fabergé egg when they had shown Kirby Mara’s glasses earlier. Kirby had told them that Mara would need those back ASAP. Mara always wore the silver ones for training, and Kirby had no idea how or why she knew that, but she did.
Kirby found the glasses in Jordan’s room, snatched them off the bedside table, took a deep breath, and marched back into the living room. Mara had put her shirt back on and was about to bolt.
“For you.” Kirby handed the sunglasses over. Mara grabbed for them like she was trying not to touch Kirby’s fingers.
The glasses tumbled to the ground, and Mara looked stricken.
Kirby quickly bent to pick them back up. “They’re fine. Here.” She stepped forward, and Mara tensed, which made defensiveness rise in Kirby’s throat like acid. She hadn’t done anything wrong here. Neither of them had. But it hurt that Mara was acting so jumpy about it.
Kirby placed them on top of Mara’s head like a headband. Their eyes met as Kirby stepped back.
“I won’t tell anyone,” Kirby said. Kirby didn’t usually hide her hookups, but she assumed that Mara wasn’t thrilled by the optics of having sex with Kirby.
They were rivals. Kirby had beaten Mara in her best event the one time it mattered most. They had just had a contentious interview that would air during the Olympics.
And that wasn’t even touching the personality issues. Kirby was rough around the edges. Loud. Messy. Vulgar.
Probably the last person Mara would have chosen to spend time with outside of skiing. Or inside of it.
But it had been incredible.
Mara kind of shrugged, all awkward and clipped. “Thanks for…”
Kirby set her jaw and nodded her head toward Mara’s hair. “The sunglasses.”
Mara stared at her hard, taking in every bit of Kirby’s face for one, then two uncomfortably long seconds. Then Mara turned on her heel and left.
CHAPTER
TEN
Mara had beento Val di Fiemme and the ski center in Tesero a million times, but it felt different with the Olympic glitz and glam all over everything. She wanted to enjoy the Olympics this time around. To really take it in, to live in every moment, but that wasn’t how her brain worked.
Her mind had been running timelines for weeks, and the end dates were fast approaching.
Only two days to train unhindered by competition.
Only three days until the Opening Ceremony.
Only four days to practice perfecting her transition from classic to freestyle for the skiathlon.
Only nine days to the ten-kilometer freestyle race. After that, there were ten days before the fifty-k to rest up, replenish, and get her head on straight.
The schedule had become a mantra she repeated to calm down.
Two days. Three days. Four days…
But new timelines were vying for attention.
Forty-two hours since walking into Kirby’s apartment.
Forty-one since Kirby had said,You can’t be anyone but yourself,in a way that made Mara feel likeherselfdidn’t measure up. They hadn’t spoken since.
