I pocket the phone and tell myself,Fine. I don't need her to make this win real.
***
Back in my hotel room, I drop the bouquet on the desk and stare at it.
Red and white flowers. American. Oversized, like everything here.
I pull out my phone.
I prop the bouquet against the window, frame it with the Beaver Creek village lights below and the dark mountain rising behind, and take a photo.
ME: First speed win. Thought you'd want to know.
I hit send before I can overthink it.
Twenty minutes later, out of the shower, I check.
ÉLISE: Congratulations.
I stare at the screen.
Congratulations?
ME: That's it?
ÉLISE: What do you want me to say?
ME: That you were impressed.
A pause.
ÉLISE: I watched. Golden Eagle was... aggressive.
Something hot and satisfied coils in my chest. She watched. She noticed the exact moment that mattered.
ME: Aggressive won.
ÉLISE: Aggressive could have put you in the netting.
ME: But it didn't.
Another pause.
ÉLISE: No. It didn't.
I grin at my phone.
ME: So were you impressed or just worried?
Longer pause this time.
ÉLISE: Both.
I stare at the word.Both.
It's something. But it's clipped. Careful. Like she's keeping me at arm's length even through a screen.
My jaw tightens.
