The words came out accusatory. A statement, not really a question.
Zack blinks, his easy smile faltering. "I... yeah. Of course. I was right there—"
"You were too far away."
"Luka," Natalia's voice warns. She's looking at me now, really looking, and I can see the moment she registers what just happened. What I just did.
"I'm fine," she says again, firmer this time.
I force myself to let it go.
That’s when I see Annabella skiing down toward us, taking her time, her expression amused.
"I almost lost you back there. Damn, you’re a fast skier," she says, pulling to a stop with a flourish. "And that save was dramatic. I saw it all from the lift. Did you seriously dive off at ten feet? That was hot." Then she glances around at Zack and Natalia. "Hi I'm Annabella," she greets, as if Natalia is just some random skier that I have no connection to.
"You jumped off the ski lift at ten feet?" Natalia barks, her eyebrows knitting together, lips tight, eyes searching mine. No amusement in them, only anger, as if she's furious that I would do that.
"It wasn’t that far," I lie to her.
"It was high enough to break something," Annabella counters. "Why would you jump?"
"Because she was in trouble," I answer, still watching Natalia. "And I wasn’t waiting."
Annabella laughs again, like that’s charming or reckless… or both.
Natalia doesn’t laugh. Her jaw tightens instead. "So instead of waiting another few minutes to safely exit, you risked an injury? Luka, that was reckless."
Is she serious? She would have hit the tree if I had waited even a few seconds.
"I landed."
"That’s not the point," she says, her voice coming across irritated, her hip jutting out the way she does it when she’s annoyed with me.
"It usually is," I fire back.
Annabella looks between us as if she’s watching a tennis match. "Do you two know each other?"
"Yes," Natalia and I barked back at the same time.
"It’s not a big deal," I tell Natalia, ignoring the fact that Zack and Annabella are witnessing this. Third parties to another ridiculous argument. "I didn’t get hurt. And neither did you. Most people would just say thank you and move on."
"I’m not most people," she fires back, tilting her head in that deliberate way that tells me she’s gearing up for a fight. "I was hired to protect your career. You could have broken a leg or an arm, or worse. You could’ve been out for the rest of the season, Luka."
Her voice tightens, but she doesn’t look away.
"But I didn’t get hurt."
Of course she’s pissed, because she can’t stand the way I do anything… including saving her life. Figures.
"That’s not the point, and you know it." She rolls her eyes as if I’m being dense. "It could have cost the Hawkeyes a Stanley Cup, and I would’ve been the reason."
That’s the part that sticks. Not the accusation that I was reckless, but an understanding.
For a moment, I just look at her, because she skipped right past the headlines and the sponsorships and the Olympiccommittee and went straight to the only thing that would actually matter to me. Most people never get that far. They assume it’s about reputation, image, and an inflated ego.
She went straight to the team and the Cup.
"I didn’t know you were the hero type," Annabella says, stepping closer to me to reclaim her spot.
