Ethan watched the crowd closing in around us and sighed. “I should’ve committed harder to the security bit. You know, aviator sunglasses, tiny earpiece. ‘Move along, folks, nothing to see here.’” His eyes lit up. “Ooh, wait. Hot cop roleplay.”
Noah groaned. “Please stop talking.”
I snorted while Luka’s hand slid into mine again, fingers cold from outside air and nerves and adrenaline. I held on tight.
Another athlete clapped me on the shoulder as we crossed toward the elevators. “That was the sickest Olympic moment I’ve ever seen, man.”
“Protect this man at all costs,” a woman from the Canadian hockey team announced loudly while pointing at Luka as she passed us.
“I’m planning on it,” I called out after her.
Luka’s fingers tightened even more.
“Wait,” somebody else shouted after us in a scandalized tone. “You mean the TikTok edits wereright?”
That got me laughing.
“Oh my God,” Ethan muttered. “I think you two might have just won the Internet tonight.”
“Won it? I think theybrokeit.” Noah shook his head as he looked around. “This is nuts.”
Luka ducked his head, but I kept catching flashes of his smile whenever another athlete stopped us to say something supportive or completely unhinged.
A skier passed going the opposite direction, pumping his fist. “Silver medal and hard launch in the same night. Talk about elite multitasking.”
Someone farther back shouted, “Gay Rights for Velkarya!”
I felt the brief hitch in Luka’s grip before it eased again.
Tomorrow would come soon enough.
And then Luka lost his composure and laughed hard enough that he had to grab my sleeve for balance.
God. Standing in the middle of the Olympic Village while strangers applauded around us, hearing him laugh in public without immediately checking who might be watching…
It nearly wrecked me all over again.
Before today, he would’ve swallowed the laugh before it escaped.
Tonight he let it out.
Luka steadied himself. “You realize this has probably triggered at least three emergency federation meetings,” he murmured, keeping his voice low while another cluster of athletes broke into applause near the elevators.
Ethan walked backwards in front of us, pointing finger guns at Luka. “Counterpoint: Gen Z is going to build digital shrines to you on TikTok by morning.”
Luka looked up at me then, his silver medal hanging crooked against his chest, still looking stunned that any of this was real, and for a moment I forgot there were hundreds of people around us.
Then Nathan came sprinting across to us. “There you are! Andno wayare you disappearing upstairs before we celebrate this.” Brooke came up after him, looking a little dazed. “Mark Winton wasgonna join us, but he said he was too old for this crowd, and besides, he has a date with David.” His grin was huge. “Love is in the air tonight.” Then he pointed at Luka. “Congrats on silver.”
Brooke grabbed Luka by both arms before he could respond. “You were unbelievable. Truly. Talk about awesome competition.”
“Thank you. I wish I had watched your program more closely.” Luka still looked stunned by all of this attention happening at him instead of around him.
Brooke gave him a warm glance. “Yeah, I get it, you were kinda preoccupied at the time.”
Then Nathan turned to me. “And can I just say…Really? Luka and Mila winning silver wasn’t enough. You had to seal your Olympic situationship with a kiss in front of the entire planet?”
“Hey, I didn’t start it,” I protested. “This skater just walked across the ice and kissed me.” I flashed Luka a grin. “Would’ve been rude not to kiss him back.”
