Chapter 5

 

Blake

 

The great thing about my sport was that I concentrated on the giant and parallel slalom. I didn’t have to spend the entire games worrying about qualifying for every little thing or practicing every minute. Though it might have been less intense if I focused on one thing, like my buddies that did halfpipe or slopestyle, according to my parents, “A Tremblay should be more than one event.” Reluctantly I agreed with them like a scared little boy that was afraid his parents were going to make him get back on the bunny slopes with the too big of skies, so I agreed to train for giant and parallel slalom and never stopped.

Though I loved the mountains. I loved the smell of freshly fallen snow and the chill on my face I got when a cold burst grazed it. There was something completely freeing about just being alone with the board and the snow. It was always my solace. No matter what shit was getting me down, I always had the fresh powder beneath my feet.

But there were also very nice things about not being alone and somewhere warm with a girl underneath me. Probably why I spent just as much time in bed with the ski bunnies as I did on the slopes. Something else my parents never let me forget in my entire life. Maybe a medal in The Games would get them to shut up about the skiing part at least. Not the girls.

After the opening ceremonies, Liam and Erik hooked up with some skiers from Norway and headed over to our cabin near the mountains. There was a particularly sweet looking brunette who was giving me huge ‘fuck me’ eyes, but there was something holding me back.

No, someone.

I posted a selfie of Liam and me on Instagram while we were coming in for the opening ceremonies and briefly scrolled through the app. I didn’t even think what I was doing when I looked up her name and saw the selfie of her in the same arena, but what felt like a million miles away.

I never thought much about a girl’s delicate features unless I was thinking how small they looked when I was pounding into her. But Kelly was tiny, yet fierce with a smile that said she knew she was the shit and there was no one stopping her from getting what she wanted.

If the girl only knew how bad I wanted to and would have made use of the hundreds of condoms the Olympic committee had provided and had her on every single surface of her way too clean of room, I didn’t think she’d have that same smile.

But there was also an aching guilt that came with looking at her smile. I wanted to feel her lips on mine. But not with the looming thought of a bet in my head. I could probably win it with her. The rumors may have been true that she was focused on her sport, but I’d gotten a glimpse of the girl that wanted to let loose. I knew I could be that guy, but under the pretense of a bet, something felt dirty about it. My mind briefly drifted to thoughts of just calling the whole thing off and letting Liam call me a pussy or whatever. But then what if he decided to take revenge and tell her about the whole thing? Or even worse…what if I did get that gold and he just took the medal money? That was going to be my down payment on a house. My future with sponsorships that weren’t shampoo people who wanted me to cut my hair. No. I couldn’t pussy out.

“Excuse me,” a voice with a hint of an American twang said.

I was in the middle of the coffee shop, not paying attention to anything but how bad my coffee was. Seriously they needed Tim Hortons around The Games. I was pretending to look at my social media, but even that wasn’t cutting my dreams of good coffee and Kelly. But the voice knocked me out of my thoughts, and I looked up to see Logan, Kelly’s skating partner, standing in front of my table.

“Hey, what’s up, Logan?” I asked, sliding my phone in my jacket pocket.

He pushed his long black bangs out of his face and gripped the chair in front of him. The guy wasn’t much taller than me, but lean like a swimmer. The dude probably had to have some biceps if he could throw around girls on the ice, but in his big puffy coat and floppy hair, he looked like any other guy at the coffee shop. “Okay, probably not my place to ask, but I know Kelly definitely is too scared to. We’re going to watch her sister Becca play hockey against Italy tonight if you’d like to join us in the stands.”

I tried not to focus on my heart beating faster just hearing Kelly’s name. What the hell kind of guy was I turning into? I didn’t get worked up over a girl. Especially not a girl who was supposed to be just a bet. “I can think about it. I don’t think I’ve got much going on, but need to check with the guys,” I said, trying to play it cool.

Logan smiled, shaking his head. “You use whatever excuse you want to pretend like you aren’t into her, but I’ll save you a seat.”

Before I could respond, Logan nodded and pushed off the chair, heading out of the coffee house and leaving me thinking about the blonde ice princess that was turning into way more than just a bet.

 

***

 

“Hey, Blake, we’re gonna head to watch some jumpers. Wanna come?” Liam asked, coming out of his room and into the small living room of the cabin we shared with Erik.

“Naw. I was going to head over to the arena to watch some hockey,” I said, sliding a thermal over my head.

“Hockey? I didn’t think Canada was playing tonight?” Liam asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They’re not, but his girlfriend’s sister is playing Italy tonight,” Erik said, coming out of nowhere, or the bathroom that he liked to stink up.

“You’re seriously going to watch a bunch of chicks play hockey just to get into the ice queen’s pants? Damn, man. No wonder you agreed to this bet. You like Elsa! Maybe you’ll be the one to melt her frozen heart,” Liam added the last part in a high-pitched tone, clutching his hand to his chest and looking off into the distance like he was some sort of wannabe Disney princess.

“Shut up, okay? It’s all just another game, and I’m the best at playing,” I said, wishing those words didn’t just leave my mouth. But what else was I supposed to say? Tell the guys that I actually liked the girl and have them razz me even harder?

No. If they were going to act like this just from me hanging out with Kelly, there was no way in hell I was going to tell them anything else. I’d never live to hear the end of it.

“Whatever you say, Man. Just don’t let her get too close and freeze your fjord,” Liam said, laughing at his own joke and threw his hand forward. I cupped my hand over my balls before he could get anywhere near him and turned in the other direction, his hand falling somewhere near my waist.

I tried not to let his words get to me as I shook my head and put on my coat. “Yeah, you do the same. I saw some of the teeth on those skiers last night. Better put a mouth guard on them.”

Liam gave me a nasty look, but Erik laughed like a hyena and just like that the attention was off of Kelly and me. For that moment at least.

 

***

 

All I had to do was flash my credentials, and I was able to walk into the stands. It was kind of pathetic how many people didn’t show up for women’s hockey, especially when it wasn’t the finals. But the Americans made sure their athletes were well represented with what seemed like half the Olympic village in their athlete’s section.

It took me a minute to find Kelly’s blonde head. Damn even from the back and in a jogging suit, she was beautiful. Her blonde hair fell in waves over her shoulders, practically sparkling in the fluorescent lights. The girl was a damn Disney queen if I ever saw one.

Jogging my way down the stairs, I slunk into the seat next to her with my phone out. I tapped on her shoulder, causing her to whip her head in my direction. I leaned in close to her and snapped a photo of the two of us before she could say anything.

“What was that?” Kelly quipped her eyes wide as she tried to grab my phone.

I laughed, looking down at the picture with me grinning and her staring with her eyes wide and nostrils flared. It wasn’t the most flattering picture of her, but it was funny as hell. “That one’s going on Instagram.”

“I don’t think so!” she shrieked, reaching for my phone again, but I pulled it away. She fell into my lap, her tiny hands landing right smack on my groin. If she wasn’t so little, it might have hurt, but instead, it actually felt good. Really damn good and I was already straining against my boxers.

She sat up quickly and pouted. “Not fair. If you post that I’m going to post the pictures I took of you sleeping and drooling on my floor.”

I shook my head. “You have no such pictures.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Wanna bet?”

Pulling my phone back to my lap so she couldn’t see my growing boner, I deleted the picture and pulled the app back up. The word ‘bet’ already had me calming down anyway. It was starting to feel like a dirty word that I didn’t want to hear. “Fine. We’ll get a new picture, but if you give me that fake smile then I’m going to recover that one and post it everyyyywhereeeee.”

She rolled her eyes but then smiled as I pulled the phone up and leaned my head against hers. She smelled amazing. Like vanilla and mint, the perfect winter dessert that had my mouth watering and my smile even wider.

“Is this your real smile?” I asked, glancing at her.

“Yes!” she said, forcing her teeth to bare, her lips straining.

I slid my free arm around her waist and ran my fingers along her side. She squirmed as a light giggle escaped her lips, giving a genuine smile that lit up her whole face. I was lucky enough to snap the picture before she swatted my chest.

“Now that’s a smile,” I said, squeezing her side then let my hand stay there as she looked over my shoulder at our photo.

“You’re lucky that turned out cute or I’d have to expose those pictures.” She sniffed like she was making a point, but even beneath her words, I could tell she was smiling. I couldn’t explain it, but I was already getting used to her voice. The way she spoke when she was happy. When she was upset. Everything about her was engrained into my memory like the slopes back home. I could glide them with my eyes closed, but there was no way I wanted to do anything with my eyes closed with Kelly. And just thinking about that had my cock already raring to go.

“Now to put this on IG, a good filter,” I said, opening the app and adding a black and white hue to the photo before going to the next screen, all with one hand while I tapped my fingers on her hip.

“What are you going to say in the comments?” she asked, her chin resting on my shoulder and her blonde hair cascading down my jacket. If I turned even slightly my lips would be on her cheek, or that silky blonde hair would press against my ear. I was practically poking out of my boxers just thinking where else that hair could be, specifically splayed across my pillow.

“I’m thinking of something good,” I replied, trying not to focus on that silky hair and her intoxicating scent.

“Like what? The Games hashtag and that we’re at a hockey game?” she asked.

“If The Games have a hashtag, we should too. Something like Blakely,” I said with a laugh.

“A hashtag? For us?”

“Yeah. The ultimate Olympic power couple.”

“Um, we’re not a couple,” she said, slowly leaning back.

“What else would you call us?” I asked, not wanting her to leave my grasp. There was something not only alluring but almost necessary about having her touch. I didn’t want to let go of her, so I ran my fingers up and down her side, hoping she didn’t stop me.

“Friends? I think?”

“Friends don’t think about their friend’s naked,” I said and turned to see her face flush.

All right, now we were getting somewhere.

“Fine, you can give us a stupid hashtag, but not Blakely,” she grumbled.

“Okay, how about Klake? Then it sounds like the name of some Hollywood starlet’s baby,” I said, laughing at my own joke.

She shrugged. “I guess it’s better than Blakely.”

I typed in the hashtag then closed out of the app, sliding my phone in my pocket. I didn’t even notice who was around us and finally realized that her skating partner wasn’t next to her. “Where’s Logan?” I asked, not that I cared too much because this meant I got a little more one-on-one time with her, but the guy did invite me.

“He’s down there. He gets really into my sister’s games,” she pointed toward the glass separating the ice where his black hair was flying as he pounded on the glass and yelled obscenities.

“Holy shit, and I thought that he was a mild mannered gay guy. Guess he proved me wrong,” I mumbled.

Kelly turned toward me and raised an eyebrow. “Logan isn’t gay.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “Seriously. He wanted to play hockey but didn’t have the coordination with a stick, so his skating coach suggested figure skating. He didn’t want to do it at first because of the stigma, so his coach set him up in pairs skating, and, after many failed attempts at partners, he found his way to me. Along with his old girlfriend that thought they were so in love she had to be in New York with him.”

“Take it you weren’t fond of the girlfriend?” I asked.

Kelly wrinkled her button nose, which was seriously adorable. “She was nice enough but clingy and jealous. She was always at the rink and got mad when we’d practice. After that, he didn’t have any more romantic relationships and we both kind of stayed away from all of that. Easier to just have each other and the ice.”

I raised my eyebrows looking between Logan and her. “You mean? You two?”

She laughed a melodic sound that was like church bells. “Oh, definitely not. We’ve just always had a mutual understanding. We chose this life of skating and going for the gold, and that’s how it’s always going to be.”

“That’s really all you do then? You two just skate? What about besides skating? What do you do for fun?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Watch reality TV I guess.”

I laughed. “That’s not doing something. Don’t you have any other hobbies?”

“Who has time for hobbies?” she asked, her face serious.

I couldn’t help but laugh even harder at this way-too-stuck up chick that still had me captivated no matter the fact that she carried herself higher than other people and didn’t do much other than skate.

“How about I make a bet with you?” the words escaped my mouth before I thought about what I was saying. But this time the word didn’t sound dirty as I said it. This way it was more exciting. It was something I would have with Kelly that wasn’t a challenge. Something that I would enjoy a hell of a lot and hoped she would too.

“A bet?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah. You have to find one new hobby while we’re here at The Games.”

“One new hobby?”

I could think of a few hobbies I’d like to try with her, but I’d stick with at least getting her out of her rut. “Yeah. It could be anything. Hell, I even think they have a chess set at one of the coffee houses.”

“I don’t think I’m much of a chess girl,” she quipped.

“Okay, just an idea.”

“What about snowboarding?” she asked, a small, real smile crossing her lips.

“You really want to try snowboarding?”

She shrugged. “It’s better than chess.”

“Yeah, you got me on that one.”

She blinked slowly. “So, are you going to give me a lesson or what?”

“Right now?” I asked.

She laughed slightly. “Not right now, but I don’t know, maybe some time.”

“Tomorrow I have giant slalom, so it would have to be after that unless you’re going to come be my good luck charm.” I grinned.

She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure I’m much for luck, but I can see about coming out there. If it doesn’t interrupt practice and isn’t too cold.”

“For someone who wants to learn to snowboard, you’re making more excuses than my grandma when she doesn’t want to go outside to get the mail.”

She sighed, putting her hands out. “Okay, fine, fine! I’ll be there.”

I splayed my hand on along her side, feeling the warmth of her body radiating through me. “Good. I’ll be looking for you in the crowd.”

“Kelly! There you are! And, oh a, a fella?” A woman’s voice said from behind us.

Kelly jumped practically across the seat then stood up, turning toward the voice. I looked as well to see an older woman with short, curly blonde hair and an older man with a USA trucker cap and plaid shirt stretched across his wide belly standing next to her.

“Oh, hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. Blake was just saying ‘hi’ before he met up with his friends. I. uh, didn’t know you two were coming this early. Or that you were coming at all, Dad! What about the cows?” Kelly said, her voice wavering.

Did Kelly seriously just saw cows? I thought she was giving me shit about the dairy farmers. But there they were: real life Wisconsin dairy farmers at The Games in Korea.

“Well, we couldn’t miss your sister’s first game. Would have been here earlier if your father would have just agreed to use Uber. He seems to think it’s going to get us murdered, so we had to wait forever for someone to pick us up that spoke English from the hotel. But we’re here! And hopefully, Becca will be surprised too that dad’s here!” The small woman took a few steps down and embraced Kelly in a tight hug.

I smirked, standing up. I couldn’t resist meeting the family, so I put my hand out Kelly’s mom. “Blake Tremblay, Canadian snowboarder,” I said.

The woman’s eyes widened, and she smiled brightly looking between Kelly and her husband who walked down to her side. “Oh! Good to meet a friend of Kelly’s! I’m Diane, and this is my husband, Dwayne.”

The woman shook my hand then I put my palm out to Dwayne, who took it in his sausage-like fingers, giving me a death grip that was either a friendly handshake or he wanted to strangle me for putting my arm around his daughter.

“Nice to meet you both,” I said.

“As I said, Blake was just leaving,” Kelly said with a nervous laugh.

“Why would I leave? This game is just getting interesting and I think there are enough seats for all of us.” I shot a wink in Kelly’s direction, and she glared.

“Oh, that would be lovely!” Diane said, and I stepped out of the seat, ushering her and Dwayne to take the inner seats next to Kelly with me on the outside.

“What’s your game here, Blake?” Kelly asked through gritted teeth as she took the seat next to me with her mom on the other side.

“What? Me? Games. The only game I’ve got going on is the Olympics, babe,” I lied, putting my arm around her shoulder.

I thought she would hit me or glare again, but instead, she sighed and left it there. “You know my parents are going to have a lot of questions about this.”

“I’m sure they will,” I said.

“Oh, I’m glad we didn’t miss too much of the game! Only the first quarter!” Diane said, patting her daughter’s leg.

“How’s Becca doing? Get in any fights yet?” Dwayne asked.

Kelly opened her mouth then shook her head. “No. Um. I don’t believe so.”

“Sorry, sir, I think I’ve been distracting Kelly from watching the game, but you could probably ask Logan, if he’d ever stop yelling at the ref,” I nodded my chin toward the glass where Logan was screaming so loud I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Dwayne laughed. “Logan’s always been my girls’ biggest fan. You know for a figure skater, he has one hell of a set of balls on him.”

Diane swatted his chest. “Dwayne!”

“What? Did I say something wrong?” Dwayne asked, blinking his brown button eyes.

“I don’t think the male figure skaters appreciate you talking about their balls,” I offered, leaning forward.

“Is it okay for me to talk about anyone’s balls?” Dwayne asked with a hearty laugh.

Kelly groaned. “Can you guys stop talking about balls? It’s really weird.”

“I’m just making conversation with your new friend, here, Kelly. Where did you say you were from again, Blake? Minnesota? That sounds like a Minnesota accent. Maybe even a little Upper Peninsula,” Dwayne asked, leaning forward and putting his big bear-paw like hands on his knees.

“Canada, actually, sir.”

Dwayne laughed. “Pretty damn close to the UP.”

“Yeah, but with better coffee and manners,” I said, pointing a finger at him.

That got Dwayne to laugh even harder. I couldn’t remember the last time I was able to joke with my own father or get him to laugh. There was something that felt warm and inviting about being with Kelly’s family and enjoying their company. But there was also a sick pain of guilt buried deep within me. All of this was happening because of a bet I agreed to. I bet I really didn’t want to be involved with. But now I was in the middle of it, and there was no way I was getting out. Now if I could just keep this girl and her wonderful family from finding out.

“I think I like you, son,” Dwayne said.

“I think I like you, too. Wanna switch seats with your daughter? I’m sure we could get the Olympic committee talking.” I wiggled my eyebrows which caused another round of laughter to erupt from Dwayne’s lips.

Kelly squirmed against me and opened her mouth to say something else but a buzzer went off, and the crowd stood, clapping.

“What just happened?” Kelly asked as we both stood and looked on the ice where the US skaters were all huddled together.

“That girl from Illinois. You know the one with the gap tooth? She just scored the winning goal!” Kelly’s mom squeed. “I’m glad we were here for this!”

Kelly’s mom embraced her husband then turned to Kelly and hugged her before she looked at me. “Come here, Blake. You’re getting in on this family hug too.”

“Okay, I can get with that,” I said and let her embrace me. I couldn’t remember the last time my mom had really hugged me for a celebration, and there was something warm about the woman who slightly smelled like mozzarella.

“We should celebrate with dinner. I’m starving. After that long ass plane ride with those little microwave fish meals that smelled worse than Grandma’s basement,” Dwayne said, rubbing his stomach before looking at me and raising a bushy eyebrow. “You wanna join us, Canada?”

“Oh, I don’t think—” Kelly started.

“I’d love to,” I finished.

I didn’t look to see the glare Kelly was probably giving me. I hadn’t eaten much that day, and I could use a bite to eat. Plus, it would give me a little more time with the girl. And if her family ended up liking me, well, the next step was getting her to like me. Then more.