Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
“
What
do you think about that, Shane?”
“
I
think…that’s a pretty big decision and she should
probably take it easy.” He chuckled nervously. “I mean,
she had a pretty major wreck, it might take a while for her to get
back to the level she was at.”
“
Oh,
I’m just as good as I always was.” Lenny answered,
relaxed and confident, a small smile tugging at the corners of her
mouth.
“
Is
that why you guys decided to call it quits, difference of opinion?”
Brad questioned, his eyebrows bobbing up and down.
“
Yeah,
sort of,” Lenny answered before Shane could. “I
should’ve ended it years ago. He had the opinion that it was
okay to sleep with my best friend and my opinion was that it was
wrong.” She was laying the sarcasm on pretty thick and saw
Brad swallow his grin.
She looked to Shane
to voice his opinion on the matter and he was obviously blindsided.
He started stuttering, trying to come up with something to counter
Lenny’s words. But nothing would come out.
“
Is
that true?” Brad asked Shane.
Shane couldn’t
answer; he just stared at the ground.
“
There
was speculation at the time of your wreck that you were distraught
before approaching the chute.” Brad, realizing that Shane was
worthless at this point, pointed back to Lenny.
“
Yeah,
I had just caught them a few hours prior. In my room.” She
heard a collective gasp around the tent.
“
When
you say ‘them’ you mean…” Brad prodded, a
light sheen of sweat was becoming visible by his hairline and Lenny
knew she was standing on the edge of acceptable interview protocol.
She could practically hear Patrick the lawyer reading her retraction
statement to the press now. He'd probably cite exhaustion or
something.
“
Shane
and my best friend at the time, Cody Carmichael.”
Lenny heard a
screech from somewhere off camera but she didn’t let it
distract her.
“
That
must’ve been pretty awful.” Brad prodded Lenny to
elaborate.
“
You
know, it really was. The worst part was how they made me feel less
than myself. It took me some time to really come to terms with
that.” She glanced sideways at Shane but he was still mute and
paralyzed.
“
Shane
has been acting like you were the one who broke
his
heart.” Brad was trying to get Shane to react to something,
anything.
“
Weird,
right?” Lenny made a face and Brad couldn’t stop himself
from laughing. “I feel bad for all the girls he’s ever
suckered into believing his sob story just so he can get pity sex.”
“
C’mon,
Lenny.” Shane had suddenly come back to life. “We don’t
have to do this here. Let’s go talk somewhere in private.”
Lenny ignored him
and kept her focus on Brad.
“
So
you think you might be coming back to the sport in a full time
capacity?” Brad asked, putting every ounce of professionalism
into his voice as he could muster.
“
I
haven’t made any decisions yet. But it’s something I am
considering.” Lenny answered with a smirk. “I’m
still damn good.”
“
Think
you could win a medal in two years?” Brad speculated.
“
If
you’re asking if I think I’m better than the gold medal
defender, Cody Carmichael, then…” Lenny lifted her chin
in defiance as she answered. “Yes. I am better than her, in a
lot of ways.”
Shane, completely
humiliated, yanked off his mic and stormed out of the tent. Lenny
smile apologetically at Brad.
“
So,
all good news here today.” Brad turned to look into the
camera. “Lenny Evans is considering making a return to
snowboarding in time for the Winter Olympics and if today’s
interview is any indication of her passion, the rest of the world
better start paying attention.”
The red light on the
camera went off and Lenny got up to leave. Brad stopped her and
shook her hand.
“
It’s
good to have you back, Lenny,” Brad said sincerely. “And
if you want to trash any other ex-boyfriends on TV please call me
first.”
“
Okay,
will do,” Lenny laughed.
Luke greeted her in
the VIP tent with a huge hug.
“
That
was amazing.” Luke was positively beaming.
“
You
don’t think it was a little over the top?” Lenny asked
with a touch of anxiety. Sure, it felt good at the time but she was
aware there could be significant fallout.
“
Are
you kidding me? I make my living by being over the top. I am the
foremost expert on what ‘over the top’ is.” He
smiled at her again. “You were completely within reason.”
“
Thanks.”
She breathed a little sigh of relief. She had dealt with Shane, now
she would have to deal with Cody. Lenny knew there would be trouble
after she labeled her as the whorey, second-rate best friend.
“
I
think Blake and Sway were a little disappointed they didn’t get
to talk to Shane first.” Luke said as he directed her back to
the hotel.
“
Oh,
is that right?” Lenny laughed. “What did they think they
were gonna do, rough him up?” She laughed again at the idea.
She allowed Luke to lead her back to his room without really thinking
about it.
He slid the key card
into the door and let her inside. His room was smaller than hers.
Just one bed and a bathroom.
“
You
and Mike sharing the King-size?” Lenny joked.
“
No,
I got my room to myself for the first time in…a while.”
He finished slowly.
“
I
bet that’s gotta be nice.” Lenny smiled and slipped off
her hoodie, revealing a white tank underneath. She sat down on the
bed, playfully bouncing a little. She watched Luke take off his
outerwear.
She hadn’t
really looked at him yet since they’d arrived. He was so fit
and lean, his muscles flexed and moved under his skin and were
clearly visible beneath his shirt. His tattoos peeked out from under
his long sleeves as he pushed them up and sat down on the chair. His
blonde hair was a little longer than when they had first met, she
noted as he raked it back off his face with his fingers. He had
grown a short beard that only defined his chiseled features even
more. His crystal blue eyes were crinkled at the sides, as if in
perpetual smile. Her stomach did a back flip. Luke Casey could
still take her breath away.
She wasn’t
sure what to say so she waited in the silence. Hoping Luke would
speak.
After several
minutes, Luke turned his terrible blue eyes on Lenny. Those eyes
that had the power to make her heart stop.
“
I’m
here for
you
this week. Not the events, not the celebrities, not the weather.
Just you. Whatever you need from me, you have it.”
Lenny bit the inside
of her cheek. She had been keeping him at a distance and yet here he
was, offering more for her to misuse if that’s what she chose.
Her heart beat fast as she began to grasp his unrestricted devotion
to her. It was a lot stronger than she had realized.
“
I
just got my head back on…” Lenny started slowly, she
didn’t want to hurt Luke but she wanted to be honest with him.
“I’m sort of just starting to feel comfortable in my own
skin….I still can’t give you an absolution on what that
means for us.” She watched his expression go from thoughtful
to forlorn.
“
I
really like you, Luke.” Lenny wanted to grab him and kiss him.
“But, logistically, how do you see this playing out?”
He frowned at her and she continued. “You’re a rock star
and you have this hugely successful job that requires you to be gone
for long periods of time. And I’m considering going back to
competing which also requires a lot of travel.” She took a
breath. “We might not see much of each other after the rest of
this tour.”
“
We
could make it work.” He said moving to sit next to her on the
bed.
Lenny nodded,
knowing that was a possibility.
“
I
don’t think it would be smart for either of us to promise
something that huge before we know if that’s something we
really want.”
Luke took one of her
hands in both of his. “Are giving me the ‘let’s
just be friends’ talk?” He smiled, only half-kidding.
Lenny’s eyes
widened. “No, not at all. I just think we should enjoy what we
have right now and not put so much pressure on what might be.”
Luke looked down at
her hand and chuckled. “Maybe Blake’s right, maybe we are
just a couple of hipsters.”
Lenny took her other
hand and touched his face, directing his eyes back up to hers. “I‘ll
tell you what this is.” She whispered. “I’m your
girl, and you’re my guy.”
When his gaze
traveled to her lips she felt her pulse quicken.
“
I
really enjoyed watching your interview.” Luke said slowly, his
eyes flicking back and forth from her eyes to her lips.
“
Oh,
yeah?” Lenny raised an eyebrow in question.
“
Yeah,”
Luke leaned in fractionally. “I've never seen that reckless
side of you before, it was kinda hot.”
Lenny smiled slowly
as Luke leaned closer. “You thought it was hot?”
His lips finally
touched hers and an electric current ripped through her body. He
delicately and determinedly worked his lips against hers. She
grabbed his shirt in both hands and pulled him closer. One of his
arms slipped around her back while the other cupped her face,
directing their course of action. The kiss heated quickly and her
body responded. Her hands found themselves twisting into his hair,
pulling him closer. Lenny had only been kissed a handful of times in
her life and no one ignited her the way Luke did.
She let an
involuntary whimper when Luke slowly ended the kiss and stood up. He
took a steadying breath and gave her a knowing smile.
“
We
have to be careful,” he whispered in his gravelly voice. “I
haven’t kissed you in a long time and I’m afraid I could
ask for too much too fast.”
Lenny’s
stomach trembled as she understood what he was implying. And she
agreed, she hadn’t kissed him like that in weeks and it was
like someone had set her lips on fire. She would have a hard time
saying no. Unlike with Shane, where her thoughts never progressed
past kissing, Luke made her want to throw caution to the wind.
She waited for her
heart to return to a normal rhythm before she cleared her throat and
stood up. “Maybe we should get some dinner after my demo. My
dad is in town and he wanted to see you guys again.”
“
That’s
a really good idea,” Luke nodded. “Knowing your dad is
around will help keep my thoughts where they should be.” He
grinned and then winked. “Well, for the most part.”
***
The table at the
lodge-style restaurant was long and wide, comfortably fitting the
group of seven. The lights were low, and tiny candles inside glass
lamps created small pools of radiance on the table cloth. Lenny
looked around at the faces that she had become so fond of over the
past few months. Blake and Harrison, Sway and Mike. Luke. Her
father.
Her gaze locked on
Luke sitting across from her, his affection for her evident. It was
less frightening than it was in the beginning, but it still left
Lenny lightheaded and confused. Luke was carrying on a conversation
with her father easily. Not something many people could do. Bruce
Evans was always suspicious of those who had the potential to hurt
his family. It was part of the reason Lenny had a hard time fully
trusting someone, it’s how she was raised.
She looked at her
father. He was a good man. He had always encouraged Lenny to follow
her dreams but he never made her decisions for her. He liked Luke.
Lenny could tell by his laugh and the way he listened to Luke’s
stories. They had a lot in common, both from Boston, Celtics fans,
avid fisherman, hated the same politicians. Lenny found herself
picturing future holidays with both of these men, her mother and
brothers. Was there a future there? With the rock star? Lenny
didn’t know how that could work. Maybe the details didn’t
matter right now.