Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Kirby moved through the after-race chaos in a daze.
Mara hadn’t let go of her hand once. Not when Mara had hugged her parents. Not when Kirby had hugged Apollo, who was lined up to race his team sprint final right after theirs.
It had to have looked suspicious, a bit too friendly, a bit too close, but Kirby didn’t care.
And now Mara was talking, talking, talking to the press in the exchange zone like she’d been replaced by a body double.
“You’re known for being a stoic competitor, Mara. But you seem quite open and expressive today,” Henrik Jensen said. “I’ve only seen you cry one time, and that was four years ago after losing the thirty-k mass start.”
“That day I cried because I was disappointed. Because I’d let myself down, and I was embarrassed.
But I didn’t race for myself today. I raced with my heart.
For my heart. For Kirby. And for Brandilyn.
I wanted to do my best for them. And I think being vulnerable is why I raced so well.
I could let myself feel and be aggressive and ski with joy. Because it wasn’t about me.”
Henrik blinked a few times, clearly surprised by such a wordy answer. “KB, what is it like winning the gold medal with your biggest rival? Much has been made about your rivalry in these last two Olympics.”
“I’m… I haven’t quite processed it yet. I’m glad we got a chance to write our own chapter in the story, though.”
Mara gripped her hand harder, and Kirby squeezed back.
“Mara, you’ve stated your goal was a gold medal. Does it diminish it that you got gold but it’s a team medal, not an individual one?”
“No.” Mara’s voice cracked, and she started crying again.
She really was a puddle. “It’s better. Last Olympics, all I could think about was gold, gold, gold, and then we all know what happened.
I raced terribly for most of the Games. I started this Olympics the same way.
Gold, gold, gold. But today, all that was going through my head was Kirby, Kirby, Kirby.
Don’t let Kirby down. Close the gap for Kirby.
Because I knew she could finish this. And she did.
The medal mattered less to me than her and the team.
And I’ll be honest, that has never been the case. ”
“Okay, princess, save it for your memoir,” Kirby said.
And Mara sent her that signature dirty look that Kirby loved so fucking much. Kirby laughed, pulling Mara close into a side hug. Mara leaned into her.
Henrik’s eyes went wide.
“Any more questions?” Kirby asked him.
He shook his head. “No. Maybe off the record later. But no. Not now.”
Kirby moved them through the after-race press.
They did the required drug testing business.
Then they reached the changing room to celebrate with the team.
Coach Wu was crying. Mara was crying. Apollo, who had come in tenth in his team sprint final, was crying.
Even Coach Karlsson was wiping tears away.
But Kirby had never felt less like crying. She felt like shouting. Like letting all the pent up, stored up energy out.
They’d done it. They’d fucking done it, and she had no idea what that meant for her and Mara.
Maybe nothing.
Maybe everything.
Maybe it didn’t matter. They’d won a gold medal. She’d done that for Mara. And she believed what Mara had said.
Mara had done it for her too.
Someone crashed into Kirby’s back, giving her a huge hug. She turned to find Brandilyn.
Kirby hugged her back. “I’m sorry it wasn’t you.” And Kirby was. Maybe they wouldn’t have won if it had been Brandilyn. But maybe they would have, and she truly was sad for Brandilyn that they would never know.
“Next time.”
“Fuck yeah, next time.”
“I’m happy it was her,” Brandilyn said.
Kirby glanced at Mara, who had finally released Kirby’s hand so she could jump up and down with Lindsey.
Kirby was happy it was her too.
She wanted a moment alone with Mara, but who knew when that would happen. Maybe not for hours. For days.
The rest of the afternoon moved around Kirby in bursts. More interviews. More celebrations.
Eventually, they each had a cool hour at the Olympic Village to shower and get ready for the evening medal ceremony, and Mara left her side for the first time.
Once Kirby was under the spray, she started shaking, all the adrenaline leaving her. She laughed and tried to breathe through the ridiculous come down. Racing well was such a high, but she was ready for her heartbeat to calm, for her body to settle.
She needed normalcy, so she took extra minutes in the shower, doing some of the special stuff she didn’t always have time for.
She imagined an interviewer asking, Kirby, what’s the first thing you did after winning a gold medal.
Oh, you know, I took an everything shower—shaved my legs, exfoliated, moisturized my knees and elbows.
She got out of the shower and had finished dressing in her medal ceremony outfit when there was a knock at their door. She heard Jordan answer it.
Kirby peeked out of the bathroom to see who it was, but before she even got eyes on Mara, she knew it would be her.
Mara was making small talk with Jordan, even though Mara sucked at small talk. Her hair was wet, she didn’t have makeup on, and she was clearly not fully ready for the medal ceremony, but she’d searched Kirby out anyway.
“Want me to braid your hair?” Kirby asked Mara, pulling up the first excuse she could think of. “For the medal ceremony?”
“Oh, uh, sure.” Mara said.
“Come here.”
Mara squeezed into the bathroom with Kirby, and Kirby neatly shut the door.
Then she pinned Mara to it.
“I don’t actually want my hair braided for the medal ceremony,” Mara said because she was annoying.
“Shut up.”
“No.”
Kirby tried to kiss her because she felt like she’d vibrate apart if she didn’t.
But Mara dodged her. “Wait, KB.”
“Fuck.” Kirby rested their foreheads together, just like after the race. “Okay.”
She had severely misjudged this. And that was the first time Mara had called her KB where it had sounded fond and maybe a little sad instead of mean, and Kirby had no idea what that meant.
“You need to know that I really freaking like you,” Mara whispered.
“But?”
“Not because you won me a gold medal.”
Kirby laughed. “We won.” She pulled back and caressed Mara’s cheek.
Mara’s emotions were right there on the surface, so clear in her bright green eyes. Affection, maybe more than affection. Happiness. Joy.
“I don’t know what comes next,” Mara said. “But I like you so much. I’m so sorry for saying all that stuff about—”
“Hush.”
Mara smiled sweetly, and Kirby was in pieces.
Mara lifted her hand and rubbed a thumb over Kirby’s chin, then along her jaw, then up and over Kirby’s eyebrow, and for the first time since they’d won, Kirby felt like crying.
“You’re beautiful, Kirby,” Mara said matter-of-factly as if she’d just noticed.
Then she kissed Kirby. A quick press of their lips together. Then a longer one.
Mara stepped away from the door, spun them around so Kirby was against it, and deepened the kiss. She took over. And Kirby melted for her.
A knock on the door they were crushed against made them both jump.
“You guys have to go,” Jordan said, and Mara laughed against Kirby’s mouth.
Kirby stole one more kiss. “Come on, princess.”