Chapter Sixteen
Nico
After my performance, everything is a blur. The only thing I remember clearly is Roman standing in the crowd, watching me proudly. Like he already knew that I was getting the gold before I did.
I knew once I saw the score. There’s no way the last two skaters were beating that number. The others were too far behind, and the ones after me aren’t the best skaters.
But again… not getting too cocky.
Well, I’m trying. But that’s really hard to do when you know you just won a gold medal at the freaking Olympics!
Pictures are taken. I’m congratulated. Hugged too many times.
Smiled at even more. I wait anxiously as they set up the podiums on the ice.
I’m handed my medal and announced as the gold medal winner, and I can’t believe it.
The crowd cheers and goes wild. The three of us up here hold our medals up, congratulate each other, take photos…
Once again, I find Roman’s gaze on me. Only on me. Only ever on me. Even when someone else is on the ice and I’m watching in the stands, his eyes are on me.
Media is crazy when I get off the ice. I do interviews and photos and meet and greets.
I’m in a fog and I can’t tell how much time has passed.
My phone gets passed to me, and I note there’s an ongoing call.
It’s my family, screaming and crying, telling me how proud they are of me.
My mother is bawling because she couldn’t be here.
I feel like I’m floating.
I’m just a twenty-one-year-old guy from Montreal who loves figure skating, and here I am… winning the gold.
“You did it!” étienne screeches for the hundredth time. “I can’t believe you did it.”
“Yes, you can,” I say with a smirk.
He rolls his eyes.
“This is going to be so bad for your ego.”
“I disagree. I think it’s going to be great for my ego.”
Things finally settle down, which gives me time to change and get ready to leave.
Just like that, the night is done. Roman only has a few games left himself. The Olympics are almost over. It’s almost time to go home.
Far, far away from him.
And I don’t like the thought of that.
“Hey, you okay?” étienne asks.
“Huh?” I glance up at him.
“I don’t know,” he says with a frown. “You just looked like someone kicked your puppy.”
I perk up. “You know, that’s the perfect ‘winning the gold present.’ Buy me a puppy.”
“Cause that’s what your house needs—another thing to take care of.”
“Don’t call my grandparents things.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.” He slaps my arm playfully. “And they’re my grandparents too.”
I clear my throat and look around, making sure we’re alone.
“But seriously… I’m just a little bummed about leaving soon.”
“Yeah,” he says, dropping beside me. “It’s been fun.”
“It’s more than fun,” I admit. “It’s R—”
“Nico!” Coach shouts, coming into the room. “We’ve got two more interviews for you.”
“I’ve already changed,” I say, pointing to my clothes. “You said I was done.”
“Yeah, I know.” He gestures for me to get up. “These will be the last two. I promise. Just throw your Canada jacket on. It’ll be fine.”
I get up and stick my tongue out at étienne over my shoulder.
“I’ll get your stuff ready!” he calls after me.
I get asked the same questions I’ve been asked ten times already and give my usual, practiced responses.
“How does it feel to win the gold?”
“It’s unreal. I can’t believe I made it.”
“To whom do you owe this?”
“My parents, of course. They’ve supported me from the beginning.”
“What do you have to say to the aspiring skaters out there?”
“Never give up. Try your hardest.”
They should allow me to record my responses and hit a button on a recorder. My throat is sore.
I chuckle to myself… because maybe that’s from sucking Roman’s cock and not talking.
Worth it.
As I make my way back to the room, I think about how I almost admitted to étienne that I’m sad about leaving Roman. He’ll think I’m crazy, of course.
“How did you catch feelings so soon?”
“It’s just a hook-up. You’ll find another.”
“There are plenty of hockey players out there.”
I’d tell him I didn’t. Because… how could I have? It’s been a week. I hardly know him. So many athletes hook up while they’re here, it’s why they provide condoms all over the place.
This is normal… it happens.
So why does it feel different?
Because there are plenty of hockey players out there, but I want this one.
I’ve been wanting this opportunity my whole life. I came here to get it. But now that I have it, it’s almost time to leave. And leaving the games means leaving Roman too.
As I’m heading to the exit doors, I pass Coach.
“Hey, do you have a second?” I ask.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
His eyes narrow. “What kind of favor?”
I smirk, knowing I’m about to get what I want. “Does it matter? I just won you the gold.”
Roman is waiting for me outside with a grin on his face, looking like maybe he’s the one who won the gold.
“Congratulations,” he says, walking up to me and looking like he wants to hug me, but hesitates.
“You want to hug me, don’t you?”
“So badly,” he rasps out.
I lean into him, putting my arms around his waist and resting my cheek on his chest. He embraces me, his large arms coming around me. Not an inch of cold gets through like this, not with his huge body holding me and keeping me warm.
I pull back and look up at him, wanting to kiss him, but I won’t. This isn’t that…
“I have a surprise for you,” I say.
“A surprise?” He rears his head back. “You’re the one who won. I should have gotten you something. Damn, why didn’t I think of that? Flowers or—”
“You being here is enough.” I take his hand and pull him toward the doors. “Come on, Big Guy.”
“Why are we going inside?”
“You’ll see,” I sing-song over my shoulder as we head back through the doors.
The familiar scent of ice and the chill in the air brings me peace. I hold on tighter to his hand, not wanting to let go. We make our way to the benches by the opening for the ice.
Two sets of skates lie on the benches—mine and a pair for Roman.
“What are we doing?” he asks carefully.
I smile up at him and gesture to the skates on the bench. His gaze goes that way, and he raises his brows.
“Hopefully they fit.” I drop onto the bench and take my shoes off to get my skates on.
His eyes stay glued to the skates for a long moment before he turns them on me. They are so full of emotion, so bright, and… slightly confused?
“You want to skate with me?” he asks softly.
My smile is slow as I lace up the last skate and put my foot on the floor.
“No, Big Guy. I want you to skate with me.”
Happiness lights up his face as he drops to the bench and eagerly gets his shoes off and skates on.
“These are weird,” he says as he tightens the laces, wiggling his foot.
“I forgot the skates are different,” I comment. “Hopefully you don’t fall on your ass and make a fool of yourself.” I step onto the ice, grinning at Roman who is smiling goofily at me.
When he finally steps on the ice, he does so confidently—too confidently. He trips up and almost goes down.
“What the—”
“Yeah, that’s the toe pick!” I call out, gliding around the curve of the arena. “Watch out for that.”
He moves around, testing his feet on the ice.
It doesn’t take him long to get the hang of it and move like he owns the ice.
He skates toward me, and I have the urge to take off and let him chase me.
But I want to be next to him, so I wait.
His arm comes around my waist for just a moment, before I spin out of his grip and glide away.
“These are so stiff,” he comments, looking down at the skates.
“They’re supposed to be.” I bite my lip as I look up at him, noting how bright his eyes are. Seeing him on the ice in regular clothes, with his hair brushing over his forehead, and his lips on full display… it does something to me. “Wanna race?”
“Race?” He chuckles. “You think you can beat me?”
“I know I can,” I say.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
He comes to stand beside me. We get into a readying position, hand on the board, skates on an imaginary start line.
“On three,” I say, giving him a little nudge with my elbow. “And no cheating.”
“If anyone is going to cheat, it’s you.”
“Yeah, you’re totally right.”
He laughs again, and I face forward, ready to show him just how fast I can be.
“Ready? One… two… three!” I push off, skating my hardest to reach the other end but he’s already two strides ahead of me. Holy crap! I push harder, skating like my life depends on it, but he beats me fair and square.
There’s a proud grin on his face when he turns to face me.
“Wow,” I admit. “I honestly didn’t expect that.”
“A little too cocky for your own good,” he says playfully. “We’re trained to move fast on take-off, and to rush across the ice.”
“Yeah… good point.”
I look around the arena. “Okay, let’s go around the curve then. Bet I’ll beat you then.”
He shrugs. “If you want to lose again…”
I shove him and he laughs. I point a finger at him. “I will not lose twice and you better not let me win.”
He holds his hands up, palms out. “I would never.”
There are no tracks on the ice, but I don’t think it matters that much.
We can guess where the beginning and ending would be.
I stand on the inside, a little behind him to make up for the distance.
When we go, he gets ahead of me again but on the curve, I move ahead of him.
He’s right behind me, maybe a few inches.
I skate harder, gaining more around the curve, which gives me enough space to win.
“Did you let me win?” I ask, putting my hands on my hips.
He shakes his head. “Definitely not. I’m not used to moving around the boards like that.”
“That’s because you’re too busy slamming people into them.”
His eyes get heated, and I think about him slamming me into them… but then I get a better idea.
“Let’s try something…” I take his hand and guide him to the center of the ice. “You ever seen Dirty Dancing?”