Chapter 4
I hear them before I see them.
Well, actually, I hear her.
“Adriana!” Riley Monroe shrieks from outside before bursting through the front door, dropping her luggage behind her, and sprinting across the room to me as I descend the final step. “We’re going to Worlds together!”
There’s no time to answer her as she launches herself the last few feet that separate us and jumps up, forcing me to drop the blanket I was carrying down the stairs to catch her.
Riley’s only a year younger than me, but she’s so small it feels like way more.
She’s barely five feet tall, and I feel like an as she squeezes me tight in a hug.
Over her shoulder, her dad, Charles, is lifting her bags from the pile she dropped them in when she came through the door.
She’s a miniature version of Charlie, sparkling brown eyes and dark skin, her hair in tightly woven braids pulled back into a thick ponytail.
Riley and I grew up together here at Kellynch.
She moved with her mom down to Atlanta two years ago so she could partner with Freddie.
It’s been hard to stay close, but it helps that Riley’s one of those friends you might not talk to for a year, but you pick up right where you left off the next time you see each other.
If she’s ever noticed that her partner barely acknowledges my existence, she’s never said anything.
“Can you believe it? We’re going to Worlds together!” she repeats, and I laugh.
“Just like we talked about when we were little. Or at least when I was little. When are you going to grow?”
She smiles and shakes her head. “Doctor says I’m all done.”
“Ugh, lucky.”
“Are you kidding?” she says, grabbing my hands and holding them out.
“You should be walking fashion runways or something. Look at you. Well, okay, maybe like the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, you know, because of the…
” She motions at my chest, which, much like my height, is larger than pretty much any other figure skater I know.
“Enough.” I laugh, dropping her down and pulling away. “C’mon, grab your bags. I put you in the main house with me and Maria. You can have Elisa’s room.”
“Actually, I was thinking I could stay here,” she says, before biting her lip.
“Here?” I ask. “Why? The house is way more comfortable and closer to the rink. And the heat works better.”
“I don’t think it’s about any of that,” Charles jokes from behind her, and I blink in confusion.
He’s a little taller than me, and his hair is long gone, shaved off, the top of his head buffed to a shine.
“A certain someone is staying here…” He trails off before turning away and heading back outside, presumably to get the rest of the luggage.
“Da-ad,” Riley says to his back, but then her frown gives way to a bright smile. “It’s not like that. I think since we’re partners, Freddie and I should stay in the same place.”
“That makes sense,” I manage to say, holding back the tsunami of panic that immediately rages through me.
They’re partners, of course they should stay together, but that’s not what it sounded like.
It sounded like that was an excuse. It sounded liked Riley wants to be as close to Freddie as possible.
It sounded like she likes him. You know, likes him, likes him.
Who even am I right now? Who talks like that? Likes him, likes him?
But why wouldn’t she like him and why wouldn’t he like her back?
She’s adorable and sweet and they’d probably make a great couple.
They’ve trained together six days a week for the last two years.
This shouldn’t be shocking. In fact, I should have guessed it way before now.
They look great on the ice. Why wouldn’t that become more off it?
“I mean, nothing’s happened,” Riley’s saying, but I only catch the end of it. “But I don’t know. Is it stupid to go there? What do you think?”
“I think…we shouldn’t talk about this right now when everyone else is probably going to be here any second.”
“Yeah, Dad knew the fastest way from Logan, but they had to wait for cabs…” she says, gesturing back behind her. Car doors slamming and voices chattering over each other start to draw closer from behind the door.
“We’ll talk later, okay?” I assure her, and she nods as her dad comes back inside with a woman behind him bundled up tight to fight against the Boston winter.
“How do you stand it?” Georgia O’Connell-Croft says, unwinding her scarf from around her face, her eyes, the same ones she shares with her brother, twinkling at me.
Her hair is a bright red, not the chestnut brown that Freddie has, but the resemblance is almost uncanny, right down to the light green eyes.
“Boston is a great place to visit, but my God, why would anyone subject themselves to this cold on purpose?”
I send her a small smile, a little unsure of myself.
I’ve never actually spoken to Georgia before.
There was never any reason to. She always lived and trained down in Atlanta, even when Freddie and I skated together.
She retired from ice dancing the same year Freddie and I stopped skating together, and when he moved down there, she and her husband, Harry, started coaching.
They must be pretty good at it. Freddie and Riley’s improvement in the last year has been amazing.
The next four years should be interesting. We all have the Olympics in our sights, and there’s only one gold medal.
“The cold builds character,” I say softly, and she laughs out loud.
“That must be it,” she says, and comes forward with her hand extended. “I’m Georgia, and you are Adriana Russo. It’s so nice to actually meet you after hearing so much about you for so many years.”
My smile falters, half terrified. Whatever she heard from Riley was probably fine, but I can’t imagine Freddie spent any time singing my praises to his big sister after what I did.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I say. “Don’t take off all your gear, though. I set you and your husband up in the main house. I figured you’d be more comfortable sharing a room with one big bed instead of two smaller ones.”
“Well, lead the way,” Georgia says. “Harry and the rest are still getting the luggage out of the taxis, but I need to get off my feet.” Her hand comes up to rest against her stomach, which is kind of protruding even through the coat. She’s having a baby.
“Follow me,” I say, leading her out the front door. In the distance, her husband is lining up bags on the sidewalk, talking to a few of the other skaters and coaches. I think I see the top of Freddie’s head sticking out of the crowd.
Yeah, that’s him, bouncing up and down on his toes against the cold.
Then he wheels around and in one motion scoops up a handful of slush, turning and firing it behind him.
I can’t see the intended targets, but it’s probably one of his friends, and sure enough a second later a snowball pelts him in the shoulder as he tries to spin out of the way.
He throws his head back with an infectious laugh that echoes up into the winter air.
He’s always like that, unable to sit still, vibrating against his own skin to do something, usually something outrageous and fun and completely unexpected.
I might have played it cool with Camille, but I can’t handle this right now, not if my suspicions about him and Riley are correct. So, I duck my head and lead Georgia away without looking back.
God, I’m such a coward.
“I can’t tell you how excited we were when we found out that training camp was going to be at Kellynch.
When I was growing up, I dreamed of training here,” Georgia says as we reach the house, but as we climb the steps of the porch, she turns and faces the rink next door.
“I came to a summer camp once when I was very little. It was the highlight of my career up until I went to Nationals for the first time.”
I lead her into the house and then straight back toward the largest guest bedroom. “You guys will be in here. Bathroom is attached.”
“Wow,” she says, coming in behind me. “This is…that’s…a lot of mirrors.”
I glance over to the far wall of the room, which is entirely covered in mirrors and another freestanding mirror reflects them back. We don’t have a lot of guests at the main house, so Dad usually uses it as a dressing room.
“Yeah, my dad likes to make sure he looks just right before he goes out in the world.”
Georgia laughs and then shrugs. “I guess I’ll make sure not to look up when I drag myself out of bed in the morning.”
“Adriana!” Maria’s voice carries from somewhere in the house.
“We’re in here,” I call, sticking my head out into the hallway. “What are you doing back so soon?”
“Charlie got a text from his sister that they got here, and his dad said we had to come back. We’re going to have a team party at the Kellynch House tonight…oh…hi,” she says to Georgia, recognizing her immediately. “I don’t mean like a real party, just hanging out.”
“You must be Maria,” she says, and extends her hand, which Maria shakes quickly.
“Anyway,” my sister says, refocusing on me.
“I really want to go, but I got a text from Julian Tarasi’s mom confirming for later and I totally forgot to cancel his last lesson and you know what a total bitch she is.
Don’t say it, I know you told me to cancel all my lessons.
I’m not as responsible as you, but, like, I really want to hang out with everyone, especially Charlie, and you’re really good with parents like that… ”
“Go,” I say, cutting her off. “I’ll take the lesson.”
“Ah!” she shrieks, and then gives me a fierce hug before pulling away and bounding up and down on her toes. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll totally make it up to you, I promise.”