Chapter 14 Drew
Drew
AFTER THE OPENING CEREMONY
Drew hadn’t left his hotel room that morning expecting to end the day kissing Ari.
He hadn’t planned to end the day kissing anybody.
And he certainly couldn’t have predicted that the girl he’d told his secrets to at a random party in another country would now be at the Olympics.
Or that he’d be kissing her outside the Olympic Stadium.
If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d clearly only approached him to get out of a sticky situation, he would have kept his arms around her waist and kissed her the way he’d really wanted to on New Year’s Eve.
But as good as it felt, it was just for show, and Drew knew when to bow out.
When he pulled away, Ari’s eyes were still closed.
Maybe it was just the layers of fleece and the big winter coat she was wearing, but she seemed peaceful wrapped up in his arms. Content even.
As if they were somewhere warm and cozy, not outside in the snow on one of the coldest days of the year.
It had been dark on the roof that night; but now that they were standing under the glow of a lamppost, he could see how beautiful she really was, her curls gently framing her face, her warm brown skin smooth to touch, her eyelashes curling softly from her eyelids.
“Ari,” he said gently. Her eyes were still closed.
“Hmm,” she replied.
“You can open your eyes now,” he whispered.
Her eyes flew open as if waking from a dream.
She looked up at him, shook her head, and glanced away.
They let go of each other, then both took a very purposeful step back.
He tried not to think too much about how empty his arms already felt without her.
Or linger on the way she’d glanced down at his mouth and bit her lip the second they’d parted.
For a moment, they stood in silence, looking everywhere but at each other.
It was a good kiss. So good that he was almost embarrassed to have enjoyed it so much.
Drew cleared his throat and glanced over at the guy Ari seemed to be avoiding.
He was a tall, athletic man wearing a huge red bomber jacket emblazoned with the words TEAM GB.
Drew had spent years analyzing people from behind his lens.
He’d learned how to read the obvious and not-so-obvious cues that gave him insights into who a person was.
And while nothing about the guy or the group of athletes now surrounding him suggested he was a bad person, something in his eyes told Drew everything he needed to know.
The guy stared Drew down for a second, then nodded at him.
But Drew didn’t nod back. Instead, he cast his eyes toward Ari, suddenly feeling protective.
“Is he giving you problems?” Drew said, hunching his shoulders and glaring at the guy. Ari rolled her eyes and shook her head. The slightly startled look she’d come to him with was replaced by a mixture of irritation and amusement.
“I’m not a damsel in distress, Drew. I don’t need you to save me,” she said firmly, before softening. “But that kiss should be enough to get him to back off, so thank you.”
“I hate creepy random men,” Drew said, thinking of all the times Thandie and her friends had told him about their weird encounters with strangers.
“Harrison’s not creepy or random.”
“Oh, Harrison. As in your ex-boyfriend?”
“How do you—oh, New Year’s,” she said with a grimace.
“Want to talk about it?”
“And spill my secrets like we’re on the roof again? Absolutely not.”
“Why not? I’m a good listener, and I have nowhere else to be tonight.” Drew knew full well that there was a whole SD card of photos to send to Zeus before the end of the day.
“I only told you all of that because I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Yet here we are.” Drew tilted his head and met her gaze.
She shook her head. “No more confessions, Drew.”
“In case we see each other again?”
“We’re not going to see each other again,” she said firmly as they locked eyes. He could feel the tension, and he was sure she could, too. “We shouldn’t.”
She was right, but that didn’t stop Drew from wanting to pick up where they’d left off the last time they’d seen each other. Her phone alarm rang before he could say anything else.
“That’s my cue to go to bed,” she said, tying a scarf around her neck and reaching into her pockets to put on her gloves.
“But it’s only eleven. Aren’t you going out?” he asked.
Thandie had told him about at least ten different after-parties happening across the Village that night.
And Drew couldn’t help but wonder if getting some behind-the-scenes photos would win him the approval of the Zeus Athletics socials team he so desperately wanted to impress.
But Ari just shook her head and turned to leave.
“Only mediocre athletes and overconfident medal winners party on the first night,” she said as she started walking toward the athletes’ quarters. “Champions and people flying by the seat of their pants go to bed early.”
“And which one are you?” he called out.
“A champion, of course,” she said, shooting him a brilliantly confident smile.
“See you later, Ari,” he said, testing her resolve. She shook her head and walked away.