Chapter 37 Drew
Drew
Drew watched Ari’s final heats game with Luiz and the rest of the journalists in the press office, cheering for Ari and her teammates the entire time.
He jumped out of his seat when she scored the winning goal and clapped as the commentators announced that, in doing so, Ari had just secured Team GB’s place in the quarterfinals at their first Olympics.
A few of the CNN journalists he’d been sitting with had given him a funny look, no doubt confused as to why an American photographer was cheering so loudly for a British team, but Drew was way too proud not to celebrate Ari’s win as if it were his own.
He left the press office and went straight to the Village gift shop, impulsively buying the biggest, brightest bouquet of flowers he could find before heading toward GB House.
Drew walked across the Village trying to figure out how to make things right with Ari.
They’d both done a pretty good job of complicating things on Thursday night, but she’d been certain to remind him that this ended with the closing ceremony.
She’d even gone as far as to call it all a mistake, so he had to respect her wishes.
It was supposed to be a fake two-week relationship, and they only had a few more days left until that contract expired.
But knowing that didn’t change how Drew’s face lit up when he spotted a figure in a huge blue coat walking toward him, carrying a gym bag.
“Do you have my watch?” she asked. He could tell she was trying to stay mad at him, but the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her. He reached into his bag and handed over the watch, as well as the earrings and scarf she’d left behind.
“This is your scarf.”
“It looks better on you.”
They stood in silence for a moment. She gave him a hard stare, then let her shoulders drop.
“I’m still mad at you,” she said as she wrapped the scarf around her neck.
“I know, you’re right to be,” he admitted. After a moment she glanced down at the bouquet in his hands.
“Are you getting into floristry? Interesting choice for a side hustle.”
“Before you ask, they’re not I’m sorry flowers. They’re I watched your game today and you were incredible. It’s Valentine’s Day, so I was thinking of you and also … I’m sorry flowers,” he said.
She examined the bouquet and then she studied him. A small smile appeared on her face. She tried to straighten it out, but then she gave in.
“Ranunculus, you remembered,” she said, taking the flowers, bringing them closer to her face, and then smelling them.
“I knew you’d make it to the quarterfinals, and I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, pal,” she said, elbowing him.
“Pal?” he asked, tilting his head. She had never called him that before.
“Pal. Buddy. Temporary fake boyfriend. Heavy on the friend,” she said, feigning nonchalance.
“Ari.”
“Drew.”
“We’re not just friends,” he said, shaking his head.
“Yes, we are,” she said firmly. “We are friends in a contractual relationship that ends in a couple days.”
“That’s in a couple days, though. What does that make us until then?” he asked. She looked around and thought about it.
“Friends.” She shrugged, then paused. “Okay, friends who are occasionally more than friends but are committed to only doing what’s right.”
“What’s right or what feels right?”
She shook her head, but the air between them had just gotten incredibly thick.
“Do you regularly kiss your friends?” he asked, tilting his head.
“I’ve been known to kiss a forehead when we win,” she said, nodding.
“And you sleep with your friends?” he asked.
“The dorm room has four bunk beds, so technically, yes.”
“But do your friends know the way you taste?” he asked, and her eyes widened.
“Do you let your friends go down on you until—” he began, but she threw her hand over his mouth and clamped it shut.
He laughed, but he could see how startled she was.
She was looking at something behind him with an alarmed expression that quickly turned into embarrassment and then a practiced smile.
“Mr. and Mrs. Dlamini?” Ari said, widening her eyes at Drew as she took her hand off his mouth. Drew’s stomach dropped. Mr. and Mrs. Dlamini?
He turned around, and to his horror, there stood his grandparents.
His grandpa was shaking his head and his grandma’s face was a mixture of horror and amusement.
His grandparents were obviously in the Village to watch Thandie’s games, and he’d already met up with them a couple of times that week.
But he hadn’t factored in the possibility that he might bump into them when he wasn’t expecting it.
Never mind that he might spot them while he was with Ari.
Drew ran through his options and decided the best option was to stick to the story Ari had been telling her friends.
“Grandma, Grandpa, this is Ari, my … girlfriend,” he said, immediately questioning whether he’d made the right decision.
“It’s so nice to meet you, sweetheart. I thought Drew might be seeing someone, but he’s always been so secretive,” said his grandma, reaching out to hug her. Ari hugged her back, looking over at Drew with wide eyes as if trying to figure out his plan.
“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard so much about you,” Ari said, quickly composing herself when they pulled apart. Drew did his best to send her a please, let’s go with it look. She gave him a gentle nod, letting him know she was going to play along.
“And these flowers are beautiful, honey. Valentine’s Day? I didn’t think you were a romantic, Drew,” his grandma said, raising her eyebrow. He scrambled to come up with an explanation.
“I’m a romantic when I’m with the right person,” he said, reaching for the first thing that came into his head, but when he glanced over at Ari, he realized it was true. “And yes, it’s Valentine’s Day, but the real celebration is that Ari and her team just won a big game. She’s incredible.”
He looked over and caught her eye. She smiled, and for a moment, they were back in their own little world.
“Arikoishe Shumba, right?” his grandpa asked, his face flashing with recognition. His grandpa was a Team USA women’s ice hockey fan to his very core. His blood bled red, white, and blue. But he wasn’t just a supportive grandpa, he was a genuine fan of the sport. Of course he knew who she was.
“Yes, but all my friends call me Ari,” she said, extending her hand to shake his.
“Congratulations on your win,” his grandpa said. From the tone of his voice, Drew knew it was a genuine compliment. The four of them stood in silence for a moment before Ari tried to find a quick escape.
“Well, it’s almost six, so I’ve got to leave and grab dinner now,” Ari said, looking down at her watch.
“Yeah, I’ll walk you there,” Drew said, nodding along. He wanted to escape this conversation just as much as she did.
“Wait, we’re going for dinner too. Why don’t you join us? It would be lovely to get to know you,” his grandma said eagerly. Drew couldn’t possibly think of a worse idea.
“I’m sure Ari has other plans,” Drew began.
But before he could get out of the invitation, his grandma was locking arms with Ari and asking her questions about her life.
Ari glanced over for second, as if looking for a way out, but his grandma was a charmer, and soon enough, Ari was smiling and laughing along, the two of them lost in their own conversation.
“Drew never introduces us to his friends, and I know the food you’re eating in those canteens isn’t good,” his grandma said.
Drew watched as a set of mental calculations flashed across Ari’s face.
His grandma was looking over at her with a warm smile, and Drew recognized it as the one she wore when she was up to no good.
But Ari must have received it as that of a sweet older lady extending a kind invitation.
“I don’t want to intrude,” Ari said.
“Oh darling, I insist,” his grandma said, whisking her away before she could protest. And soon enough, all four of them were off to dinner together.
When his grandparents started talking about what they wanted to eat that evening, Drew took it as an opportunity to step back, reach for Ari’s hand, and walk a few spaces behind.
“Lying to my grandparents was definitely not part of the plan. Sorry to reel you in to that. I panicked,” he whispered, quiet enough that only she could hear him.
“It’s okay, they seem really sweet.”
“Don’t let them fool you,” Drew joked. “But seriously, you don’t have to come. I can tell them you’re busy or need to go and meet up with your teammates. Dinner with my grandparents wasn’t part of the agreement.”
“Do you want me to come?” Ari asked, looking over at him. Drew paused, thinking about it for a moment.
“If this was real? Yes. Absolutely. I know they’ll like you.”
“So I’ll come, but what’s the plan? What’s our story?” she asked.
“The same one we gave your friends?” He figured that maintaining the same lie they’d been telling everyone else would be easier than trying to come up with a good reason for why Drew was giving his sister’s rival a bouquet of flowers.
Saying they met on New Year’s Eve felt like the least complicated explanation.
“Okay, I’ll play it up. But your sister can’t find out. So after tonight, tell them we’ve broken up. Because this? Me and you? It’s over.”