Chapter 20 #2
“We’d love that. It’s a date,” he said, his smile continuing to hurt his face. How do people do this all the time?
Chase opened his mouth to say something, but Tobias never found out what because a loud buzzing interrupted them, Tobias’ phone lit up where he left it on a bench. As he approached, he saw Natalie smiling back at him on his screen.
“Who’s that?” Chase asked, his gaze curious.
“It’s my sister calling from Milan.”
Tobias wondered if it would be rude to answer with Chase here, or if it would be weird to introduce them over the phone.
No, it’s way too soon.
‘You don’t know unless you ask.’
I don’t want to freak him out.
‘He could easily say no if he wants.’
“You know, your face is making it pretty obvious you’re having one of those conversations with yourself,” Chase said, interrupting his thoughts. “Why don’t you just tell me what you’re wrestling with and I promise not to judge?”
Tobias took a deep breath.
This guy was starting to understand him more than anyone ever had, and that alone made it easier to voice his racing thoughts.
“Do you want to meet her?”
Chase calmly walked over to where Tobias stood with his phone and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers.
“I’m with you, if you’re okay with me meeting her. And you can refer to me in whatever way makes you the most comfortable. Friend, employee, potential for more,” Chase said as he flashed him a teasing smile.
Tobias smiled. “Absolutely.”
He missed the call so he quickly redialed.
Tobias gave Chase one last glance as it rang. “You sure?”
Chase nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Fuck, I hope he really means that.
“Hey, Nat,” Tobias croaked. “Mom and Maddie aren’t home. They went to this salon for little girls where they make them into princesses. They’re apparently all the rage right now.”
Natalie barked out a laugh. “Oh wow, Maddie must be in heaven.”
The familiar sound of her chuckles made Tobias miss her even more.
“So, I wanted to introduce you to someone,” he said as he angled the phone so Natalie could see both him and Chase. “Do you remember me telling you about Chase?”
“How could I forget?” she said. “Chase in the flesh. Maddie has told me so much about you. Almost as much as Toby.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tobias laughed. Chase took a step closer, until he pressed against Tobias’ back, Chase’s hand settling on him and rubbing up and down his spine, calming Tobias’ nerves.
“Nice to meet you, Natalie. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Chase is here helping me train for hockey. I’m trying to get back in shape for the alumni game. It’s almost a month away, but I think I’ll be ready.”
Natalie’s brows rose. “I thought that was your basement behind you. That’s so exciting! I can’t wait to see you back on that ice.”
Tobias could feel his cheeks heating. “I can’t wait to see you out there either, kicking some international ass.”
Natalie’s bright smile turned wicked, her eyes bouncing between him and Chase. “And Chase is helping you train?”
“Um, yeah, and he’s also been, uh…” Tobias floundered, unsure of the right way to phrase what was happening between them, his gaze snapping to Chase for help.
Chase’s arm settled across Tobias’ shoulders, and he smiled at Natalie.
“What Tobias is trying to say is he has a huge crush on me. It’s embarrassing, really, but I’ve decided to give him a chance.”
A snort sounded through the phone.
“I like him already,” Natalie said. Me too, Nat. Me too.
Tobias huffed in mock annoyance. “Yeah, yeah, Chase is right. He might be around a lot more. And he’s great with Madison. You should see how fascinated she is by him already,” Tobias said, pausing from practically gushing.
Natalie gave him a look that said Madison wasn’t the only one wild about Chase.
“Chase, Tobias told me a little about the kids’ classes you’re gonna start. I’m so excited to take Madison once I’m home.”
“Great! The first one went better than we could have expected and we plan on adding more,” Chase said with a wide smile. “But now I’m dying to hear more about Italy. How is it going over there so far?”
Natalie beamed and filled them in on everything she’d seen and done so far, as well as her competition schedule. The finals for women’s singles figure skating was the next day and Tobias could tell she called to get her mind off the pressure.
Chase and Natalie fell into easy conversation, like they were long lost best friends who needed to catch up on everything, and Tobias hung on their every word.
Tobias took a full breath for the first time in years, a stack of weight plates he didn’t even know were crushing his lungs sliding off his chest. He’d work hard to keep them off for good.
————————
There was something surreal about watching his sister compete on the Olympic stage.
Pride didn’t cover what he felt as he watched her complete a triple axel, the crowd in Milan going wild as she landed perfectly.
“Go, Mommy, go!” Madison shouted from her spot on the couch between Tobias and Grace. Tobias invited Chase to watch with them, but he had to work at Cherrywood Boulders. It was okay, though, because Tobias would see him the next day for their Valentine’s date with Madison.
Watching his sister in the Olympics was the best distraction from his growing nerves.
The U.S. already won gold in the team event, which meant his sister was coming home with a gold medal no matter what.
But they all hoped she could earn another in the singles event.
Tobias could admit he wasn’t an expert on figure skating and he couldn’t tell the difference between a gold medal performance and a silver medal performance, but the commentators seemed as blown away by his sister as he was.
“She looks so fierce,” Grace said, as Natalie tore around the rink.
As bright and bubbly as Natalie was, she had what others called resting bitch face.
It wasn’t usually noticeable since she so rarely wasn’t smiling, but when she wasn’t?
She looked ready to fight the entire world—and win.
Their shared genetics left him with the same problem, except he rarely smiled.
Hence his reputation for being a stoic grump.
Natalie finished her skate, and Tobias couldn’t understand how her score wasn’t perfect. Nobody’s was, but he couldn’t explain why to Madison.
As Natalie sat waiting for her score, she held onto the bracelet Madison gave her while she was home for Christmas.
She mouthed, “Hi, Maddie,” at the camera as she waited, earning cheers and shouts from Madison as she bounced on the couch.
Natalie’s score put her in the second-place spot, but there were still two skaters left to go.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe she’s about to win a medal,” Grace cried.
“Mom, don’t jinx it,” Tobias said as he kept his gaze on the screen.
“Yeah, Gigi, don’t jinx it,” Madison echoed. Tobias would normally laugh, but he was far too tense waiting to see if his sister could hold on to her spot.
Tobias, Grace and Madison sat holding each other on the couch, crossing their fingers, legs, arms and toes in order to harness some good luck for Natalie.
It must have worked, because the next skater fell on her ass when attempting an intricate jump. They gasped, knowing this could clinch Natalie’s victory. They were too afraid to cheer before it was official, until Natalie was guaranteed a medal.
Tobias wanted to pull out his knitting to calm his nerves, but he was frozen solid as he watched.
The final skater performed perfectly and earned herself the gold, making Natalie slip to third to win a bronze medal.
With the noise in the Moyer household, anyone would have thought Natalie won six gold medals instead of one bronze.
Madison ran around the room throwing around her stuffed animals like confetti while Grace and Tobias sat on the couch with watery eyes.
As the bronze medal slipped around Natalie’s neck, her eyes filled with tears, and Tobias wondered if he could be as brave as her when he finally retook the ice.