Chapter 15
Finn
Finn sat at the breakfast table in his suite watching Maya, in the kitchen, as she poured a thick, pink, almost purple, liquid into a tall glass.
“Here you go, my famous Freestyle Fuel Smoothie,” she said as she placed it in front of him.
Finn stared at the smoothie. “Mai, this is huge—it could feed a giant.”
Maya shook her head and laughed. “I know what you’re thinking, but you will be glad of it later. Today is too important—and I know you won’t eat your snacks before the final.”
“You know me too well,” Finn said, picking up the glass.
He took a deep sip and licked his lips. Having Maya here was making a huge difference, especially as his family now couldn’t come.
His mom couldn’t make it due to catching a really bad flu, but she’d promised she’d call him before the competition later.
Uncle Henry and Aunt Miranda had come down with the same thing and had sent him messages rather than come to see him, afraid of him catching the same horrible bug.
Today was his first chance to go for gold.
The final for freestyle slopestyle ski competition would take place just after midday and he was nervous.
“Have you seen Sam?” Maya called over her shoulder as she dropped a coffee pod into the Nespresso machine. “I waited up for her but eventually I had to go to bed. What time did you get in?”
“I was in bed by ten.” Finn took another mouthful of the smoothie, unwilling to share what had happened last night with Sam. “I didn’t see her.”
“Oh,” Maya said. She sat down at the table with her coffee. She picked up the room service menu.
Finn looked down into the smoothie. He tried to push down the image of Sam leaving him in the bar last night.
And, if he was honest with himself, it was killing him not knowing what had gone wrong between them.
He sighed deeply trying to think about how Sam was feeling.
“You know Sam—she won’t want to talk about it. ”
“For sure.” Maya twisted her mug on the table. “I think Sam is reliving a lot of things.”
Finn’s head shot up. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
Maya nodded, still playing with her mug.
“It really kills me to see our girl hurting so much. I know she never says anything—to anyone. Not even me. It’s like she’s afraid to ask for help—Little Miss Independence all the way.
It’s like she’s afraid she’ll lose a part of herself if she admits she can’t do this alone. ”
Finn’s thoughts drifted to Jake, to the words Jake had said: I’m not losing anyone else. A chill went down Finn’s spine. Sam wasn’t the only one struggling here. The conversation was starting to feel too heavy. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his gaze flitting around the room.
Maya let out a soft sigh. “All right, enough of that. Today is your day. So, eggs? How about an omelet?” Maya held up the room service menu. Finn pulled a face. “Never mind. What about you—are you doing okay? Worried about your qualie today?”
“A little,” Finn said. “But I’m okay. Are you sure there isn’t alcohol in this?” He raised his smoothie and took another drink, eager to change the topic.
Maya giggled. “You know, the very odd time I wonder what might happen if I added just another dash of vodka—would anyone even notice? No, Finn! Of course there’s no alcohol in that! Sheesh!”
“Any news from Montalier or Salvaro?” Finn leaned both elbows on his knees. “Things seem to have been a little quiet.”
“Yeah,” Maya breathed out. “There’s been some news, not great. Salvaro have signed a deal with Harper. I’m worried how Sam is going to take this.”
“Crap. Wow. How did Harper bag that one?” Finn flopped back on the couch.
This was going to hurt Sam so much. Of course Harper had got the deal—she’d taken the gold medal.
Finn groaned inwardly. This was another nail in the coffin of Sam’s seemingly depleting confidence.
“Don’t say anything to Sam. She’ll only beat herself up for it. Blame herself.”
“Don’t I know it.” Maya swiped the glass from under his nose and took a sip. “Damn, this is good. I am a domestic goddess.”
Finn laughed and reached for his glass. “You? In all the years I’ve known you, I have never seen you do anything in the kitchen that didn’t start with a coff and end with an ee.”
“Cheeky. Listen, back to business—the real reason why I’m here,” Maya said with a dramatic hand gesture as she whipped out her phone.
“I want to share this with you.” She swiped through Instagram showing Finn post after post of him and Sam, including the video of him watching her lose her podium place yesterday.
“Despite crickets from Montalier, people are eating this up, Finn. It’s unreal. You two are picture-perfect.”
Picture-perfect. Finn frowned. “Should you have put that one up?” He pointed at the post of Sam looking devastated at her loss, the pit of his stomach heavy as he wondered if she was still angry with him.
“Yes,” Maya said brightly. “It’s showing the world how real this is, and people really respond well to vulnerability.”
“Maya.” There was a warning sound in Finn’s voice. “I think that might be overstepping the mark. Sam wouldn’t like this.”
Maya’s face fell. “Oh. Do you really think so? I thought she’d be okay with it.”
Finn gnawed on his bottom lip as Maya stared at the phone in her hand, her finger hovering over the delete button. Shaking his head, Finn put his hand on hers.
“Don’t mind me. Why don’t you just ask her?”
Maya gave a pained smile. “I will. Thanks, Finn.”
Maya took a sip of her coffee. Throwing a side glance at Finn she grimaced.
“So, what’s actually eating you? It can’t be just the final. You’re like a skater on thin ice, all antsy and on edge.”
“Nothing.” Finn slurped the last of his smoothie.
“Liar,” Maya said with a laugh. “I’ve known you a long time. Spill the tea.”
“There’s nothing to spill.” Finn lowered his gaze and picked at a crumb on the table.
Maya sat beside him in silence. Her phone pinged, once, twice, then a dozen times. Opening Instagram, she sighed heavily. “Everyone is liking the posts. Everyone but you.” She peered at Finn. “Why?”
Finn fidgeted with his empty glass; his lips twisted as he tried to think of something to say. Finally, his voice low and his eyes trained on the table, he said, “It’s Sam.”
“Oh.”
“She should’ve been up there on that podium. She deserved to be. It’s my fault she wasn’t.”
“She made a mistake,” Maya said, frowning. “That’s not on you.”
He shook his head, his words catching in his throat. “No, it is on me. I—we—Sam and me … Look. These posts—they’re all anyone is talking about.”
Maya blinked, taken aback. “What? But that’s the point, Finn. You know that.”
“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Look, Mai—the thing is that pretending to be with her—to be her boyfriend—it’s killing me.
” He took a breath not daring to look at Maya’s face.
“Because I actually do love her. I’m in love with her.
And we had a moment the other day and I think it’s messed with her head and now she’s … now she’s losing her dream.”
“Oh, well that changes things.” Maya sat back, her face soft on hearing his words.
“Look, don’t say anything to anyone, will you?” Finn said miserably. “I’ll be fine, in time. And Sam deserves to win a medal.”
“What are you going to do?” Maya took his hand and squeezed it.
“I’ll get through this week as best I can, then I’ll stay away from her,” Finn said flatly. “What else can I do?”
“I don’t know, I think that’s a bad idea.
” Maya leaned back; her brow furrowed. “You can’t stay away from her, Finn.
If you stay away from her, it’ll just make things worse.
She’ll think you don’t care—and the reality is that the Montalier reps are keeping tabs on you both.
This ‘couple’ thing is working. If your heart isn’t in it then I can’t help you.
I can post a million photos of you guys looking all cute and spicy, but people will know.
They always do. Now that I know this, I think that’s what your magic ingredient has been all this time—it’s what everyone else has seen.
If you pull back, even a little bit, it’s going to fall apart for you both. ”
Finn rubbed his temples. “Great. So, what you’re telling me is that I have to keep this up even though it’s killing me.”
“Hey,” Maya said sharply. “Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of sympathy for you, but Finn—Sam has worked her ass off to get noticed.
And whether you like it or not, the fake-relationship thing is what’s making it happen.
You’re the one who has always said she deserves her dream.
Don’t blow it now because you’re scared of your own feelings. ”
Finn squirmed in his seat. “I’ve been scared of these feelings since the day I first saw her.”
“Wow!” Maya took his hand. “That’s a long time to be scared of love.”
“The thing is, I’m not scared of love,” Finn said. “I’m scared of losing her if she doesn’t love me back.”
“Sounds like the same kinda thing to me,” Maya said.
“No, it’s not.” Finn was adamant. “Anyway, I think I’ve lost her completely. We had a bit of an argument after her final yesterday. And she stormed off, and she hasn’t contacted me since.”
Maya’s mouth dropped open. “Wait—what? That’s not like our girl. She hasn’t even texted you good luck this morning?”
Finn shook his head. “Nothing. And the worst thing is that I have no idea what happened.”
“This is not good,” Maya said shaking her head.
“No, it’s not,” Finn started. He shook his head and grimaced. “What if I’ve ruined everything—how can I fix this?”
Maya played with her phone. Throwing a side look at him she said, “Leave it with me.”
Finn groaned.
“I’ll get to the bottom of it,” Maya continued. “But, seriously, Finn. You’ve, um, you’ve loved her—forever and you never said anything?”