CHAPTER 23

Drew stood at the finish line after her semifinal heat, watching Andy, who was in the second semifinal. She didn’t usually stay down here after a race to watch the next one, but with Andy up after her, them having a pretty decent time at dinner the other night, and Andy specifically asking her to hang out and wait, Drew decided she could do it this time. With Selma standing next to her, though, the wait was made all the better.

Selma had, unfortunately, been taken out in her second preliminary heat by an Italian boarder who had almost landed on top of her out of an ill-timed jump. Drew had been watching on the screen down at the bottom, waiting for Selma, hoping to hug her after a win, but that was not to be. Instead, Drew had almost ran up the side of the course to check on Selma, who had been down for a few seconds too long for Drew’s liking. Selma had sat up, though. Drew had watched that happen on the screen and seen the woman shake her head and get back up on her board. Drew had breathed a sigh of relief then, and Selma had come down the mountain slowly, no longer needing to race anyone. When she’d gotten there, her coach had checked on her first. Drew had been right behind him, though.

“Are you okay?” she’d asked and cupped Selma’s helmet because she couldn’t really get to her cheeks.

Selma had removed her goggles, resting them on that helmet, and Drew had been able to see her face then.

“I’m pissed, but I’m fine. They want to check me out anyway, though.”

“You should go, then. She really knocked you down. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Nothing hurt on the rest of the way down, but I was kind of hoping to be racing against you in a semifinal heat, and now, that’s over, so just… I’m going to the tent to get looked at.”

“Can I come with you?”

“Into the med tent?”

“Yeah. Can I?” she’d asked and dropped her hands.

“Think I’m going to lie to you about what they say or something?”

“No.” Drew had shaken her head. “I just want to be there for you.”

Selma had given her a small smile, and they’d gone into the tent together. The trainers had cleared Selma, but Drew had been extra cautious, and later, when they’d gotten back to Selma’s room, she’d brought her ice and had her put some on both knees and ankles to be safe. Selma had complied, though not happily, so Drew had moved one ice pack to Selma’s hip for fun. Selma had yelped in surprise, which had made both of them laugh. Later, Drew had started a hot bath for Selma for after all that ice, and she’d given her some privacy for the rest of the night, but she hadn’t wanted to. Drew had wanted to stay the night, hold Selma, watch her sleep, and wake up next to her.

Now, she was standing at the bottom of the course, waiting for her ex-girlfriend, who, for the first time ever, had asked Drew to wait for her, while Selma stood next to her, doing the same.

“So, why are you waiting for Andy, exactly?” Selma asked as Andy, who was in second place, made it to the final jump.

“I told you; she asked me to.”

“And she’s never done that before?”

“Nope. Not since we broke up. We used to wait for each other when we were together, but not since.”

“What do you think she wants?”

“Nothing. Just someone to wait for her down here, probably. Her family doesn’t usually come to these events. Heather is always super busy with Owen, even though he’s an adult now. Heather’s husband travels for work a lot. And Andy’s parents were never really super supportive of her pursuing this as a career in the first place, so they came to the Olympics, but that’s about it. Here she comes.” Drew pointed up to Andy, who was making her way across the finish line in first place.

Selma didn’t say anything else, and Andy came over toward Drew after talking to her coach for a second. When Andy removed her goggles, Drew watched as her eyes went from Drew to Selma. She seemed surprised to see the woman standing there by Drew, but she didn’t say anything and returned her gaze to Drew.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Hey. I guess I’ll have to kick your ass in the final, huh?” Drew teased.

“I guess so. Hey, Selma. I didn’t know you were still here.”

“In town, or here, specifically?” Selma asked.

“In town,” Andy clarified. “I thought you’d head home after Italy decided to jump on top of you, for some reason.”

“I wanted to stay to support Drew,” Selma replied, making Drew smile wide and probably blush a little. “And my teammates, obviously. Go Canada!” She put her glove-covered fist into the air, which made Drew chuckle.

“Right. Cool. Drew, want to follow me to the team tent for a second?”

“Um… Okay? Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“It’s okay,” Selma told her and ran her hand up and down Drew’s jacket-covered arm. “I’ll meet you back here, and we can go to the hotel.”

“Okay. Yeah.”

Drew followed Andy in the direction of the tent, but they didn’t actually go there. They stopped off to the side of the main path in the snow that everyone else was taking, and Drew stared at Andy as she removed her helmet.

“What’s up, Andy?”

“Are you dating Selma Driscoll?”

“What? No. Why?”

“She’s waiting for you right now. You held her hand and had your arm around her at dinner the other night. Let’s see… You hurried up to her after her knock-out race to check on her and practically made out with her in front of everyone. What else am I missing? Oh, you’ve been coming out of her room, or she’s coming out of yours pretty much all the time.”

“Um… Andy? Something you’re not telling me? Are you stalking me?”

“No.” She chuckled. “I have the room across the hall. I hear the doors opening and closing all the time, and your voice mingled with hers. I’m not a PI or anything, but come on, Drew. Something’s up with you two, right?”

“Andy, it’s not your business if there is or isn’t.”

“Drew, I’m not asking as your ex-girlfriend. I’m asking as the person who’s been trying to be a friend to you recently. I was the one who hooked you up with Heather for Selma, remember? I’m also dating someone, and I’m very happy right now, so… I don’t want you back as a girlfriend. We were friends first, though, and it’s been years since we broke up – I was hoping that maybe we could talk about being friends again. When I noticed how happy you looked recently, I thought it was because of Selma. That’s all.”

“Oh,” Drew said, feeling a little silly now. “Well, technically, it is.”

“Technically?”

“I like her a lot,” Drew admitted.

“She’s straight, right?”

“I think so. I haven’t asked her directly, though. I’ve been afraid that she’d just confirm that she is, honestly, and that would be the end of my hope that what’s been going on with us recently is more than just friendship and maybe us moving toward something real.”

“She just made sure to rub her scent all over you down there, before I pulled you away, like she’s a cat and you’re leaving the house to get groceries or something.” Andy laughed. “And she leans into you when you talk to her. Plus, I didn’t exactly see her slapping your hand away when you pulled her out of that restaurant, nor did she have a problem with your arm around her.”

“It was over her chair. And she knew I was pulling her through the restaurant.”

“And did she let it go immediately once you hit the sidewalk?”

“No.”

“You should talk to her, Drew. Isn’t it better to know now before you get in too deep? Maybe she isn’t interested in more, but she’s a touchy person or something. At least, you’d know that, and you could move on.”

“You’re dating someone?”

Andy nodded and said, “Her name is Daisy, if you can believe it. She’s the sweetest human on the planet, and we’ve been together for three months. I am very much in love, and I miss her right now, but she owns–” Andy stopped herself.

“Owns what?”

“You’re going to laugh.”

“I am?”

“Yes. So, don’t.”

“I’ll do my best?” Drew asked more than said.

“She owns a flower shop.”

Drew did her best to hold in her laugh that was doing everything it could to escape.

“Yes, I know,” Andy added, clearly seeing her struggling to keep a smile down. “She jokes that it was predestined. Anyway… She only has one part-time employee, so getting away isn’t easy for her, but she’s already working on closing the shop for a couple of weeks for the Olympics, which means she sees us still being together by then. And I can, too, so I’m happy and in love and moving on to the final, where I plan on kicking your ass. So, get ready, Oakes.”

Drew did laugh at that.

“Now, get back to your girl,” Andy told her and patted her on the shoulder. “And talk to her. I mean it, Drew. Just find out now so you’re not miserable for longer.”

“And what if she isn’t into it? What do I do then? I haven’t felt this way about anyone since you, and–”

“And you were about to say that you haven’t felt this way about anyone at all, but you didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Am I right?”

“Andy, I–”

“It’s okay. Drew, I loved you, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone, either. Daisy is different. I can admit that. And you should be able to admit that as well if it’s Selma for you. She seems nice, Drew. I don’t know her all that well, but she seems nice.”

“She’s very nice. She’s the best, and I am crazy about her, Andy.” She ran her glove-covered hands over her face quickly.

“Then, tell her. Or, at least, ask her out. Start there. If she says she’s not into it, then you know, and you’ll figure it out. Call me. We can go out for a drink, and you can wallow or cry on my shoulder. I mean it, Drew. I miss having you around. I miss having you as my friend. We were always good at that part.”

“I know. I miss it, too.”

“Good. Maybe we can hang out when we get back.”

“Can I meet Daisy?”

“Yes, but only if you ask Selma out first.” Andy winked at her and added, “I’m kidding. But you should still do it.”

Drew rolled her eyes, and they said their temporary goodbyes. They’d be racing in the final later that afternoon, and Drew needed to run through her pre-final rituals. She returned to Selma to tell her that everything was okay and to let her know that she needed to get moving to get ready. Selma understood and leaned in.

“I’ll be here when you come down in first place,” she said softly and kissed Drew on the cheek.

Drew’s whole body went hot, despite her being in the freezing cold. She cleared her throat and looked around at anything other than Selma as if that would hide her intense blush.

“I hope I don’t disappoint you, then,” she replied. “See you soon.”

She left Selma at the finish and headed into the team tent, where she prepared for her race alongside Andy, the only other Team USA person in the six-women final. They made it up to the starting gates, and Drew went through her ritual, thinking about how Selma was standing down at the finish line, waiting for her. She smiled at that and took off at the start. She needed to cut time off her start if she was going to win this, with how fast everyone else had been taking the top of the course, so she focused on the berms. There were three of them at the top of the course, followed by a turn, a jump, and another two berms. She needed to be ahead of at least Andy and two other racers at this point, if she had a chance at winning, but she mainly wanted to beat the Italian who had knocked Selma out of the race and had managed to get back up on her board and finish in second place in that preliminary heat due to another crash during that horrendous race. The woman had then come in third in her semifinal heat.

She wanted to not just win – because, as a professional athlete, Drew always wanted to win – but she wanted to kick that racer’s ass. She slid past the Italian, then the French boarder, and the Australian racer into third place, coming from behind, which had been her plan. The winds had been high, so she’d drifted for the first third of the race, but now was the time to take it over. She jumped, kept herself low, landed well, and went past Selma’s teammate from Canada and into second place behind Andy, who didn’t have much space on her, so Drew moved in behind her and remained drifting off of her until it was time to break away for a two-jump sequence.

Out of the second jump, she hit the turn on the inside, making up the time she needed, and had Andy behind her now. No space between them meant that Drew couldn’t let up at all and needed to keep her focus. USA would come in first and second in this race as long as neither of them messed this up, which would be a strong message to send to the international boarding community in the year of the next Olympics.

Drew took the final jump, going as high as she could, and landed as close to that finish line as she could get. She then lowered herself to be as aerodynamic as possible and barely beat Andy, but she did beat her. When she stopped her board, she turned to see Selma standing there, with her arms in the air and a wide smile on her face. Drew unclipped herself from her board and hurried over toward her, pulling Selma in for a hug over the rope between them.

“You’re back, baby!” Selma said.

Drew wasn’t exactly sure how Selma meant that term of endearment, since that could’ve just been an expression and not her referring to Drew that way, but Drew didn’t care. Andy’s words in her ear, she pulled out of the hug and removed her goggles.

“Will you go out on a date with me?” she asked breathlessly.