Chapter 2

Two

HANNAH

“ G irl, you need to relax and let your hair down,” said Wendy, my best friend. “Worry about training next week!”

I grinned and shook my head when she did a little crazy dance. “My hair is down,” I teased, running my fingers through my shoulder-length blond hair.

She shot me a dry look. “You’re not as funny as you think you are, Hannah Banana.”

I scoffed, pretending to be offended. Then I scrunched my nose and asked, “Why does taking a break from the ice have to include a trip to Vegas?” It wasn’t exactly my scene. Then again, I’d spent most of my life on the ice. Between home schooling, competitions, and training, there had been little time for “letting my hair down.”

“Because,” she whined with an overexaggerated pout on her lips, making me giggle again. “We both need to take some time to blow off some steam, and you know it. Even Coach told you to take a few days off and forget about the championship.”

The idea of taking a few days to relax certainly wasn’t unappealing. But the US Figure Skating Championships were coming up in the second week of January, and after crushing every other qualifying competition this year, I knew that if I won, I’d make it on the Olympic team. My instinct was to practice as much as possible, but my coach was worried about burnout.

Still…Vegas?

Sighing, I told myself not to be a stick-in-the-mud. “Okay,” I agreed.

A giant smile split Wendy’s face, and she did another little crazy dance. “Yessss!”

“You’re a bad influence, Wendy Lady,” I muttered, using the nickname I’d given her after she told me about her obsession with Peter Pan.

I tried to look stern but ruined it when I couldn’t hold in my laugh.

“You know it,” she agreed unapologetically. “Let’s go before you change your mind.”

She dashed off to my bedroom, and I yelled, “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, Wendy!”

When she didn’t reply or reappear, I rolled my eyes as I chased her into the bedroom. “How in the world are we going to find last-minute flights to Vegas?”

Wendy waved a hand, brushing off my question. “It’s Colorado Springs, not Winter Falls,” she countered.

Dammit. She was right.

Wendy and I shared an apartment near the Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs. We’d met in high school when she moved to my small town of Cranbury Cove to train with my figure skating coach. We’d been best friends ever since.

Small was a bit of an understatement, though. Cranbury Cove was tiny, and the nearest town that was a decent size was Winter Falls. It was an amazing, iconic little town where it was pretty much Christmas all year long. It sat at the base of a mountain where they’d built the Winter Falls Ski Resort. The town certainly wasn’t big, but coupled with the resort, the whole place was incredibly popular. The tourist traffic had made it necessary for them to build a small airport.

The flights were very limited, so whenever we went home to visit, we always had to work our schedule around them. Then we had the hour drive from Winter Falls to Cranbury Cove.

“Besides,” Wendy continued as she tossed my toiletries into another bag. “It’s not like anyone is expecting us at home.”

I sighed, knowing I didn’t have an argument there, either. Two days after Christmas, I had to be back on the ice for twelve to fourteen hours a day as I prepared for the second most important competition of my life. My parents, as well as Wendy’s, were coming to the Championships and if either of us made it onto the Olympic team, they’d be traveling to that event as well. So we’d put off our family Christmases until after the competition and celebrate there instead of at home.

“You better add anything I missed in the next twenty minutes, or you’re going without it,” Wendy announced as she hurried out of my bedroom and across the hall into her own room.

Shaking my head, I couldn’t help smiling at my friend’s enthusiasm. I added a few things to my bag she’d missed, then zipped it up and carried it to the living room.

Wendy practically bounced out of her bedroom, carrying her bag and waving her phone. “Booked, baby!”

“Seriously?” I laughed.

“Hell, yes! Now, let’s head down while I call us a car.”

Her excitement was contagious, and I felt it as we hurried out of the apartment.

When the plane landed in Las Vegas, we’d booked our hotel on the Strip and made dinner reservations for the next day, with plans to hit a swanky bar for drinks afterward.

After checking in to our connecting rooms, we were exhausted and went to bed.

The following morning, Wendy talked me into going shopping, insisting that I needed a new dress for our night on the town. Since I didn’t have anyone to impress, I didn’t think it was necessary. But my best friend was tenacious and good at convincing people to see things her way, which was how I spent more money than I should have on a white cocktail dress.

By the time we had to leave for our reservations, I’d teased bouncy curls in my hair and done smoky eye makeup before adding deep red lipstick and sparkly red heels.

I stood in front of the full-length mirror on the closet door and had to admit that the dress and heels looked fantastic.

In order to be at the top of my sport and compete with the best of the best, I needed endurance, strength, and to keep my weight within a certain range to make my jumps and spins higher and faster. Something that was made a lot easier by my petite build.

That was usually my only focus when it came to my body. But tonight, I noticed the way the strapless dress clung to me in all the right places, accentuating any curves in my slender body. It ended mid-thigh, and with the spiked red stilettos, my legs looked miles long.

I couldn’t remember ever feeling so sexy, and it had a little excitement buzzing over my skin.

It was too bad that I didn’t have someone to appreciate it.

I was surprised when that thought popped into my head. My training had taken over my life at a young age, and I’d only had brief moments over the years when I wondered what I was missing when it came to boys and dating. But as my coach often reminded me, a relationship was a distraction I couldn’t afford.

“Wow! You look amazing!” Wendy exclaimed when I walked through the connecting door to her room.

I grinned, then whistled as I looked her over in her gold dress and high heels. Wendy had a small frame—similar to mine—and brown eyes, but that was pretty much where any similarities ended. Her orbs were a much darker shade and were framed with thick black lashes. She had deeply tanned skin and long, thick hair that was a rich chocolate color.

Wendy grinned and grabbed a small matching clutch. “We definitely have the hottest dates in Vegas,” she teased, making me burst into laughter.

I waggled my eyebrows. “And I already know who I’m going home with tonight. Think I’ll get lucky?”

Wendy scoffed as she opened the hotel room door. “You wish, Hannah Banana.”

Giggling, I slipped my arm through hers, and we strolled into the hallway together.

“Merry Christmas Eve!”