Chapter Fourteen

There was no way Natalie could wipe that stupid grin off Darcy’s face while she was throwing up, but she could plot her revenge. If they were going to be working together, and based on the way everyone was giddily talking about their first test segment, they were, she would find a way to beat Darcy at every single stupid sport they tried.

Natalie hated losing. You didn’t get to be an Olympian by not caring about wins and losses, but she really hated losing to Canada. Neither of them was wearing their team uniform anymore but that didn’t change her desire to crush Darcy every second of every day.

The sound of Darcy singing the stupid national anthem echoed in her ears as she trudged back up to the top of the hill. The cold air was helping her stomach, but not fast enough.

“You sure you want to do this again?” Liz asked, looking warily at the side of Natalie’s still-green face.

“I’m not giving her the satisfaction of winning,” Natalie said, her teeth clenched.

Darcy stopped a few feet ahead of them and turned around. “Carpenter, there’s no shame in calling it a day.” Darcy couldn’t keep the hint of a smirk from her mouth.

“I said I’d do it. I’m not backing out because my stomach’s upset.” Natalie gave Darcy the fiercest look she could while her stomach roiled.

Liz laughed. “Upset? I think throwing up all over the side of a mountain qualifies as more than ‘upset.’”

“I can handle it,” Natalie said, not entirely sure that was true. Darcy’s singing and that stupid smirk were enough fuel to keep her trudging to the top of the hill. She’d make it down the track faster than Darcy even if it meant feeling like her insides were trying to escape her body. Backing down wasn’t an option.

Liz stopped at the top of the track. “You’re not going to barf on me, are you?”

Natalie shook her head. “I’ll wait until we get to the bottom. Be sure to get us down the hill as fast as possible, though. I can’t hold it forever, and I want to win.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and put her helmet on. “Jesus, you’re stubborn.”

Natalie put her own helmet on but left the visor up. “It was my idea and I’m not giving you the satisfaction of backing out.”

Darcy shrugged, her whole body looking like a sigh. “Just don’t use puking as an excuse when I kick your ass.” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Natalie to climb in behind Liz.

Liz waited for Natalie to get settled, her arms tucked into the sled and her shoulders against the sides. “Ready?”

“Let’s fucking go,” Natalie said, stuffing down the feeling that this was a terrible idea and sending up a silent prayer to the universe to help her not throw up all over Liz and the sled. If she lost her lunch a second time, she was sure Darcy would never let her forget it. Not to mention all their mutual acquaintances. Women’s hockey was a small community—there was absolutely no way she’d escape getting shit from all her friends by the end of the week.

Knowing what to expect from the ride made it easier for Natalie. She was prepared for the rapid shifts from side to side, the bouncing from the bumps in the ice, and the feeling of having zero control as her body hurtled down to the bottom of the hill.

“How fast were we?” she asked as soon as they crossed the finish line and came to a stop.

Liz flipped her visor up and waited for Natalie to get out. “Do I look like I’m carrying a stopwatch?”

Natalie laughed and extricated herself from the sled while searching for the time display. She had no idea what a good time was, so she had to ask Liz. “Good enough to win?”

Liz shrugged. “How should I know? We’ll see who the better rider is in a minute.” She paused. “No, I will not consider throwing the race your way.”

Natalie feigned shock. “I would never ask such a thing of a fellow competitor.” She paused. “But I thought that Team USA sticks together. Maybe you don’t feel the same way.”

Liz laughed and extended her hand to take Natalie’s helmet. “Nice try. See you back down here in a few minutes.”

“Take your time!” Natalie called after Liz headed up the hill.

She took a seat on a bench next to the track to watch the end of Darcy’s ride. It didn’t take long for her to see the sled coming around the bend and then down the final straightaway. Natalie looked at the clock. The numbers were moving way too slowly. “Come on, come on,” she muttered under her breath.

The sled crossed the line and came to a juddering stop at the end of the track. The clock went blank for a second before revealing the final time. Darcy had won by less than half a second.

“Fuck,” Natalie said, louder than she intended.

Darcy ripped her helmet off her head and bounced out of the sled like she’d been doing it all her life. How is she so good at everything? Natalie wondered, bitterly.

“What was your time, again?” Darcy asked, her smile brighter than the sun in the clear blue sky.

“Whatever,” Natalie said and walked toward the van. She wasn’t being a sore loser but she didn’t have to pretend to be happy about Darcy beating her. She turned around. “It’s basic physics. You’re bigger so you slide down the hill faster.”

Darcy laughed. “Did you just call me fat?”

“No. Maybe you didn’t take physics in school. You’re bigger, therefore you create more speed coming down the hill.”

Darcy shook her head. “Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.” She handed her helmet to one of the folks who worked there. “O, Canada, our home and native land...” she started singing again at the top of her lungs.

Natalie groaned. At the van, the strains of the Canadian national anthem echoed in her head as she stuffed her gear back into her bag. She shoved it into the car before walking over to find Liz.

“Thanks for the ride, Coach. Sorry I puked out there.”

Liz laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Happens all the time. I’m surprised Darcy didn’t join you. She looked a little green around the gills.”

Natalie shrugged. “She probably held it in just to spite me.”

Liz laughed again. “I’ll be watching you two when the Games start. I hope you have time to have some fun while you’re there. Seems like a shame to get to go all that way with your girlfriend if you can’t have a little fun on the way.”

“Girlfriend? LaCroix? No. No way.” Natalie couldn’t believe Liz thought she and Darcy were together.

“Really?” Liz shrugged. “My mistake. I figured you were one of the Canada-USA couples you hear about on social media.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow.

“What, you think I’m too old for Instagram?” She smacked Natalie gently on the shoulder. “Please. I’m not a thousand.”

Natalie let the idea of her with Darcy sink in. Were people going to think they were together if they were on TV together? She doubted it. Not in a world of straight ladies who watched morning shows. They were much more apt to ship a couple of guys together than to realize that lesbians exist. Besides, Darcy hated her guts, and that was fine with Natalie. Growing up she never wanted to play princesses and she’d never wanted to date one either.

Liar.

She swallowed the memory of the night she learned what Darcy tasted like. Like cheap beer and laughter. She shouldn’t know what her cohost tasted like. She shouldn’t wonder if Darcy still drank cheap beer or if she still laughed like she did back then. She wondered a lot of things, but not how Darcy tasted. That memory was seared in her brain.