Chapter Sixteen

Adrenaline was enough to get Darcy through the bobsledding but once the van hit the highway and her Dramamine kicked in, she was out. The only reason she woke up when they reached the studio was that Natalie shook her by the shoulder.

She wiped her face, mortified to find she’d drooled like she’d worried about, especially since Natalie was close enough to see it. Natalie didn’t say anything but she’d probably tuck it away to use later when she got pissed off that Darcy beat her at something else, like curling or whatever the network people wanted them to do.

“What time is it?”

Natalie checked her watch. “Almost seven. Come on, you’re too tall to sleep in that seat without doing serious harm to your body.”

Darcy sat up and turned her head, earning several satisfying pops from her neck. “I can’t believe I slept the whole way.”

Natalie pulled her coat and bag out of the front seat and slid the door open for Darcy to hop out. “Didn’t you say you were at the studio all night? You’re going to need a whole lot more sleep if you’re going to be able to function in our meeting with Raquel tomorrow.”

Darcy clambered out of the van with less finesse than she managed earlier with the bobsled. Sleeping in the van for that long had been a mistake. She was going to be sore in weird places tomorrow. “Did Josh and Manny leave us behind?”

“No, they took some of the gear inside. Both of them were too chicken to wake you up. Do you have a reputation for being an asshole or something?”

Darcy laughed and stretched her arms over her head. “I think the only one around here who thinks I’m an asshole is you. I feel so lucky knowing my future cohost has the lowest opinion of me in the entire company.”

“That’s not true,” Natalie protested. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m sure plenty of people here know you suck.”

Darcy smiled, in spite of herself. “Fair enough. You are certainly the most vocal about it.” She paused to put her coat on. “If you hate me so much, why are you here?”

Natalie shrugged. “If you hate me so much, why did they call me to come work with you?”

Darcy scowled. “I don’t hate you.”

“It’s a good thing you play hockey better than you lie, because you suck at it.” Natalie walked toward the exit of the parking garage. “See you tomorrow, LaCroix.”

Darcy hadn’t been lying, so why did Natalie assume she hated her? They’d had plenty of fights in the rink over the last decade, but that wasn’t personal, that was geography. Would all of this have been different if they’d both been born in the same country? It would have made some things easier and their breakup less inevitable. Maybe Darcy wouldn’t have sabotaged the whole thing because she worried there was no future for them. If they played for the same country, they would’ve had a fighting chance of staying together after college. But maybe Darcy would have still found a way to screw everything up. She sighed.

She should go to the office to check in, but no one from the show would be there. Even Raquel didn’t spend that much time in the office. Instead, she slid the van door closed and headed for the subway.

She made it home without falling asleep and shoved the door to her apartment open with her foot while sifting through the day’s mail. She dropped it, along with her keys, in a bowl by the door and jammed her coat into the closet on her way to the kitchen. Living in New York after growing up in Canada had taken some getting used to. The house they lived in when she was a kid wasn’t palatial but it had space and a yard. They had dogs and a backyard rink where she and her friends and cousins beat the shit out of each other until her mom told them to come inside to eat. After dinner, they’d play until their hands got too cold to hold their sticks or they stopped being able to see the puck in the dark.

Her apartment felt smaller than their backyard rink. But being away from home and doing a job she loved, most of the time, felt as freeing as those nights they played forever. It was hers, only hers, in a way that hockey never was. It let her try to be the best at something again but without all the baggage and expectation that came with her last name.

America truly cared so little about hockey that no one here blinked at the sound of her last name. It was just another name in the seemingly endless array of names in New York City. She loved it. She loved the freedom to be herself and chase her dream. Even if chasing it meant being lonely sometimes.

Her drive to get on TV had been the reason she and her last girlfriend broke up. Darcy hadn’t seen the breakup coming even when her friends had.

How does someone with an uncanny ability to anticipate plays and see the future on the ice get blindsided by the person they love? They’d been living together and she hadn’t seen the signs that Sabrina didn’t have any patience left for Darcy’s late nights and constant striving. She wanted time with Darcy, brunches and vacations together, and Darcy wanted to make it on camera.

Reaching into her fridge, Darcy took out the second half of the two-person meal kit she’d made earlier in the week. She and Sabrina used to cook them together but Darcy never canceled her standing order.

Pathetic.

While the food was warming, she reached for a beer. Her phone rang. She checked the name and took a sip of beer. If her sister was calling instead of texting it was probably something annoying.

“Hey, Kit, how’s it going?”

“You a famous TV reporter yet?”

Darcy laughed. “If doing a goofy segment on bobsledding is what it takes, I’m a step closer.” She explained what she’d been doing all day.

“Natalie Carpenter? Like, the Natalie Carpenter, who you...”

Darcy slid the food onto a plate. “The one from Team USA, yes, that’s the one,” she said before her sister could say anything else. She had no interest in discussing Natalie.

“Okay,” Kit said, stretching the word until it sounded more like four syllables. “So, are the two of you going to be on my TV soon? And if so, how long before you end up dropping the gloves and killing each other.”

“Kit, I am perfectly capable of being civil to Natalie. We’re not fighting over gold anymore.”

Kit made a sound. “Fine. Clearly you don’t want to talk about her. Mom wants to know when you’re coming home.”

“Never.”

Kit laughed. “Try again, kiddo. Mom and Dad are having an anniversary party and they expect all of us to be there.”

Darcy groaned dramatically. “Dad already gave me the pitch. I’m not inclined to rush home after he tried to get me to meet with his buddy at Canada Broadcasting.”

Kit was silent for a moment. “He misses you, Darce.”

Darcy took a swig from her beer. “Don’t you dare take his side. He knows I don’t want him meddling but he won’t stop!” It was bad enough for people to assume her last name paved the way for all of her successes without her father meddling on her behalf. She wanted to be able to tell people she’d done it all on her own, and if he tried calling in favors she couldn’t do that.

Kit sighed into the phone. “Are you coming to the party? Please don’t leave me to hold down the fort.”

“Please tell me it’s scheduled during the Olympics so I have an excuse.”

“Definitely not. They’re not stupid enough to give you an easy out. It’s after the Games are over.” She chuckled. “Who knows, maybe by then you and Natalie will be back...”

“Don’t even think it, Kit. There is nothing between us.”

“That’s so not true and you know it. It may have been a long time ago but—”

“Goodbye, Kit.” Darcy hung up the phone and went back to devouring her dinner. Why had she ever told her big sister anything about Natalie? All of this would be so much easier if no one knew what happened in college.

At the time, she had to tell someone and Kit was the only one she could trust. Her teammates wouldn’t have understood, and then she graduated. Fuck. Why on earth did Nat have to be the one the network found to do this stupid show with her?

Not stupid. It was her dream, or at least a step toward her dream. If working with Natalie was the price to pay to get where she wanted to go, she would handle it. She would handle the snarky digs, the eye rolls. She’d handle Natalie calling her princess. She’d even handle the memories that floated into her head whenever they were together and had more than five seconds of downtime.

She could handle it. She just needed everyone else to pretend whatever history they had didn’t exist. If they could, she could.

She collapsed on the couch, turned on SportsCenter , and listened to the commentators talk about how Team USA was shaping up for the Olympics. First up, their take on women’s ice hockey.

Fuck, this was going to be impossible.