Chapter Twenty-Eight

Natalie’s stomach grumbled. “If we’re going to talk about this, can we do it while we eat? I’m starving.”

Darcy slung her bag over one shoulder. “When are you not hungry?”

“I know it was a long time ago but try to remember how hungry you were during your playing days.”

Darcy shoved Natalie on the shoulder and then froze. “Oh my god. I’m sorry. That was super unprofessional.”

Natalie laughed. “Are you kidding me right now? Come on.”

They filed out of the office and found their way to the makeshift cafeteria the network set up for the duration of the Olympics. They gathered their lunches and found a table in the back corner where they could hopefully talk without interruption.

Natalie looked over her glass at Darcy. “First of all, since when do you apologize for shoving me?”

“Since we started working together in an office instead of on the ice.” Darcy stabbed at a pepper in her salad and made a face when it flew out of the bowl. “Dropping the gloves isn’t appropriate in a conference room.”

“Maybe it should be,” Natalie said under her breath. She had no idea how to talk to Darcy about Raquel’s proposal. They should have said yes in the office and figured out the rest later but instead they had to sit here and talk about it. Ugh. Natalie did not want to talk about thirsty internet lesbians shipping them. Not while their chemistry was still off the charts.

Darcy rescued the wayward pepper and popped it into her mouth. To Natalie, she seemed in no hurry to talk about the weird speculation percolating on the internet and Raquel’s request that they do absolutely nothing to make it go away.

Dammit, Natalie was going to have to be the one to suck it up. “LaCroix, what do you think about...”

Darcy looked up. “Climate change?”

“Oh my god, why are you the worst?” Natalie said, resisting the urge to throw an ice cube at Darcy.

Darcy laughed. “Come on. Stop being such a chicken.”

Natalie’s face heated. “Me? Since when am I the chicken? You’re the one—” Natalie stopped, shook her head. “Never mind. We both know what happened. This is about now. Are you okay letting gossip run wild?”

Darcy shrugged. “People are going to speculate no matter what. Who cares?” She jabbed at her salad before abandoning it for a sandwich.

Such a Darcy answer. Don’t rock the boat, go along with whatever as long as it doesn’t cost her anything. God, she hadn’t changed since college. “Seriously? I’m surprised you aren’t more protective of your image. I thought you didn’t want people knowing you’re gay.”

Darcy’s head snapped up, her eyes fierce. “Fuck you, Carpenter. You know that’s not true.”

“Why would I know that? Because you’ve done such a good job of coming out during your career?”

“Is this still about college? I said I was sorry. I screwed up. But that was forever ago. Let it go.”

Natalie gave a harsh laugh. “I’m not still hung up on college but it’s interesting that you bring it up. You were so scared that anyone might find out that you weren’t the straight girl poster child, so scared of being vulnerable. You didn’t care who you hurt.”

Darcy couldn’t hide the surprise on her face. “If you really think that I’m that shitty of a person what are you even doing here?” Her hand gripped her fork so tightly her skin turned white at the knuckles.

“I’m here for a job. And my feeling is we can do whatever they want us to do to get the job done. If that means playing coy if someone asks if we’re dating, I don’t care. But it sounds like you might want to pull up Twitter and kill the rumors right now.” Natalie opened her phone and slid it across the table. “Go on. One word from you and no one will think you would ever date me in a million years. Go ahead. I know you know how to say that.” Natalie hadn’t meant for the hurt in her voice to be there. She was over what happened. She didn’t care that Darcy had called Sammy out for thinking she’d ever have anything to do with Natalie.

That was ages ago.

“Carpenter.” Darcy’s voice was low and gentle. “I’m so sorry.”

Natalie waved her hand. “It’s fine. Like you said, it was a long time ago. What are we going to do now?”

Darcy stared at the screen. “I’m not in the closet. People know I’m gay.”

“Do they, though?”

Darcy huffed. “Do you want me to come out right now because you’re daring me to? That seems pretty stupid especially given that there’s a hashtag for people who think we’re sleeping together.”

Natalie leaned back in her chair. “You don’t have to make any kind of big statement if you don’t want to. I don’t care.” She kept saying she didn’t care but it sounded like a lie even in her own ears. “All we have to do now is decide if we are going to go along with this silly little stunt or not. It’s your call.”

Darcy sat there, staring at Natalie, every thought playing across her face. “If you can handle it, I’m in.”

Natalie laughed. “If I can handle it? What is that supposed to mean?”

Darcy shrugged, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “I don’t want you to get confused or overwhelmed by my hotness, that’s all.”

Natalie shook her head and threw a balled-up napkin across the table. “Believe me, I can handle whatever you throw at me.” Natalie had long since shut down whatever part of her had been in love with Darcy. She’d replaced it with a thick wall that never let anyone get close enough to hurt her like that ever again. Sometimes it was hard to remember that other people weren’t Darcy and might not crush her the same way. But not this time. This time she was not going to have any problem avoiding being hurt. She wasn’t a nineteen-year-old anymore. She knew how to protect herself.

Darcy smirked. “Challenge accepted, Carpenter.”