Chapter Thirty

Their first chance to set the internet on fire was in the figure skating arena. If anything was going to make the #PuckingHotties hashtag blow up, it was the sight of Darcy and Natalie trying out pairs figure skating.

“Good morning and thank you for joining us this morning. I’m Darcy LaCroix and this is my partner, Natalie Carpenter. We’re coming to you live from the ice palace where in just a few days the figure skating will be getting underway.”

Natalie smiled into the camera. “Today we are lucky to have with us two of the figure skaters from Team USA. Jenny and Jeremy Shankowski have been skating as a pair since they were kids and are here to show a couple of hockey players how it’s done.”

The couple, whose romance and subsequent wedding was the talk of the last Olympics, smiled their toothpaste-commercial smiles into the camera. Jenny spoke first. “We’re happy to be here. We know you both are amazing skaters so this shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

Natalie laughed. “We’ve all seen The Cutting Edge , we know we’re probably going to fall on our faces.” She looked at Darcy. “Watch out for that toe pick, right, Darce?”

Darcy picked her foot up so the camera could get a shot of the figure skates she was wearing. She hated them. The ice was her second home, it wasn’t supposed to feel this awkward. She’d been skating since she could walk but never in figure skates. “I’ll try to keep from falling on my face. We’d love it if you’d show us how it’s done, so then we can show everyone at home just how hard this is.”

Jenny and Jeremy pushed off and paused at mid-ice for the preplanned music to start. Natalie scooted closer to Darcy so they’d be out of the way of the camera operator. Jenny and Jeremy skated for about a minute before returning to the side of the rink, cheeks pink from the cold air.

“That was amazing. Can you give me a few tips before we try to recreate any of the standard figure skating moves? I don’t know that we can come close to skating together without falling over, but we’re going to try,” Darcy said with a laugh.

Jeremy flashed a practiced smile, his hair falling over his forehead in a manicured swoop. “You have to be careful about not getting your feet too close together. It’s really easy to get tangled up with each other if you’re not careful.”

Natalie smirked at Darcy. “Wouldn’t want to get tangled up with you, that’s for sure,” she said.

Darcy could almost see the hashtags flying over that comment. Leave it to Carpenter to take things too far. There was a fine line between not killing the rumors and straight-up trolling. Darcy swallowed. She did not need to be picturing them together in bed while they were on camera. Jesus, what was she thinking?

“When we come back from commercial, you’ll get to see Darcy and me try to skate like figure skaters. I hope you all bring the popcorn because there’s no way this won’t be entertaining,” Natalie said.

The camera operator let them know when the feed had cut away.

Darcy leaned toward Natalie. “Dude, there’s such a thing as going too far.”

“Is there, though?” Natalie said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. She licked her lips.

Natalie was being her normal annoying self, but Darcy’s body reacting to the sight of Natalie’s tongue was unexpected. It was fine. They could do this. Darcy was a professional and she was not going to let Natalie throw her off her game. This was all fine.

She turned to Jenny and Jeremy. “Okay, this is for sure going to be a disaster. Feel free to laugh at us. If there’s footage they can use of you two cracking up, that’s great.”

“You don’t think people will think we’re jerks if we laugh?”

Natalie pushed off the wall and skated backward toward the center of the ice. “If this is half as bad as I expect, you’ll look uptight if you don’t laugh.” She stood up and nearly toppled backward. “Fuck! These skates are the worst.”

Darcy covered her mouth with one hand, but her smile was obvious.

“You think it’s funny, LaCroix? Come on, let’s see what you’ve got,” Natalie said, coming to a wobbly stop.

Darcy pushed off with the toe of her right skate and glided toward Natalie, feeling like she’d never skated before. The skates felt like aliens strapped to her feet. The only time she felt awkward in her hockey skates was walking in them from the locker room to the ice. Once she got on the ice, she felt free to fly.

These skates were the opposite of that feeling. The edges felt all wrong and she was keenly aware of the toe pick. She wanted to get through the segment without falling, and tripping over the toe pick was the fastest way for her to end up flattened.

She reached Natalie without falling over. “Ready?” she asked.

“One trip around the ice holding hands and then we’re supposed to try to spin side by side. There’s no way this ends well,” Natalie said with a chuckle.

Darcy smiled, a warm feeling blossoming in her chest. It felt like old times. Before she’d made a mess of it all. They were smiling and bantering. This was how their friendship started. Easy, fun, with that hint of sparks just below the surface. It was so easy to fall back into that old habit. If the twelve internet lesbians and their hashtag liked it, that was a bonus. This friendship was a welcome surprise. Friendship. Yeah, her heart didn’t get that memo. It fluttered of its own accord at the sight of Natalie’s deep blue eyes and cocky smirk.

They got the word that they were ready to start shooting. Darcy took Natalie’s hand, trying her best not to focus on how strong it felt. Her memory chose this moment to remind her that she knew what those hands felt like on her skin. She forced the memory away, focusing instead on the feel of the ice under her feet.

Music played and they pushed off, trying to sync their steps but failing miserably. “Oh my god, I forgot that you have no rhythm,” Natalie said into Darcy’s ear.

“What?”

Darcy pushed Natalie as far away as she could to avoid tangling their feet. This became much harder when they reached the corner of the ice and had to turn together. They bumped hips and nearly lost their balance. Thankfully, Natalie was strong enough to keep them spaced apart and upright.

They made it all the way down the ice without falling. Natalie pushed Darcy away with both hands and the two of them attempted to spin. Later, when they watched it back, they saw the wreck coming before they started the spins. A quarter of the way around, Darcy’s foot clipped Natalie’s skate and sent them both sprawling. Natalie spun halfway around on her ass and Darcy ended up sliding to the boards on her hip.

Darcy looked over at Natalie, worried for a moment that she’d gotten hurt. Instead, Natalie sat up, laughter rolling off her in waves. The sight sent Darcy into a fresh round of laughter, too.

Claps echoed through the mostly empty building. Darcy looked over to find Jenny and Jeremy clapping as they glided toward them. “That was good!” Jenny said.

“That was terrible!” Darcy shouted back with a laugh. She found the camera and allowed Jeremy to haul her to her feet. “Tune in later tonight to watch these two professionals show you how it’s done. Take our word for it, all those graceful spins and jumps are much harder than they look on the TV.”

Natalie skated over to Darcy and Jeremy. “We’ll be cheering for you to bring home gold.” She grinned at the camera. “I hope you will all come back tomorrow to watch Darcy and me butcher another Olympic sport. Until then, we’re going to find a few ice packs.”

Once the segment was over, they thanked Jenny and Jeremy and wished them good luck.

“I really am going to find some ice packs,” Natalie said, bending down to take off her skates. “These things suck. Have you ever felt so awful on the ice?”

Darcy laughed. “I haven’t felt this awkward on the ice since I was a toddler.” She kicked her skates off and left them in a pile to the side. “Good riddance.”

Natalie reached into a duffel bag beside the bench. “Any chance you want to play a little?” She pulled out two pairs of hockey skates and a puck. “They said the ice is free for another hour. They aren’t using it for practice or anything.” She talked fast, her sentences ending like questions.

Darcy’s chest felt warm at the realization that Natalie was nervous. Darcy made her nervous. “Hand me those skates so I can kick your ass.”

Natalie grinned. “Whatever you say, old lady.”