Chapter Fifty

Natalie lifted one foot to inspect the giant blade on her skate. “How the hell do you move in these things?” she asked the skaters who had come to give them a lesson during the segment. The blade jutted several inches past her toes and heel. It was like they attached a boot to a machete.

Carrie, a short white woman with a strawberry blonde ponytail, laughed. “You get used to it. They’re not meant for quick turns, that’s for sure.”

Peter, a Black man who was about the same height as Darcy, pointed at Natalie’s foot. “Yeah, there’s no rocker so don’t try to spin or make a quick turn like you guys would in your skates. If you do, you’ll end up on your ass.”

During the segment, Carrie and Peter talked them through how they trained, things Natalie and Darcy needed to know about the skates and the turns, and how they felt about the spandex suits.

“Have either of you ever gotten stuck in your suits?” Natalie asked, a twinkle in her eye.

Carrie laughed. “Not stuck but it takes a little practice to get used to putting it on.”

Peter nodded. “They have to be tight to do their jobs so it’s not like putting on a pair of sweats. Why, did you have trouble?”

Darcy shot Natalie a fierce look before smiling for the camera. “Let’s just say it was a learning experience for all of us this morning.”

They cut for commercial and got in position for the part of the segment where they had to skate. Natalie slowly glided to the starting line, terrified she was going to fall on her face. The skates were heavy and impossible to turn. It was like skating for the first time, and not in a good way. Instead of being a toddler close to the surface of the ice if she fell, it was a long, publicly embarrassing way down if she ate it on camera.

Darcy came to a shaky stop next to her. “You ready for me to kick your ass?”

Natalie looked down to the ice where Darcy was trying to get her skates arranged to start the way Carrie and Peter had shown them. “Please. No one is going to win except Raquel, and the blooper reel she’s making to watch every time she gets annoyed with us. I’ll settle for making it around the track without falling.”

The camera operator signaled for them to get ready. “Welcome back, everyone. We’re coming to you live from the speed skating oval and are just about ready to give you all what you tuned in to see!”

Natalie chuckled. “Yes, we are aware that a large portion of our viewers tune in with the hope that we will fail spectacularly.” She turned to look at Darcy. “Ready to race, Canada?”

“Bring it on, Captain America.”

Carrie and Peter covered their laughter and tried to look serious as they counted down to the start of the race. Carrie dropped one arm and Natalie and Darcy took off. Well, “took off” implied that they had any speed whatsoever. It took them half of the straightaway to get up any speed and they both looked panic-stricken when they had to make the wide turn.

Natalie grew slightly more comfortable as she crossed her skates over around the turn. She picked up speed and confidence as she sped past Darcy.

Darcy was not going to lose without a fight and started pushing harder down the backstretch. They swapped lanes halfway and were neck and neck around the final turn. Once they hit the final piece of the oval, they both pushed hard. Natalie’s lungs burned and she tried to suck in as much air as possible. At the line she lunged forward, beating Darcy but losing her balance. She tried to recover, arms outstretched, muscles struggling to keep her upright. But just as she looked like she would recover, she neared the turn again and overcorrected. She caught an edge and found herself sliding on her ass across the ice and into the padded board. When she bounced off the side, she kept her wits about her enough to look for the camera and smile. Darcy slowed to a stop next to her.

“Well, there you have it, folks, Natalie beat me but at what cost, really?” She cracked up. “We hope you will all come back tomorrow to see what other sport we can ruin.”

She held out a hand and pulled Natalie up. They both thought the camera had cut away but it caught the way Natalie’s hand lingered on her arm and the way their hips pressed together before gently moving apart.

“You okay?” Darcy asked in a low voice.

Natalie nodded. “I’m going to have a hell of a bruise on my ass, though.”

Darcy raised one eyebrow. “Maybe I should take a look at it for you.”

Natalie grabbed for the mic clipped to Darcy’s chest and shook her head. “Maybe we can have this conversation later?” When we’re not being recorded.

“Oh shit,” Darcy said in a low voice. She glided over to the camera crew and unclipped her mic and handed it to them. “Hopefully Natalie didn’t break hers when she hit the ice,” she said with a teasing tone.

Natalie arrived at the boards and took off her mic, too. “I landed squarely on my ass, the mic pack is fine.”

The camera operator chuckled. “I caught the whole thing. Sorry, but I think by the time you get changed you’re going to be a GIF.”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Great. And the Twitter lesbians are probably losing their minds because you helped me off the ice.” Despite her growly tone, she didn’t mind. Not that she’d admit it to anyone. She liked it when other people confirmed the fact that Darcy freaking LaCroix liked her and it wasn’t only in her head.

She liked knowing that other people could tell that Darcy was flirting with her, letting her hand linger for a few seconds too long when she helped her up. She liked the feeling of being wanted. And after last night, she liked the idea that it wasn’t just something they were doing for ratings or because Raquel wanted to keep the audience watching for hockey player subtext. Whatever was going on was more than for the cameras.

That was exciting. That was terrifying. Because the last time she let Darcy in close enough for something real to happen, she broke her stupid teenage heart.