The Winter Games

by Sharp, Dr. Rebecca

  But, even considering all that, it was her statement that struck me as strange.

  I was standing in the middle of the hall. Literally. Not around a corner or up against a wall. I was in the middle of the room with a bright blue sweatshirt on. How did she not see me?

  She was old, obviously. She could not have the greatest eyesight, I got that. I could’ve believed and excused it all if her tone and the twinkle in her eye didn’t make me wonder if she hadn’t done it on purpose.

  “Not a problem,” I said kindly, ignoring my thoughts.

  When she didn’t walk away, I knew that I was right. The little old lady had done it on purpose.

  “Are you wearing make-up to go to the gym, dear?” she asked with a curious smile.

  I flinched, taken off-guard by the question. Especially when I realized that she was wearing make-up, too.

  “Aren’t you?” I arched an eyebrow.

  “Sweetheart, when you’re eighty-nine like I am, you wear make-up to sleep lest you give yourself nightmares,” she tsked.

  I burst out laughing and completely believed her.

  “However, for the gym,” she began to whisper conspiratorially, holding up one hand to the side of her mouth, “I wear extra make-up because my boyfriend works here.”

  “Oh?” I said with surprise. “Well that’s very lucky for you.”

  What was I supposed to say?

  “Well,” she sighed heavily. “It would be if he would finally agree to be my boyfriend.”

  Oh, dear. I couldn’t tell if she was crazy, kooky, or just a plain-old cougar.

  “Truthfully, I wouldn’t even need him to be my boyfriend. I’d take even just one night with him, he is so very, very fine.” She looked like she might faint from sighing so hard. “Do you have a boyfriend, dear?”

  What the hell? Where was Danny?

  I looked around for someone—anyone—to save me. But there was no one. I guess what was the harm in telling the truth to the one person in the world who didn’t know me and probably wouldn’t even remember me later?

  Kyle’s warmly possessive eyes flashed in front of me.

  “No, not really,” I replied, like somehow, even he could hear me.

  “Not really?” Crap. “What does that mean, dear? I’m not up on all the lingo nowadays.”

  She pried with a look that was about as innocent as a nun’s and that’s how I knew it was anything but. Honestly, I was beyond concerned and more so entertained. And curious to see what would come out of her mouth next.

  “I’m not interested in a relationship right now.” Or ever.

  Her lips pursed and she crossed her arms, definitely giving away that the cane wasn’t necessary.

  “Dear, I’m eighty-nine years old. Would you lie to an eighty-nine-year-old woman? I could be dead tomorrow. Do you have no conscience?” she accused. “Now tell me the real truth before I put this cane to good use.”

  I coughed to hide my choking. Holy shit what had I gotten into?

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” I started hoarsely. “But there’s not much more to it. There’s a guy who likes me… who really wants to be my boyfriend… but it’s just not a good time.”

  She shook her head. “There is a bad time to get your monthlies. There is a bad time to eat a lot of garlic. There is definitely a bad time to go out for the mail before the snow has been cleared,” she began, one hand falling to rub her hip. I could only assume the last reference was to her and that she’d injured her hip on a mail run. “But there is never a bad time to fall in love. Or a good time, for that matter. There is just the right time. And you don’t get to pick it, dearie, because the right time is anytime. Like death, I can argue all I want about how tomorrow would be a very bad time for it to come knocking because I have a huge bridge game that I absolutely cannot miss, but I don’t think it will care much.”

  And then she winked at me like it was reasonable to compare the inevitability of love and death to a game of bridge.

  “But—”

  “And,” she cut me off, pointing a crooked finger at me, “take it from me, good time… bad time… trying to run from it is definitely a waste of time.”

  “I’m not running,” I interjected, determined to get a word in if for no other reason that I was afraid of the truth contained in her words. “I’m just here to ski. Professionally. I don’t have time for a boyfriend right now. I have to stay focused.”

  So many people—family, fans—would always give me that generic compliment about how incredibly dedicated I was to my sport and career. I was and I accepted the praise with pride. But it didn’t change the fact that it was also my excuse for avoiding close relationships boxed up and tied with a pretty bow.

  “So, you’re running,” she said with a dejected sigh, her arms falling back to her sides.

  “No, I’m skiing,” I replied tightly.

  Those wide eyes glazed over a little and it felt like they looked right through me.

  “Whatever you want to call it, dear.” This time her smile was a little sadder as she finally began to move. “Well, at least one of us independent women here is going to go after her man this afternoon. Now, if you will excuse me—”

  My head jerked around as one of the gym doors flew open, a girl with bright pink and sunshine hair crashing to a halt in front of us, a slight look of panic on her face.

  “Oh, Jessa, there you are.”

  “No, there you are,” she scolded. “Betty, you said you had to pee and then you never came back. You scared the crap out of me.”

  “Well, then I suggest you use the restroom dear before we go back in there.”

  And just like that, all the buttons of mine that she’d lit up like a Christmas tree disappeared and I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing, the effort forming tears in the corner of my eyes. The pink-haired girl just let out a half-groan, half laugh and turned to me.

  She turned to me but not before giving Betty a sharp glare. “I’m sorry. I’m Jessa. Betty, here, is my patient,” she introduced herself and explained.

  I would have guessed, judging by her scrubs and their conversation. Still, I took her outstretched hand and shook it.

  “Jac. Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you a patient? Do you have an appointment with someone?” she asked with concern. “I hope Betty didn’t make you late.”

  “No, no,” I assured her with a smile—still no Danny in sight. “I’m just waiting for my trainer. I’m competing over at Snowmass in a few weeks, and I guess we got permission to use the gym and some pool thing for the next two weeks for my training.”

  “Oh!” Her face lit up and I was shocked how it was even brighter than her hair. “You mean the Hydroworx? That’s awesome! I’ve been telling Dr. Lev for months that he needs to start offering it out for training and not just rehabilitation,” she gushed enthusiastically. “Well, we are headed that way anyway; if you want I’d be happy to give you a quick tour, if Betty doesn’t mind.”

  She glanced over her shoulder and gave the older woman a look that said she better not mind after the heart attack she almost gave her.

  “Well, I… sure.” My shoulders dropped. At this rate, I might as well get started on my own. This Dr. Lev must have taken Danny over to the Dark Side. “Thanks.”

  “So, this,” Jessa began as she pulled open the door to the gym, “is our new, state-of-the-art facility.”

  We let Betty walk in first, her cane noticeably dragging on the floor beside her.

  “Betty, you know you’re supposed to be using that to help you walk while we strengthen your hip,” the pink-haired therapist gently reminded the stubborn old woman.

  “Miss Madison, please don’t make me use it to strengthen your head,” she retorted lightly, tipping her chin up and purposely picking up her pace in defiance.

  While I took in the large space filled with some of the nicest equipment I’d ever seen, Jessa pointed out a few areas to take note of as we made our way over to the doors on the left-han
d side of the room where the pools were located.

  “I’ll see you in there, girls. I have a bone to pick with my boyfriend…” Jessa didn’t even stop talking as Betty waved us off and bee-lined for the first door, rolling her eyes as we came to a stop and the old woman disappeared into the next room. “Sorry about that. I swear, Betty only breaks stuff so that she has a legitimate reason for coming here. She has a huge crush on my co-worker.”

  “Yeah, I heard all about it.”

  We both laughed.

  “Well, I hope she didn’t pry. She is notorious for that—and for betting on your personal life. I think she won almost two-hundred dollars off my relationship last year,” Jessa added with a quirked smile. “She’s pretty much harmless. I mean, aside from the fact that she’ll reach in and pull out your deepest secrets like it’s no more than plucking a piece of lint from her sweater.”

  My eyebrows rose as I nodded, basically having just experienced everything that she’d just said. Except the betting. Although, had she been just another minute later through that door, I wouldn’t have put it past the woman.

  “Alright, well let’s show you the good stuff,” she said, excitement flooding back into her voice. “I learned about the Hydroworx down in Texas. They were using it for a lot of the pro football and basketball players, along with college teams. So, when I moved back to Aspen, I was really desperate to get a job here because I knew they’d just installed these.”

  “So, they are pools?” I asked as we approached the door.

  “Yes, but not just pools.” She grinned. “Trust me, when you see what’s in this room, you’ll see how it will change your life. Like magic.”

  I didn’t know about all that, but I appreciated her enthusiasm.

  She let me walk into the aquatherapy room ahead of her. The dampness of the air was the first thing to hit my nostrils, mist mixed with subtle chlorine. The slight change in temperature making my hoodie just the right amount of uncomfortable.

  There were five pools down the length of the room, but it was the second one that caught my eye.

  My gaze immediately went to Betty because she was something familiar. She was talking to someone who was in the pool and when she stepped back so that person could hoist himself out, my lungs seized.

  Suddenly, the moisture in the air was suffocating. Water dripped down the length of the most-cut chest I’d ever seen—for the second time. The lines on his body might as well have been lines of coke for the effect they had on mine. The V that disappeared beneath his suit that was fitted just enough to remind me what I tried to forget was underneath. The cookie-cutter abs that were much better explained by him having this facility at his disposal to use. The cords of his neck that led me up to his strong jaw.

  I knew that mouth, my lips tingled from the last time they’d touched his. I knew those eyes and I knew that look—the one he was giving me right now. Not surprised.

  Kyle was Betty’s ‘boyfriend.’ This was where he worked.

  My back straightened as his eyes fell on me, deepening into pits of desire and possessiveness that all I wanted to do was fall into.

  I had no time for this.

  There is no good or bad time, only the right time. And the right time is anytime, Betty’s words echoed in the space between my heartbeats.

  And I’d just walked myself right into Prince Charming’s castle—the very last place I would be able to avoid him.

  Jessa had no idea how right she was.

  Kyle Masters was going to change my life whether I wanted him to or not.

  “OH, KYLE.” I HEARD BETTY exclaim from where we stood, like an emergency siren warning me that something bad was about to happen. “Come meet my new friend, Jac.”

  He didn’t even look at her as she spoke, instead our eyes had been locked since I walked in the room and neither one of us had yet to find the key. The need for more was still there. I kept hoping that the more days I went without seeing him, the easier unfortunate circumstances like this would become. Or that I’d just be able to avoid these moments all together.

  I struck out on both of those options.

  When she put her hand on his arm to pull him in my direction, continuing to point at me with her pointless cane, he finally said something more quietly to her with a smile before reaching down and grabbing one of the white towels from the bench in front of the pool.

  At least he was wrapping that around his waist. Staring at his carved, naked chest was good—bad enough.

  “Jac, this is the gentleman I was telling you about,” Betty beamed as she proudly brought him over to me.

  “Betty,” Jessa groaned. “You really have to stop telling everyone about Kyle. You’re gonna get the poor guy in trouble.”

  The older woman swatted Jessa without even sparing her a glance, probably because she was just realizing the giant freighter of a stare passing between Kyle and me.

  “Well, I see my introduction was a bit superfluous.” Her sass finally broke the spell.

  “We just met recently.” I calmly shrugged, refocusing my gaze on Betty.

  “Oh, really? Where? At Kyle’s show?” Her eyes flicked between us, searching for more answers than our words were going to give her.

  “No,” he answered, running a hand over his damp hair, giving me a perfect view of the subtle tensing of his chest muscles. “Just out with friends.”

  “Did you know Kyle is in a band?” she moved on. “I’ve only heard a few samples from his phone, but he is an incredible performer. In fact, they’re doing a special Christmas show for this coming Friday, right, Kyle?”

  He nodded, but all I noticed was the tick of his jaw as his teeth clenched.

  “Well.” Her soft hand closed around my arm and she pinned me with an understanding stare; she knew that Kyle was Mr. ‘Not Really.’ “I think you should take a break from skiing and go.”

  I knew what she meant. I ignored what she meant.

  “Betty!” Jessa hissed.

  “Thank you, but I can’t,” I said with a small laugh, cut short by the way his eyes fell.

  One more setback wouldn’t shake him, I knew. But he was working and now wasn’t the time to fight for me.

  Never.

  Never was the time to fight for me. Ugh.

  “Ladies,” Kyle said with that smile that I swore could calm down a hurricane. “It was good to see you again, but I have another patient right now, so I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Betty, I’m getting your pool ready, you better behave yourself for one more minute or I swear…” Jessa trailed off, giving me a weak smile, as she walked down the room to the last pool that was open.

  “It was so nice to meet you but I should probably go find my trainer—” I tried to get out a goodbye but it wasn’t happening.

  “Jaclyn, you have to go,” she said firmly.

  “I’m sorry,” I said in exasperation. “I really just can’t go to his show. But I do have to go now.”

  “P-Please.” All of a sudden, her thin lower lip quivered and giant pools of tears gathered in her eyes. “I c-can’t go see him because of m-my hip. It would be… too much… for me. But I really would just like to see a video of him performing. C-Could you just go and take a video for me?”

  I groaned. Seriously?

  “Isn’t Jessa going?” I asked weakly, looking for any escape and excuse to get me out of this.

  “No, she can’t. This is his last show… for the season. I’m afraid”—she paused dramatically to look up at the ceiling as though she were making eye contact with God—“that I won’t be around when they start to play again. I just would like to hear him. He loves it so much.”

  I was a sucker.

  Forget Ice Princess.

  Forget Mountain Bitch.

  Forget Hardcore Athlete.

  I. Was. A. Sucker.

  “Alright,” I grumbled. “I guess I can go and just take one video for you.”

  “A-Are you sure? Do y-you promise?”

 
; I nodded as the word ‘yes’ slipped from my lips like the final nail in my coffin.

  Fuck.

  And faster than the light flips from red to green signaling the start of my run, the tears dried, the fear of impending death completely absent from her face, and the quiver of her lip now spread into a giant smile of success.

  Shock—the same as I felt after a fall on the slopes—was the only thing to describe how I stood there with my mouth slightly agape as she quietly iterated the details of Kyle’s Friday night show at some burger joint called Peak’s Pub.

  There was no response, no take-backsies, as she squeezed my arm and sauntered off down to where Jessa was with her hands on her hips.

  “Jaclyn!” Italian irritation brought me back to reality. “I have been looking all over for you. Dr. Lev wanted to take us both on a tour, but you disappeared!”

  “Sorry, I—”

  “No matter. Here’s your suit. Get changed, there are locker rooms across the gym, and meet me back at this first pool. We’re wasting precious time.”

  Like a scolded child, I grabbed the bag from his hands and walked back into the main room of the gym.

  I stopped in my tracks, taking a deep breath of cooler, clearer air—and some rationality along with it.

  Was I just Jedi-mind-tricked by an eighty-nine-year-old?

  I think I was.

  I focused on my morning client, Adam, a young snowboarder who’d broken his femur earlier in the season in the park, because I was a professional. My dick however, focused on nothing but Jac from the second she walked into the pool room, to the moment she stripped down into a one-piece that rode up high on those muscular thighs that felt like fucking heaven when they were wrapped around my waist, to the way her nipples pebbled when she pulled herself out of the water, and left with her trainer to go back into the main room.

  Seeing her here was the last thing I expected.