Gold

by K. A. Linde

Eric parked outside The Cosmopolitan, and they took the escalators up to the fourth floor. They walked out to the pool on the balcony. In its place, she found a full-on ice-skating rink. The seating had been converted into private fire pits for groups. People were roasting s’mores and drinking hot chocolate. All the while, fake snow filtered down around them—in the middle of a casino pool in the desert. Her mind was blown.

  “Ice-skating?” she asked in disbelief.

  “I thought it would be fun.”

  “I had no idea something like this was here.”

  “Well,” he said, “I hope you know how to skate.”

  He handed his two tickets to the lady at the front, and she gave them a card to rent skates and assigned them a fire pit.

  “Of course I know how to skate. I have my own pair of skates at home.”

  “These will have to do for today.”

  Eric held up a pair of blue plastic skates with straps that hooked on like ski boots. They were hideous.

  “I am not going to put my feet in those,” Bryna said.

  “Oh, yes, you are.” He grabbed a second pair off the table. “What’s your size?”

  “Six and a half.”

  “Here you go.” He pushed them into her hands.

  She held them away from her like she was going to get infected. “I draw the line.”

  “Where’s the girl who downed nearly an entire banana split?”

  “That’s different. This is bad footwear. I prefer Christian Louboutin.” She pointed down at her boots.

  “Get over it,” he said dismissively.

  Then, he walked away toward their fire pit, which they were sharing with two other couples, who were clearly on dates. She had no other option but to follow him with the repulsive boots in her arms.

  Eric nodded at the other people next to them, and they smiled in that dreamy state of adoration for their significant other. She wanted to gag.

  She watched him start to put on his skates. “I’ll have you know, I’m doing this under protest.”

  The skates looked even worse on her feet.

  “Are you happy?” she asked.

  “Let’s see your moves, Hollywood.”

  In these skates, she didn’t have any moves. She was better at skiing than ice-skating. She thought it should have come naturally since she had a dance, gym, and cheer background, but she couldn’t keep her balance well enough on a thin blade.

  Eric didn’t seem to be having any of the same difficulties. He skated backward, so he could face her and taunt her bad skating skills. “I thought you said you were good at this.”

  “I said I had skates at home. There’s a difference. Now, stop distracting me,” she grumbled.

  She got the hang of it after half an hour, and they spent a good deal of time on the ice. The skating worked up both of their appetites, so they ordered food from the rink eatery—grilled cheese, tomato soup, hot chocolate, and s’mores. The hot chocolate might have been some of the best she had ever had.

  When they went back out to skate again, some kids were racing each other around the rink. One rammed right into Bryna’s back, and she stumbled into Eric. He tried to grab her, but she slipped out of his grasp and landed hard on her ass and hip.

  “Ugh,” she groaned, lying flat on the ice. Her leg was already throbbing. “That’s going to bruise.”

  Eric tried to hold in his laughter but wasn’t able to do so. “You look hilarious, sitting down there.”

  “Thanks, jerk. Why not help me up?”

  “Sorry. Sorry,” he said.

  Once she was on her feet again, she could feel her leg and hip swelling. This sucks so bad.

  “You know…your pants are soaked.”

  “Are you checking out my ass?” she asked.

  “I can’t help it when you have a giant wet spot on it.” He only laughed harder when she glared at him. “Come on. Let’s dry you out at the fire pit.”

  Twenty minutes later, her pants were dry again, but she was stiff and sore. She was certain she was going to have a disgusting bruise on her leg for the game next week. She hadn’t even gotten it in a fun drunken accident.

  They agreed to pack it up and go home after that. She needed to ice her leg if she wanted to stunt next week. Plus, it was already getting late.

  They had made it halfway through the casino before a passing waitress stopped them.

  “Eric?”

  Bryna was surprised to see a very pretty girl in front of her. She had dark brown, almost black, hair piled up into a high ponytail, and with a round tray tucked under her arm, she was decked out in skimpy clothing that matched the other casino servers.

  Her dark eyes were wide in confusion. “What are you doing here?” the girl asked.

  “Oh…hey,” Eric said. He sounded uncomfortable. “We just left the ice rink.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. Audrey, this is Bryna.”

  With disdain, the girl set her eyes on Bryna. Audrey seemed to size Bryna up in a split second before clearly deciding she was a threat.

  Why does the name Audrey sound familiar? Bryna knew she had heard that name before.

  Then, it hit her. This was Eric’s psycho ex-girlfriend whom Stacia had told her about at the beginning of the semester. No wonder she looked pissed. Bryna knew she was a threat to almost everyone’s boyfriend—or husband, for that matter. At least in this one singular case, she wasn’t actually doing anything wrong.

  “Hey,” Bryna said, politely extending her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  Audrey stared down at her hand as if it were a viper ready to strike. She didn’t even take it.

  Bryna left it out until it was awkward and then dropped it. So, that’s how it’s going to be?

  “Did you take her to the ice rink?” Audrey demanded.

  “Yeah, we just left.”

  Duh. He had said that.

  “I hooked you up with the fire-pit tickets! Those are hard to come by,” Audrey cried. Her eyes were as round as saucers, and she looked hurt.

  Maybe Audrey had assumed he was going to take her or something, which didn’t make sense. Why would he have asked her to get him tickets for the fire pit if he were going to take her? They could have just gone together. Also, as far as Bryna knew, they had been broken up all semester. Why would he have taken her at all? Either way, it was pretty awkward.

  “I know. Um…thanks,” Eric said.

  He was not handling this well. He seemed completely out of his element when talking to Audrey. Bryna had never seen him like this before.

  “I didn’t realize you were going to take another girl on a date with those tickets. Un-fucking-believable, Eric. I wouldn’t have gotten them for you if I’d known. This is absurd.”

  Eric shuffled his feet. “Audrey, I appreciate you getting me the tickets, but Bri and I aren’t—”

  “Official,” Bryna finished for him.

  “What?” he asked. He looked at her in confusion.

  Bryna wasn’t having any more of this shit. She had heard this girl was crazy, and the bitch was proving it. Eric was a nice guy, and he was clearly in over his head. He needed help from a real bitch.

  “We’re not official yet,” Bryna said. She slipped her hand into Eric’s and leaned against his arm. She made sure not to look up at him to see his reaction. “But thanks for the ticket, Aubrey. It was an amazing date.”

  “It’s Audrey,” she spat. She glared at Eric. “Can I talk to you—alone?”

  “Sorry,” Bryna said before Eric could speak. “We’re really on a tight schedule. We still have a long night ahead of us.” She even giggled for good measure. “So nice to meet you though.”

  Bryna dragged Eric away from Audrey before he could do any more damage. He must really not want people to know he was gay if he had gone as far as dating that crazy chick. She wondered what had happened between them.

  When they made it outside, she dropped his hand, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

&n
bsp; It wasn’t until they were seated in his Jeep, driving back across town, when Eric spoke again, “What was all of that about?”

  Bryna smiled. “It seemed wrong to let your psycho ex talk to you like that. You were too nice.”

  “How did you know she was my ex?”

  “I’ve heard the rumors.”

  “Great,” he grumbled. “I don’t even want to know what those say.”

  “I thought it was easier to pretend this was a date than to have her be so fucking annoying—not to mention, desperate and needy. I can’t believe you let her talk to you like that. I would have knocked her down a few more pegs if I wasn’t so ready to get out of there,” Bryna rambled on through Eric’s silence.

  “You know,” he said after a minute, “you’re not the person I thought you were.”

  “Thank you?” she said questioningly.

  “Seriously, you’re cool as shit. You should let other people see this side of you.”

  “I have to keep up my reputation.”

  Eric laughed as he glanced over at her. “Maybe people wouldn’t be so scared of you if they saw you fall on your ass while skating.”

  “First of all, I didn’t fall. That shithead kid rammed into me. And second, who said I didn’t want people to be afraid of me? It keeps them in line.”

  “It just seems to push them away.”

  “Sometimes, that’s better,” she admitted. It was how she always lived her life, and it seemed to be working.

  Eric parked the car outside of her condo. He angled his body, so he was facing her. She looked up at him, wondering what he was thinking because he sure as hell looked like he was thinking about something. Normally, she would be anticipating the kiss to come…or more. But not with Eric.

  “What happened to you?” he asked finally.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know this fun-loving girl is in there, but she’s not who you show to the world. You seem like you’re holding something in, so you don’t let yourself fully relax. I don’t know why that is.”

  “Life.”

  “Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced. “Is it your parents?”

  “No.” Her parents had fucked her up, but this newfound guard she had put up around her heart to prevent anyone from getting to know her was new, fresh.

  “Was it that guy you mentioned? The one you went away with last Christmas?”

  “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  Bryna cracked open the door and hopped out of the Jeep. She winced when her leg hit the ground. “I had a good time tonight,” she told him.

  “Me, too. You know, you’re not going to be able to hide this girl from me now.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “We’ll see.” She walked toward the door.

  “Bryna!”

  “Yeah?” she asked.

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For what you said to Audrey.”

  “Yeah, well,” she said with a faint smile, “thanks for getting me through Christmas.”

  “SPEND NEW YEAR’S WITH ME,” Hugh said into the phone. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”

  “I would love that,” Bryna said in a slight panic.

  The football team was leaving in two hours for Miami. There was absolutely no way she could stay in town to see Hugh. So far, their relationship had worked out with her schedule. He was always here during the week or when she didn’t have cheer. She had missed practice once to go to Lake Tahoe with him, but the play-offs were a different story. And it wasn’t as if she could say she had cheer. He didn’t know she was still in college.

  “All right. Let me get my secretary on the phone.”

  “Hugh,” she said before he could get off the phone, “I already have plans. I’m going to Miami with my girlfriends.”

  That, at least, was partially true.

  “Well, I could be in Miami in a couple of hours. It’s a longer flight.”

  She could not let her friends meet Hugh. There were too many things she was hiding for that to end well at all.

  “It’s actually a girls’ weekend. We’ve had it planned for a while.” She cringed.

  She hoped this worked. In two weeks, there would be no more football to contend with all her time.

  “I see.” He sounded disappointed. “How about next weekend?”

  She had to bite the bullet. “I’m going to the national championship game in Phoenix. It’s something I do with my dad every year.” She swallowed. Two truths and a lie. She was playing with fire.

  “Football?” he asked skeptically. “You’re into football?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You don’t seem like that type of girl.”

  What was with every person trying to put me into a box lately?

  “I am.”

  “Okay. I really want to see you, Bri. I have your Christmas present. I had to find the right thing to get you, so I didn’t have it when we went to Tahoe.”

  She smiled and let the tension leave her shoulders. On the outside, football probably seemed like the last thing she would be into. Plus, a Christmas present!

  All the convincing she needed.

  “How about the weekend after?”

  “Bri!” Stacia screamed. She dropped her bags and sprinted across the short distance to where Bryna was standing. She full-fledged jumped into Bryna’s arms.

  Bryna winced as Stacia’s weight hit her hip and was so glad cheer had given her the strength to hold people up…even crazy friends.

  “I missed you so much,” Stacia said.

  Bryna laughed and dropped her back to the ground. “I missed you too.”

  “I so wish Trihn could fly with us.”

  “Yeah, but she’s flying in straight from New York.”

  “Still.”

  “I know. She should have taken up cheerleading,” Bryna said.

  “It’s never too late.”

  “Yes. I’m sure back handsprings and toe touches are right in her artsy repertoire.”

  “Well, we’ll work on her for next year.” Stacia locked elbows with her and dragged her over to her own stuff.

  Stacia directed one of the male cheerleaders to grab their bags for them, and then she pushed their way through the line of people waiting to board the charter plane for the play-offs. Stacia yammered on the entire wait about her Christmas vacation.

  The girls finally got on the plane and walked down the aisle.

  “So, maybe I can convince someone to switch seats with you, so we can sit together,” Stacia said.

  “Hey, Hollywood.”

  Bryna stopped in her tracks and found herself staring into Eric’s hazel eyes. He had a smirk on his face.

  “Who is Hollywood?” Stacia asked.

  “Saved you a seat.” Eric nodded his head at the aisle seat next to him.

  Stacia stared at her, wide-eyed in anticipation. Last anyone had checked, Bryna and Eric hated each other. They bickered like children.

  “I’ll pass,” Bryna said dismissively.

  He grabbed her arm before she could walk away. “I said you couldn’t hide,” he whispered.

  Even Stacia probably hadn’t heard him.

  “I’m holding up the line. Go on ahead, S. I’ll catch up,” Bryna said.

  Stacia looked uncertain but decided to keep walking back to her seat. Bryna moved out of the aisle, and the line moved again.

  “What is all this?” she asked.

  “You like the aisle seat.”

  “Are we friends?”

  Eric gave her a look that said, Stop acting dumb. “You can’t erase the past two weeks. I had a good time. You had a good time. You’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that we’re friends now.”

  Bryna shrugged noncommittally. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Start by sitting down.”

  She laughed but followed his directions. “You’re bossy.”

 
“I didn’t want to sit next to Beth anyway. She drives me crazy.”

  “And I don’t?”

  “Most of the time, you do, but it’s different.” He plugged in his headphones and relaxed back.

  At this point, Bryna knew she could probably get up and leave to go sit with Stacia. She could even feel Stacia’s eyes on her, wondering what was going on, but Bryna didn’t mind Eric’s company. She would be with Stacia all weekend.

  Five long hours later, their flight landed in Miami, and the teams were quickly separated onto buses that would carry them to their hotel before the game.

  Stacia scurried up to Bryna. “What the hell was that?”

  “What?” Bryna asked.

  She had known this was coming. It wasn’t as if she and Eric were dating or anything. They were friends who had hung out a couple of times over Christmas break. It was nothing she needed to hide. She just knew the rumors would surely follow.

  “You’re friends with Eric now? You two totally hate each other. You’re like oil and water. You don’t mix.”

  “Yeah, I got that, Stacia.”

  “So, spill. What the hell happened?”

  “We hung out over break. No big deal.” Bryna stared straight ahead.

  This really was no big deal. Stacia needed to keep her voice down before the entire squad drilled Bryna for answers.

  “Okay, team!” the coach said, getting all the girls together. “Let’s get over to the hotel. We have practice and dinner, and then you’re free for the evening. However, that does not include alcohol of any kind. If you leave the premises, please take someone with you, and report back in by midnight at the latest! I will be checking to make sure you all are in your rooms, and nothing nefarious has happened.”

  “Pleasant,” Bryna said.

  “We will talk about this later,” Stacia said.

  After three hours of grueling practice and a quick dinner, the girls were finally released.

  Neal had flown in from Tucson for the game and to meet Trihn. They were staying at the same hotel as the team. Stacia and Bryna met them in the lobby, and then they walked out to the beach together. The sun had set over the ocean, and the skyline was bathed in oranges and pinks.

  “So, talk!” Stacia cried to Bryna.

  Trihn looked at them in confusion. “What did I miss?”