TRACE STONE HAS COME OUT OF HIDING By GossipGrind.com
Sports Weekly has confirmed that Trace Stone will appear on the cover of one of their upcoming publications, just in time for the winter sports season to begin. Stone is in New York this weekend doing an interview and photo shoot. Given the popularity of his recent Got Milk ad, Sports Weekly can be assured that fans will be clamoring for a copy of the Trace Stone version of their publication. Is this new interview a sign that Stone truly is ready for the competitive season? Fans can only hope they’ll get to see more of their favorite snowboarder in the upcoming months.
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“You look conflicted,” Huck said, taking a huge bite of his pizza. Coincidentally, he was in town to do a project for one of Cat’s new clients, and we were able to meet up between some other interviews and Quench meetings that Jesse had set up for me.
Conflicted couldn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling. I’d just gotten a call from Jesse. He’d locked down some training time on actual snow at Mammoth Mountain, but I had to leave straight from Manhattan. Today. He was having all of my gear sent from my place in Tahoe where I’d left it when I came back east. I’d be gone for several weeks.
If I thought two days without Harlow was tough, how was I going to last several weeks?
I rubbed my palm against my forehead. “This is good for me. I need to get out on the snow. Mountain biking and skateboarding are fine for the summer, but I need to be on my snowboard. My first competition is in a little over a month.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Huck asked, folding the pizza slice in half so he could eat it more easily.
I looked up at him and shook my head. “There isn’t one.”
“Harlow,” he responded. “That’s your problem.”
“She’s not a problem,” I countered.
He chewed for a few seconds, staring at me. “Bro. She’s the reason you abandoned training in Tahoe and came out here. Of course she’s a problem.”
Anger simmered in my chest, which was unusual for me. I was laid back; I was easy going. Even with the dickish things Seth and Jamie did at times, I usually only felt irritated. Never truly angry.
“She’s not a problem,” I said through gritted teeth. “I came here for classes.”
Huck chuckled and licked the grease off his fingers. “Dude. I didn’t say she wasn’t worth it, I just said she was the problem. In this scenario. You have snow time. You should be stoked. This is what you’ve worked so hard for. Lie all you want, but I’ve known you your entire life, and I can tell. You came back east for the girl. Maybe getting a few credits was a bonus, but you’ve never left training for classes before. I can see the change in you.” He considered me in silence. “She’s good for you. I can see that. But if you want to be able to compete this season, you gotta take advantage of the snow Jesse got you.”
“I know,” I snapped back. “I never said I wasn’t going to.”
“Yeah, but I can see it in your eyes. You want to go back to Maryland.” He tossed the crust on his plate and leaned back in his chair, wiping his hands on his napkin. “I get it, I do. But if you do that now—if you skip out on this opportunity and risk your season just to chase down your girl—you’ll blame it on her. Maybe not this week or this month or even this year, but eventually you’ll wonder what could have been.”
“You chased down your girl. You risked everything,” I countered. I grinned triumphantly, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m not saying that’s what I want to do, but you’re not exactly the right person to be giving me this advice.”
He shrugged. “The circumstances were different. And besides, it was Cat.”
I wouldn’t be surprised to see my brother’s name as the definition for whipped in the dictionary. Not that I blamed him, Cat was the kind of girl you risked everything for. But then again, so was Harlow.
I uncrossed my arms and leaned my elbows on the table. “Don’t worry. I’m going.” I was just worried about losing all the progress I’d made with Harlow while I was away. Distance might make her see things differently. She was already as skittish as a cat whose tail had been stepped on one too many times. If I wasn’t around to constantly make her see what we could be together, she might forget. She might even move on without me.
“What about you?” I asked, changing the subject. “Did Cat talk you into eloping yet?”
Huck grinned and leaned forward on the table, mirroring my posture. “Actually, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Fuck. Had Huck heard the rumors about Vegas too? The reporter had caught me off guard yesterday when he brought it up. I hadn’t even had a chance to Google myself to see where else those rumors were being spread. I immediately thought of Harlow and how she would react if she ever got wind of the gossip. “Yeah?” I asked.
Huck’s smile widened. “Cat is dead set on a wedding in that abandoned neon sign place in Vegas I was telling you about a few weeks ago. We thought it would be fun to get married right after New Year’s. All our family will already be in town for Dallas and Austin’s last show. It’s the perfect time to just seal the deal.”
I nodded, relieved he didn’t know about my marriage. “That makes sense.”
“Want to be my best man?”
The shock must have been apparent on my face. Huck and I had been close at one time, but that was before the incident with Bridget, his first fiancée. Things were better between us now, especially since he knew that Bridget had tricked us both, but I never expected to have the honor of standing next to him when he married the love of his life.
“Hey, don’t look so shocked. You weren’t my first choice,” he joked.
“Fuck you.” I chucked a wadded up napkin at his head like we were kids again. “Yes, I was.”
He laughed. “Yeah, you were. But don’t tell Jay that. I told him that Cat and I argued over him and she won him as her man of honor. He’d be heartbroken if he didn’t think he was everyone’s first choice.”
“Well, I’m honored. Yeah, of course I’ll stand with you.”
He lifted his beer and tapped it against mine. “Good.” He took a drink, and another grin spread across his face. “Just so you know, you have to walk up the aisle with Jay. I’m not responsible for any groping you might endure.”
I shrugged. “Hey. Jay’s a good looking guy. I’m not complaining.”
We both laughed and for the first time in a while, things were back to normal between us.
Now my only problem was the next few weeks. Without Harlow.
***
I placed the call and set the phone to speaker before dropping it on my bed as I started shoving all of my clothes and belongings into my duffle bag.
“Hey,” Harlow answered. Even with one short word I could tell that was up.
“Still miss me?” I asked.
She gave a small laugh. “Yeah. I just…” She paused, and I let her gather her thoughts.
The one thing I’d learned about Harlow was that she didn’t like to be forced into anything. She liked to be in control. The only time she let that control slip was in bed. I continued to pack, waiting for her to find the words she wanted to say.
“I…um…you never told me you were famous.” Her voice wavered a bit on the last word. “I Googled you.”
The idea of that still blew my mind even after all these years. I still felt like the same jackass 12-year-old who begged his parents to put a halfpipe in the backyard for skateboarding. Even after years of dealing with the media and rumors, it was still insane to me that people could find all the gritty details of my life with a simple Google search. Hell, I even Googled myself sometimes when I wanted to know something.
“I told you that I was a professional snowboarder,” I said carefully. I might have told her that, but even I knew she hadn’t put two and two together. The name Trace Stone never held any power over her. Not that it should have. In fact, maybe that was part of the reason I needed her so
much. She didn’t know that world.
Her laugh held no humor. “But you had to know I didn’t believe you. You let me think you were some rich kid going to college. Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“You never asked.” I cleared my throat. “You never even asked me what my major was.”
“I…I thought it was business,” she said in a small voice, a very unHarlow-like quiet voice. “You’re in some of the same classes as Flex. It is business isn’t it?” she asked warily.
“Hey, I’m not mad that you didn’t know. I’m just saying you never asked.” I picked up a shirt, made an attempt at folding it, and then shoved it into my bag. “If I had said something to you about who I was and what I do, it would have sounded like bragging.”
“But Flex knew who you were and I know you had to be able to tell I didn’t. I mean, it’s not exactly a lie, but you let me think you were someone other than you were.” I could almost see her doodling nervously on one of her lists, trying to decide if she should be upset at me, or herself.
I took a deep breath and then released it slowly. “That’s just the thing. I let you see the real me, Cricket. Everyone else, they see Trace Stone, gold medalist. Trace Stone, Olympic hopeful. That’s the only thing most people care about. You saw more of the real me than anyone other than my family ever has.”
She was so quiet I could hear the scratch of her pen against paper.
“You’re freaking out a little, aren’t you?” I asked.
“I got most of my freaking out done earlier. Mostly I’m just nervous.” She paused. “And I still miss you.” She said it like it was physically painful to admit that to me. I wondered how long it had taken to admit it to herself.
“I miss you too, Cricket.” I ran my hand back across my hair and picked up the phone. “Which only makes what I have to say even harder.”
Silence.
“What?” she asked softly.
“I told you I was coming back tonight, but I can’t.”
“Oh.” Her disappointment made me almost giddy.
“I have the opportunity to get back on the snow for some training. I have an important competition coming up in December, and this is the best chance for me to get ready. I’ll be gone until Thanksgiving.” I stalked into the bathroom, grabbed my few toiletries off the sink, and returned to the main room to pack them.
“What about your classes?” It was cute how worried she was, but irritating that her first thought was about me missing school—not me missing time with her.
“I’ll figure that all out later,” I promised. “This is more important.”
“Than your degree?” Her tone made it clear she was offended.
I laughed. “Cricket, I’ve been working on my degree for years. It can wait a bit longer.”
“But there’s no way they’ll let you make up the work. You’ll—”
“Harlow,” I said. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll just drop the classes and retake them later. I didn’t come back east for school anyway.” It was the first time I’d admitted that out loud even though all along I knew it’d been the truth.
“You didn’t?” I imagined her face was screwed up with a look of horror. School was important to her. It meant her future, and she took it seriously. The idea that anyone else wouldn’t take it just as seriously was unthinkable.
“No. I didn’t.” I reached down to zip my duffel shut, knowing that my next words could change everything. “I came back for my wife.”
— HARLOW —
24. SOMETHING I DIDN’T WANT
November 19, 2016
DOES DISTANCE REALLY MAKE THE HEART GROW FONDER? By Harlow Ransom
With Trace out of town for a few weeks, Harlow has had a lot of time to reevaluate her life, her plans for the future, and her relationship. She’s said on many occasions that she’d like to annul the marriage and one can only wonder if time alone has strengthened this stance, or if distance has really made the heart grow fonder.
“Things are a little confusing right now. I’m not ready to be married, but I have to admit that having Trace in my life is not what I expected. I kind of like it…I like him.”
When asked why she just doesn’t stay married since things have only gotten better in the last three months, Harlow became agitated.
“Marriage is so permanent.”
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I came back for my wife.
Those words had rattled around in my head almost nonstop since Trace had said them almost two weeks ago. One moment they made me feel all gooey and sentimental inside, the next they made me fidgety with a screaming need to escape. Almost like I wanted to throw up.
I’d felt that way a lot lately. Maybe that was my body’s way of missing Trace.
He’d been gone for thirteen days already. Deep down I thought I’d feel relieved for things to go back to the way they were before he showed up at the Dairy. I hoped his absence would be exactly what I needed to get my head in the right place and my life back on track. That’s what I’d been saying I wanted for months, wasn’t it?
Only now that I had it, I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted. There had been a lot of holes in my life that I’d never noticed before, or maybe just ignored. Holes that Trace had managed to fill. I guess the emptiness in my life never bothered me before because I didn’t know what I was missing. Now that I had solitude that I’d asked for, all I could see was what wasn’t there—infuriating jokes, cocky smiles, a warm body curled against me, someone to challenge me.
How could something I didn’t want be the one thing I missed the most?
Even though he was in California, Trace and I usually talked every night. That is, if I was still awake when he finally got a chance to call me. I’d been throwing myself into my schoolwork and Diamondback articles, and most days I was exhausted, sometimes falling asleep before ten. Trace hadn’t brought up the subject of our marriage again, and I went on pretending like it didn’t exist. If I couldn’t even figure out how I felt about him and my future, and what role he played in it, I definitely wasn’t ready to dwell on the words wife or marriage.
All I knew was that I was too young to be married. Becoming a wife was something you did after you already had your dreams in your hand. It was stupid to put up roadblocks, like marriage, that would only get in the way of my career. Having a husband meant there would always be someone I had to consider when I made decisions. It didn’t matter how charming Trace might be, I didn’t have room for a husband.
My mind knew all that. But my heart, stupid thing that it was, was the one who was in control most of the time.
He hadn’t called last night, and like a junkie needing my dose of Stone, I stared at the screen in front of me, eagerly reading the story and looking at the pictures that had been taken of Trace during the past week. We might talk on the phone, but there was something about seeing him in full color that I really craved. I devoured the pictures and videos of him snowboarding, signing autographs, socializing with other boarders and fans. He was outgoing and charming and…glorious.
Not that I’d ever stroke his ego enough to tell him that, but seeing him in his element accentuated how amazing he was. It almost turned me into a sports fan. No wonder he was always so confident. He was crazy talented, and he knew it. And there was a greedy little part of me that relished the idea that he’d hunted me down. Me.
I came back for my wife.
It still didn’t quite seem real, but…I liked it.
I fought to tear my eyes away from the new photos, needing to see what had been written about him in the story. My gaze read the first few lines and then I quickly scanned the rest of the article when I realized that it was another recap of his injury, his surgery, his abandoned training, and his disappearance from the public eye.
I grinned to myself because I knew the weeks that were part of that disappearance belonged to me. They were our secret. No matter how much the media knew about him, they didn�
��t know a thing about those moments we had together. Weeks and weeks of laughter, and inappropriate jokes, and sex, and…
Weeks and weeks and weeks…
My body went stiff as I jerked into an upright position. I spun the chair around, abandoning the article to root around in my backpack in search of my daily planner. With fumbling hands, I opened it up, my finger tracing along dates and lists and notations as I flipped backward through my days. All the way back to September.
Wiping the back of my hand across my forehead, I swallowed down my worry. I felt sick. No, it was just nerves. I wasn’t really…
September 29th. That was the last time…
I dropped to my knees on the floor and grabbed the trash can and promptly threw up in it.
I was late.
***
I refused to trust my future to a few little lines. No way could a cheap piece of plastic and a bathroom break give me the truth.
Which was why I found myself sitting in the waiting room of the health clinic on campus. By myself. With a positive pregnancy test shoved deep into my purse.
There wasn’t anyone I could have asked to go with me. Willow was in New York, Marlow was in LA, and Flex…he was a guy. He didn’t even let me touch his ping pong paddle because he thought my sissy girl cooties would give him bad luck. No way would he be able to stomach a visit to the Gyno with me. Besides, what would he do? Sit in the room and hold my hand? He probably would if I asked, but no thank you. He was my best friend, but no way was I baring the land of pie in front of him while some doctor shoved foreign objects in me.
Besides, the fewer people that knew about this little scare, the better.
And that’s all it was—a scare. It couldn’t be anything else.
Denial. I was good at that.
I wrapped my arms across my stomach and glanced around the waiting room, hoping I wouldn’t see anyone who would recognize me. My gaze fell on the cover of Sports Weekly on the table next to me. The guy on the cover had a face and body I knew all too well.
Trace.
God. How was I going to tell him about this? He was about to start his competitive season. I didn’t want him worrying.
Hitched (Hearts of Stone Book 2) Page 24
