Page 31 of Love Worth Gold
Outside the gym entrance later, their paths finally crossed. Isaline was leaving as Blaire arrived. Her duffel was slung over one shoulder, and her face was composed in that careful neutrality Blaire recognized from her own mirror. Their eyes met and held for a fraction of a second.
Congratulations and hurt and pride tangled in the space between them, too complicated for words anyone else might overhear. Blaire’s throat tightened around everything she wanted to say: I’m sorry. I’m not sorry. You were brilliant. I wish it had been different. I wish I didn’t care this much.
“Good workout session?” Blaire asked instead.
“Recovery work.” Isaline’s voice stayed even. “You?”
“Same.”
The exchange was perfectly professional... and completely hollow.
Isaline shifted her bag higher and walked past without another word. Blaire watched her go while her jaw clenched against the urge to call her back.
In the USA team room that afternoon, Blaire stood in front of the schedule whiteboard with a marker in hand. Downhill training runs were mapped in neat columns, start times and weather windows color-coded by Tess’s meticulous system.
She circled the next training slot. Once. Twice. The marker pressed hard enough to squeak.
“Easy on my board, Hollis.”
Blaire turned to see Tess leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed.
“Just planning ahead.”
“You’re spiraling, Blaire.”
“I’m focused.”
Tess stepped into the room and closed the door. “You won gold yesterday. You should be celebrating, not carving holes in my whiteboard like it suggested you retire into recreational snowshoeing for seniors.”
Blaire capped the marker with more force than necessary. “The downhill’s in two days, Tess. I need—”
“What you need is to admit that the medal around your neck didn’t fix what you thought it would,” Tess cut in.
The words landed like a slap. Blaire’s hand tightened on the marker until the plastic creaked.
Tess’s voice softened without losing its edge. “You skied a brilliant race. You earned that gold. But you’re standing here like someone who lost, and we both know why.”
Blaire looked away. Outside the window, flags whipped in the wind. “The downhill’s all that matters now.”
“Sure.” Tess moved closer. “Try to pretend you’re not carrying more than race prep when you click in.”
The reality sat heavy between them. Blaire had spent twenty years believing winning would justify every sacrifice. Instead, it had just made the gap between what she wanted on the hill and what she wanted off it impossible to ignore.
She set the marker down carefully and walked out before Tess could say anything else that landed too close to her heart.
~~
That evening, after recovery sessions and team video review, Blaire’s phone buzzed against the desk in her room.
Downhill training times are posted. Did you see the wind forecast?
The text read like simple logistics. But it landed like a hand closing tightly around her ribs. Blaire stared at the screen with her thumb hovering over the keypad. She should leave iton read. Should focus on sleep and splits and the course she’d memorized.
Instead, her fingers moved.Saw it. Nothing we haven’t handled before, rookie.
Three dots appeared, disappeared, appeared again.The recycled air in this building is making me restless. Thinking about walking it off.
Blaire’s pulse kicked. She knew exactly what Isaline was offering… a neat little cover story wrapped around an invitation neither of them should accept. But not one cell in her body could resist.Meet halfway?