Love and Other Games (32 page)

But this? How could she have misunderstood him so badly?

“Oh, he has got to be kidding.” Amy was fuming.

Robin sighed and dropped onto the couch beside her. “I assume the he in question is the Viking.”

Amy thrust the envelope in her hands toward her friend. “It’s a ticket. Ski jumping tomorrow.”

“Oh the nerve of that man.” Robin shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t work up a good mad until you tell me what he did. ‘Cause this … ” She held up the envelope. “This is just him asking you to come see him compete … at the Olympics. Which is pretty much awesome.”

“She hasn’t told you either?” Lexi settled gracefully on the coffee table in front of them, her back as straight as the most well-trained ballerina. “Okay. Spill. You’ve had two days of moping. What happened? Things were going so well.”

Amy really didn’t want to share her foolishness. “Yeah, I thought so too.”

“But then,” Robin prompted.

“But then I found out that he only slept with me because he thought it was lucky.”

“Huh?”

“He kept calling me something in Norwegian. I thought it was something … I don’t know, sexy. So I asked him what it meant and he told me. Lucky charm. He told me I was his lucky charm.”

“Aww.” Lexi placed a hand over her heart. Her brow furrowed like she was looking at a puppy wearing a sombrero. “That’s adorable.”

“No. He slept with me because he thought it would better his chances of medaling. That’s … it’s gross.”

Lexi’s eyes narrowed. “He said that? That he only slept with you to get a medal?”

“He said he had to have me. That I would make him win.”

Lexi sighed. “Robin?”

“Yeah. That doesn’t sound bad to me.”

“But—”

Robin didn’t wait. “When did he decide you were a lucky charm? Why did he pick you?”

“I don’t know. At the party I guess.”

“Or he saw you at the party and thought you were hot?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does.” Robin shook her head. “How can you not see this? It’s all in his head. The man likes you. He liked you so much that first night that the next morning he went to qualifications and forgot that he isn’t a gold medal contender anymore.”

Lexi nodded. “See. He was just happy. You made him happy so he says you’re his lucky charm. It’s romantic … in a dumb jock kind of way.”

“He’s a not a dumb—” She saw Lexi’s triumphant grin and stopped. “He wouldn’t have come looking for me if he didn’t think sleeping with me gave him luck.”

“And again I ask if he said that.”

“No. Not exactly, but—”

Robin held up her finger. “He put his number in your phone, Amy. Before he went to qualifications, before he started skiing better, he added himself to your phone. He already wanted to see you again.”

He had. He’d actually added it as “CALL ERIK!”  all caps and an exclamation point. But still …

“And this.” Robin held up the ticket. “This is hard to get, and it has nothing to do with sex. So he thinks you’re a lucky charm. So what? I dated a hockey player who had a pair of lucky boxers. He wore them for every game. There was no elastic left in the waistband, and there was a hole big enough to put your hand through, and he kept wearing them. It’s just part of the game. Athletes are superstitious. You know that.”

Lexi wrinkled her nose at Robin’s old underwear anecdote. “Eww.”

“You think I’m overreacting.”

Robin nodded. “Big time.”

“Seriously, over-reacting.”

“Half the Olympic Village is out searching for that damn torch every night. This is just his way of explaining.”

“Oh.” She was reeling. She wanted to believe them, but things that seemed too good to be true usually were. Still, he didn’t need to send her a ticket. They were right; if he’d only been after sex, than it would make no sense to bother. Of course he could think her presence was lucky somehow, but that didn’t really feel dirty. That felt—sweet.
Shit.
Was he really just being sweet? A wave of nausea hit her hard. She’d blown it. She’d had the hottest, sweetest man ever, and she had totally over-reacted and blown it.

“Call him. Tell him you’ll be there.” Robin placed the ticket on Amy’s lap.

“I don’t know, I—” She picked it up and the flutters of hope in her stomach died. She gave Lexi a sad smile. “I can’t. I’d miss your program.”

Amy ignored Robin and Lexi’s advice and didn’t tell Erik she was attending his event. If nothing else, he deserved an in-person conversation. She huddled with the crowd and watched with increasing terror as athlete after athlete flew down the hill. It had taken a year for her to stop wincing each time Lexi included a triple-toe loop in her program. This. This was … insane. It looked dangerous on television, but in person the sheer vastness—the height of the drop—was shocking. He could die. He nearly had once before. Amy had found the video. She shouldn’t have watched.

There’d been two falls already. Neither were as bad as Erik’s had been, but each one had ratcheted her nerves up. Maybe she should have called him and apologized. If Robin was right, if it was all in his head, then telling him might make a difference.

But she’d wavered. Right up until the moment she’d shown her ticket at the entrance, Amy had debated this decision. She was missing Lexi’s short program. It was the first competition she’d missed in years, maybe ever, and it was the Olympics. She wouldn’t have even considered missing it, but her sister had insisted. She’d even threatened to take away Amy’s ticket to the skating arena, though nobody really thought she’d follow through. Lexi Peirce was a romantic. It was a surprise, a softness that Amy had never really associated with her sister.

In the end she’d had to admit that she wanted to be here, to see Erik, more than she wanted to be anywhere else.

She stopped breathing when they announced his name. Even her Viking looked small at the top of the large hill.
He does this all the time. He’s a champion.
It didn’t matter. She gripped the fence in front of her, made a wish, and watched.

He soared. It was beautiful—terrifying—but beautiful. Erik landed smoothly and Amy laughed, her knees weak with relief, as the crowd cheered. It was good. Not the best yet, but close. Very close. Erik Andresen was definitely in the running. All around her people were talking about his fall four years ago and his remarkable comeback. The crowd was with him. His was a good story and everybody liked rooting for an underdog. They didn’t even know him, but they loved him.

He was in fourth place after the first jump, behind the leader by a fraction of a meter. The top five were all remarkably close. He had one jump left. The two scores would be combined and then they’d know.

It hit her then: Erik could do this. He could totally walk away with the gold. A cheer bubbled up, and Amy screamed his name. He couldn’t hear her, of course, but she yelled all the same.

A woman standing behind her tapped Amy’s shoulder and handed her a small Norwegian flag. “Andresen,” she said smiling and pointing at the flag.

Amy nodded. “Andresen.” She laughed and, when the impulse hit, she gave the woman a quick hug. “Andresen!” She waved the flag over her head. It was too soon to talk about love. She knew that, but she could put aside reason. For this moment, she could just give in and feel and, if she could bring him luck, she would. She waved the flag and tried with all her heart to be a lucky charm.

***

Bronze.

Amy watched the medal ceremony with a knot in her stomach. He’d come so close. She tried to imagine how he must be feeling and couldn’t get past the lump in her throat.

It wasn’t easy getting close afterward. If Tommy hadn’t spotted her and helped her through the crowd, she wouldn’t have found him. But she did.

Erik starred at her for a moment before speaking. “You came.” He brushed a hand over his messy hair.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t lucky. I tried. I swear I tried.” Her breath hitched.

“What are talking about?” He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. Erik hugged her tight before cupping her face with his hands and meeting her gaze. “I won. Didn’t you see?”

“You’re not disappointed?”

He laughed and shook his head. “No.” He scooped her up, spun them both in a circle, whooping and hollering in celebration.

When he set her back on her feet, Amy reached up and touched his cheek. “But—”

“They said I wouldn’t be in the top ten and I have a medal. I have a medal and a girl.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and bent, bringing his face close to hers. “I do have a girl, yes?”

Amy nodded, but she placed two fingers over his mouth to stop him from kissing her. “I’m sorry—about before. I—”

Erik shook his head. “I forgive you. I’m in a very good mood.”

“Just let me say it.”

He grinned and clutched her upper arms. “Be fast. I want to kiss you.”

“I think I was looking for a reason. I was trying to find a reason to not like you.” Around them, the crowd celebrated with cheers and songs and noise makers.

“Why?”

“I like you too much. I—I like you way too much.” She had to yell to be heard over the excitement.

Erik laughed for a second before capturing her lips for a deep kiss. Amy melted into him. Her toes curled. She saw stars, a series of flashes behind her eyelids, and it took her a moment to realize that their picture was being taken. She pulled away to glance at the photographers in surprise, but Erik caught her chin, reclaiming her attention. “Come to Vermont with me.”

“What?” He was crazy, just caught up in the moment. He couldn’t be serious. Could he? Her heart leapt.

“We need a business manager.” He stopped. “No. That’s not right. I want you to be our manager, but I want you to be my girl more. Mostly—be my girl. A little bit—be the business girl.” He nodded. “Understand?”

She nodded.

“Yes?”

“How about maybe?”

“I’m going to get a yes.” He gave her one of his big lop-sided grins, one of the ones that brought out that charming dimple. “I can be very persuasive.”

“I know.” Amy giggled and pulled his mouth back to hers. Vermont winters were cold—seriously cold—but she figured Erik could keep her warm enough.

Ana lives just outside Washington DC with her very supportive husband and three rather demanding cats. She loves the ocean, Indian food, Ikea, and cooking. Ana admits to watching too much television and she swears that someday she’s going to learn how to play the guitar resting on the bookshelf in her office.

After hectic days of teaching English to middle school students, Melinda finds time to write and read in the evenings. She lives in Guatemala, Central America with her husband and college sweetheart, who brings
mucho amor
to her life. Melinda enjoys being the queen of her household and dreams of being pampered fully by her three boys once they are grown. Melinda's guilty pleasures include reality TV, traveling, blogging and playing Candy Crush. You can find more information about Melinda and her books at
www.melindadozier.com
.

Aria Kane is a recovering mechanical engineer and romance writer. As a military brat, she grew up all over the country, but now lives in sunny Florida with a 60 lb mutt who thinks he's a Chihuahua. She's also the author of ONCE UPON A DARKNESS and A TITAN FOR CHRISTMAS. You can learn more about her at
www.ariakane.com
.

Having grown up as an only child in the small town of Mexico, New York, Kara was forced to find ways to entertain herself. Playing make believe with Barbie dolls and stuffed animals was her first real taste of storytelling before she became old enough to develop a love affair with the written word. But when Kara picked up her first erotic romance novel, she was instantly hooked. Now she's a multi-published romance author who isn't afraid to fling the bedroom door wide open and jump into bed with her characters. Kara loves to write contemporary romance, erotica, and young adult romance.

Kara currently resides in New Haven, New York with her husband, five kids, three cats, and two dogs. When she's not writing, she spends time with her family and friends; dabbles in some freelance writing, and works as a Senior Editor. She loves to hear from her fans and promises to respond personally to all messages she receives.