Edge of Glory

by Rachel Spangler

  “I know, but I didn’t want to.”

  Corey snorted. “Then you’re doing it wrong, kid. I had a choice to grab second or fall in behind you. I went for the lead.”

  “You would’ve put me into the wall?”

  “That’s never my goal. If I had the choice, it’d be me and you fighting for first and second every time, but if only one of us could win the second-place spot, I need you to know I’m going to do everything in my power to make damn sure it’s me. And next time, it will be me.”

  Tigger nodded, her eyes a little wide and frightened under her goggles.

  “Go get ready for your next heat.”

  “Okay. I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me.”

  “It shouldn’t matter whether I am or not.”

  “Okay.” She picked up her board and lifted her chin.

  Corey caught her arm and pulled her so close their helmets knocked together. “This isn’t a team sport. Unless you’re a total dick out there and try to knock someone’s teeth out for sport, all you need to worry about is winning your race. Anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t need to be here. Got it?”

  Tigger’s mouth curled up slightly. “Got it.”

  Corey slapped her on the back. “Good luck in the semifinals.”

  “Thanks.” The kid started to go, then glanced over her shoulder. “You going to stay and watch?”

  She looked to Holly, who clenched her jaw and shook her head.

  Corey shrugged, then smiled. “I’m going to hang around and sign autographs. I may look up from my adoring fans long enough to see how you do.”

  “Cool,” she said, and bounded off, the usual bounce back in her step.

  They watched her go, before Corey turned back to Holly. “I need a pen.”

  Holly dug one out of her bag but held it out of Corey’s reach. “You’re going to kill me with this good-natured mentor routine.”

  “What?” Corey asked. “You’d rather I act like a spoiled prick and throw a tantrum for losing? I’ve never been that dude.”

  “No, but you’ve never been one to throw your arm around the person who ran you off the course, either.”

  “If I’d been in her boots, I’d have done the same damn thing. Hell, I was trying to do the same thing. I went in with the intent of cutting her off.”

  “Did you?” Holly asked seriously.

  “Yes. Go back and watch the replay. I did my best to cut her off. She beat me to the punch.”

  They stared at each other as the words sank in. Holly had been so afraid she’d gone easy on Tigger, and Corey had been so focused on defending herself against the charge, neither one of them had seriously considered the implications of the other option.

  Tigger had beaten her for the first time.

  Chapter 13

  December 24, 2017

  Lake Henry, New York

  “I’m heading over to Holly’s now,” Paolo said from the doorway of her dorm room. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you anywhere on the way?”

  “No. Thanks. I’m going to do another light workout. Maybe a swim.”

  His eyes grew sad. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

  “No.” She sighed. “‘Eve’ means ‘night.’ It’s only two o’clock in the afternoon. Besides, I’m Jewish.”

  “You’re half Jewish. You’ve always celebrated Christmas in the past.”

  “I sat on a plane all night and in a car all morning. I don’t want my muscles to seize up.”

  “I’m sorry the flight was delayed. You know I wouldn’t have scheduled it like that.”

  “Yeah, well.” She almost said something snotty but caught herself. Left to her own, she would’ve stayed in France over the holiday, but he felt guilty enough already, and if she were truly honest, he’d wanted to leave a day earlier. She’d insisted on getting back out on the mountain at Val d’Isere one more time to try to atone for her disappointing finishes. If she hadn’t, they would’ve missed the snowstorm that delayed air traffic into Montreal the day before. “We’re here now. No use rehashing everything, but I do want to at least heat up my muscles a bit.”

  He rubbed his cleanly shaved chin, a nod to Holly’s comfort no doubt, and frowned. “I should stay with you then.”

  “No,” she practically shouted. “Go. I can handle a treadmill and a pool without supervision. You deserve a couple days off, Paolo. It’s Christmas Eve.”

  He laughed. “‘Eve’ means ‘night.’”

  “Get out of my room and tell Holly I said ‘hi.’”

  “We’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

  “Probably,” she admitted, though she’d yet to make her formal decision on the invitation she’d received to the LaCroix family celebration.

  “Okay, I won’t pressure you, except to say if you aren’t there, I’ll come find you.”

  “Yeah, that’s not pressuring me at all.”

  He smiled. “Merry Christmas, Elise.”

  She shook her head. “Merry Christmas, Paolo.”

  He closed the door, and she changed her clothes. She’d already hung up her racing suits and one actual suit in the closet and put her more casual clothes away in the dresser drawers. She’d be in town only a week, but she hated living out of a suitcase. Any time she planned to spend more than one night in a hotel, she always put the clothes exactly where she would’ve if she were at home.

  Home.

  She didn’t even know where that was anymore. She’d sublet her Manhattan apartment after getting hurt. She’d spent months in hospitals, first in Europe, then in Denver, followed by a rehab facility in Park City before coming to Lake Henry the first time. Since then, she’d experienced a string of long-term hotel stays before landing back at the Olympic Training Center dorms. She’d have to go back years to find a place she’d stayed for more than four months, and even that was another dorm back at school.

  She pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a neon blue, racerback tank top, then reached for her cross trainers. Maybe she liked having everything in its proper place because she didn’t have a proper place for herself.

  She shook her head. Where had that thought come from? Jet lag? Not likely. She’d grown pretty immune to the trials of trans-Atlantic travel at a young age. Had her mediocre performance in the season thus far caused her to become more introspective? She didn’t think so, but she supposed she’d choose that option over the other one she didn’t want to face.

  She grabbed her key card and a water bottle and bolted from the room. She didn’t have to sit there and dwell on Corey’s invitation to her family holiday celebration. Somehow it had seemed fine, simple, even fun to consider an invitation to join her in bed. She’d certainly been prepared to do so before they’d left Argentina, but the whole home-and-hearth component to the holiday schedule felt much less like the ripping each other’s clothes off she’d envisioned.

  Maybe she needed to step back and consider what she truly wanted here. Was she looking for a quick roll in the hay? A week-long fling? A friendship with benefits? Or something more?

  She had time to figure it out. A good workout always cleared her head, and if the ghost-town status of the dorms and lobby areas told her anything, she’d likely have the gym to herself. Apparently not many Olympic athletes, other than her, chose to spend their Christmas at training camp. She hoped that said a good deal about her competitive drive and not her social acumen or lack thereof. Either way, she’d get some much needed peace, quiet, and exercise in service of the mental clarity she needed before facing a potentially big decision tonight. She rounded the corner to the main gym and slid her card through the lock, but as soon as she swung open the lock, she stopped short.

  There in all her golden, sweaty, smiling glory stood Corey LaCroix.

  They stared at each other for a long time—seconds, minutes, or hours, she didn’t know. Long enough for a fire to spread from her chest through her core and down her limbs as every nerve ending burned with desire.

  “Hi,” Corey
finally said.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Elise blurted out the only truth she could verbalize.

  Corey laughed, “Clearly. I’m not going to lie. I sort of enjoy knowing I can still catch you off guard.”

  “I’m not sure I do.”

  Corey stepped forward and boldly slipped her arm around her waist. “Let me try to tip the scales in my favor.”

  “You’re sweaty.” Elise tried to protest, but the comment only came out sounding aroused.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll catch up.”

  Her face flushed hot, but before she could say anything else, Corey claimed her mouth with her own. The kiss was everything she’d tried to ignore in the long months apart, and her body swallowed her mind as they melted together. They made out right there in the middle of the empty weight room, like kids who had only seven minutes in heaven and didn’t want to waste even a fraction of one.

  “I missed this,” Corey said, fingers tightening on her hips.

  “Me, too,” Elise mumbled against the corner of her mouth.

  Corey rested her forehead against Elise’s. “I missed you.”

  Elise nodded. The words stuck in her throat. She’d missed her too, much more than she’d let herself realize, so much it scared her, even now.

  “Come home with me,” Corey whispered, then kissed her deeply again. “Please.”

  Why had she even pretended for a second that she wouldn’t go with her? That she wouldn’t melt? That she could be so close to her and keep from feeling all the need and passion and desire swirling in her now? She’d sealed her fate the moment she’d boarded the plane to come back here, and she’d known it even then. She only had to say the one word she’d denied herself for too long, and now with the wonder of Corey’s body pressed hard and firm against her, the word came easier than she’d ever imagined.

  “Yes.”

  • • •

  “Corey.” Elise said her name with both joy and awe as she tilted her head back and stared heavenward.

  She grinned with pride. She’d spent months looking forward to inspiring such a reaction, but she never dreamed she’d do so before they even got into the house.

  “When you said you had a cabin in the woods, I never expected this.”

  She surveyed her little piece of mountain paradise, seeing it for the first time through Elise’s eyes. A large wraparound deck led to a two-story wall of windows framed in dark logs and bisected by the gray stone of her chimney. The perfect mountain getaway, it offered privacy, comfort, and serenity with a breathtaking view. “It’s not a mansion in the Hamptons or a Manhattan penthouse, but—”

  “It’s better.” Elise took her hand and pulled her up toward the front steps. “Show me around.”

  Corey grabbed Elise’s duffle bag from the back of her snowmobile and happily allowed herself to be led up the stairs. When she swung open the front door, Elise stopped again, her blue eyes surveying the large, open space. The living area was outfitted with rough-hewn wood and leather furnishings. Natural light streamed in from three sides, casting patterns of sunset and shade across a thick, blue rug spread out before a massive fireplace. Farther back, a large bar separated the living room from a chef’s kitchen, done all in cast iron and granite.

  “It’s not formal,” Corey said, “but it’s functional.”

  “No doubt,” Elise said. “When you said we were driving a snowmobile to get here, I expected some sort of rundown miners’ shack.”

  Corey laughed. “No, we not only have running water and electricity, there’s a twenty-seat theater downstairs, also a rec room with a bar and a pool table. On the side deck, there’s a wood-fire pizza oven and a hot tub.”

  “Of course there is.” Elise placed a sweet kiss on her cheek. “It’s so perfectly you.”

  “Yeah. When I designed it, I had grand parties in mind for the lower two levels.”

  “What about the upper level?”

  Corey’s grin widened, and she nodded to a natural wood staircase. “I’ll show you.”

  They kicked off their snow boots and the outer layer of winter gear they’d changed into before leaving the training center, then ascended the stairs hand in hand. Moving down a hallway adorned with pictures of mountain scenes and old family photos, they passed a few guest rooms until Corey swung open a wide set of double doors to a large master suite. The room housed a king-sized bed with lush carpet and another stone fireplace. Elise made a slow tour around the room, running her fingers along smooth walnut and stained oak. She peeked her head into the open bathroom door and let out a groan at the sight of a deep soaking tub and a cedar-lined sauna. The sounds stirred something low in Corey’s stomach, but she wanted to enjoy this moment before moving to the next. She wandered over to the massive picture window offering an infinite view of pine forests and snowcapped mountains. Waiting until she felt Elise’s shoulder brush up against her own, she finally asked. “So, do you think you could bring yourself to wake up here on Christmas morning?”

  Elise turned toward her once more, and this time instead of a kiss gave her a sizable shove. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

  Corey stumbled a few steps. “You’re so much stronger than you look, and I take hits for a living.”

  “And a good living it must be. This place is amazing. I can’t believe you kept this to yourself all summer while I slept in a skinny dorm bed.”

  “If you’d wanted it then, you could’ve had it.”

  “I had no idea. Maybe I would’ve been a little nicer earlier on if I had.”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Corey said.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I do. Plenty of other women played that game with me, and I let them. At first I didn’t recognize the sport, but even for a while after I did, I still let them. I actually got to know the type pretty early on, and you’re not one of them.”

  Elise held Corey’s face in her hand, running a thumb across her lips before kissing her lightly. “You’re right. Seeing this place would’ve impressed me, but it wouldn’t have made a difference back then. What’s magnificent about your home is that it’s yours. It has your touches, your quiet attention to detail. It shows the way you see the world, places to gather, places to retreat, and places to reflect on the wonder of it all. I wouldn’t have understood that fully until I got to know you.”

  Corey’s chest tightened with a new mix of emotions, ones running much deeper than the initial, crushing urge to rip Elise’s clothes off. Those desires hadn’t faded. They’d merely expanded.

  Corey couldn’t be certain Elise felt the same, but she certainly moved toward a similar goal as she lowered her head and kissed Corey once more, her long, taut body softening against the area where their hips and chests molded together. Elise ran her fingers under Corey’s waffle-weave sweater and the T-shirt beneath it. Raking her fingernails down her stomach, she let loose a low growl in the back of her throat. “Do you know I’ve been obsessed with your abs ever since we first worked out together?”

  “No,” Corey said, kissing her temple and breathing the sweet, fresh scent of snow and citrus. “Add that to the long list of things one of us might have mentioned earlier.”

  “What? And give you a big head?” Elise asked, tugging both shirts over Corey’s head at once. The arousal in Elise’s eyes as they swept over her body only magnified Corey’s.

  “For me it was your eyes. Always your eyes.”

  “My eyes usually turn people off,” Elise said, placing kisses around Corey’s now-bare shoulders.

  “Not me,” Corey said as she unfastened the braid of Elise’s silken blond hair, then ran her fingers through the lush strands, freeing them in glorious waves. “Your eyes are intense, but that only drew me in. I had to get closer. I couldn’t stop myself. Even when you gave me all the other signals, your eyes kept pulling me back.”

  “You were maddeningly good-natured.” Elise punctuated the remark with a little nip to her neck. “And persistent. Tenacious even.”<
br />
  “I’ve been called those things before,” Corey admitted playfully, “but they’ve never sounded as sexy as when you say them.”

  “Really? I’ve actually found you sexy for much longer than I care to admit.”

  “What took you so long to come around?”

  “Well.” Elise stepped back and pulled her sweatshirt and tank over her head, leaving only a sports bra between Corey and the full realization of months’ worth of imagination. “Someone suggested we needed to wait until the time was right.”

  “Someone sounds like a real idiot,” Corey mumbled.

  “I didn’t want to mention it, but yes.” Elise’s grin turned teasing, and she hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her snow pants, then, popping the button, pushed them down over her full hips and thighs.

  Corey let out a little whimper at the sight of navy blue boy shorts against alabaster skin.

  “Sorry they’re not lacier,” Elise said, though she didn’t seem particularly sorry. “I thought I was going to the gym.”

  “Nothing to apologize for,” Corey managed to say through the need tightening her throat. She resisted the urge to fall to her knees in front of her. “You’re stunning.”

  Elise’s smile turned almost shy, but her movements were far from tentative as she eliminated the space between them once more. She flicked open the top of Corey’s jeans and let them fall to the floor, evening the clothing score between them. Then, locked in a kiss once more, they tumbled onto the bed. For a moment they were all skin and flexing muscles as they groped and gripped one another in all the ways they’d longed to do for months. Corey sucked on Elise’s neck while she cupped her bare breasts in both hands. Reaching for more, Corey tried to sneak a hand around Elise’s back and under the straps of her bra, but Elise had other plans. She captured Corey’s hands and tried to pin them above her head.

  “That’s not going to happen,” Corey said, and freeing one arm caught Elise’s hip, then tried to spin her onto her back. They both wrestled, giving and taking what they wanted, a blur of hands and mouths as they rolled over, trading places several times before Elise established herself on top, straddling Corey’s waist.