He handed the notes to the driver and got out. Rebecca went to open her door, but Luke was there, hand outstretched. She took it without hesitating and the driver went on his Elton-loving way. She fumbled for her keys, using the distraction to push the words out of her throat.
‘I didn’t see all that, not at first. The hair, sure, but he wore a helmet a lot. Everyone we knew had weird hair. It was good at first. We gelled.’
Luke shuddered. ‘Go on.’
She reached into her bag to try to locate her keys again. Her hands were freezing already.
‘He was committed to the slopes, just as much as I was. We ended up hanging out with the same people, entering the same competitions, it just evolved from there. He wasn’t as bad as he is now. He hates me, so he’s only showing his evil side. I broke our dream.’
‘You didn’t break anything, Rebecca. You had an accident. Was he not there, after?’
She thought back to that day on the slopes. Half delirious with pain, she’d heard him on the phone. Not to her mother back home, or any of their friends. They would have been calling too, given that her fall from grace had been televised for the world to see. They’d have seen it all, in instant replay. Her making the jump, landing, and her ski breaking. Turned out, it had been damaged in flight. Unchecked, the moment her body weight met the snow, she was out for the count.
Robbie was on the slopes, right there with her, but he wasn’t calling her mum. He was calling the agent they shared, telling them to make the most out of this ‘opportunity’. She couldn’t blame her agency, that was what they did. They did their job, controlled the damage, spun the stories, kept the offers rolling in. But when she’d heard him like that, she knew the engagement they’d decided to keep under wraps till after the competition was over. It hadn’t even been a week. She’d only worn her ring once, that night he proposed on the Whistler mountainside. The next day, she’d given it back to him for safekeeping whilst they flew to France. The rest? Well, that was bone-shattering history. She’d never seen the ring again, and she’d never asked to.
‘He was there when he thought it was a blip. He thought I’d maybe broken a leg, be off the circuit for a season. He was hoping to squeeze a quickie wedding in between. My agent, our agent, he was great. Matt handled my hospital treatment, got me the best. Listened to me when I said I didn’t want bedside YouTube videos with updates for my “fans”. There was no point to it anymore, I wasn’t that person.’
She felt herself weaken, and sniffed.
‘Hell, I was never that person. I didn’t care about the fancy merchandise, or the money. I just wanted to be the best at what I loved.’
‘How bad was it?’ Luke’s voice was low, caution whispering out of the question.
‘I didn’t let anyone touch me for the first two weeks. Not when I was awake, anyway. The pain meds were intense.’
She had a flashback of waking in the middle of the night, the pain in her body making her stir. Pushing what she came to call the bye-bye button. You pressed it, you went bye-bye.
‘Holly came to see me, and she told me I stank.’ She laughed, but it turned into a little sob. ‘She washed me, sorted me out and told me to pull myself together.’
‘She’s a good friend,’ said Luke as Rebecca pulled her keys out and unlocked the café door. They walked inside and she breathed in the scent of home, relaxing just a little. She could hear Luke locking the door behind her. ‘Are you recovered now?’
She didn’t answer for a moment, and he slowly walked closer to her. His footsteps were the only noise now. He put his hands around her, his front pressed tight to her back. She took his hands and wrapped them around herself.
‘Yeah, all better. The doctors did an amazing job.’ That was true, other than the scars. The roadmap of her crash and burn. ‘Few pins and plates here and there.’ Not to mention the physical therapy till she was sick, her muscles burning from the effort of keeping her body going. Working half arsed wasn’t an option if you wanted to get back to normal. Whatever normal passed for these days. Robbie wasn’t there for any of that.
‘Do you still ski?’
She didn’t give an answer, and he didn’t press for one. He dropped a kiss onto her cheek.
‘I think we drank all the wine …’ He whirled her around, dropping one hand so that she twirled around him. ‘Or I would suggest a nightcap. For our shot nerves.’ He looked down at his wrecked shirt. ‘And to celebrate our victory at Fight Club.’
Rebecca put her finger to her lips, looking around the empty café. ‘What happens in Fight Club, stays in Fight Club remember?’
He drew her to him, his feet moving into a slow step.
‘Dance with me then. Let’s shake the night up a bit.’
She laughed, throwing her head back as he picked her up off the floor and spun her around. Slowly releasing his grip on her till their eyes met, he lowered her till her feet were just brushing the floor.
‘It’s weird Rebecca, but so far, this week with you has been one of the most exciting of my life.’
‘From what I’ve heard, that doesn’t take much.’ He stuck his tongue out at her. ‘Thank you for tonight, for standing up for me.’ She patted him on the shoulder. ‘It felt nice to have someone there, having my back.’
‘Even though I pissed in your bin?’
She laughed like a drain, making him chuckle.
‘My new bin is nicer, thanks for that.’
‘I haven’t seen that yet.’ He touched his cheek to hers, dancing to a beat that they both seemed
