Edge of Glory Page 9

  She glanced up as another handful of people walked in. She smiled and waved to Mikael the yoga instructor and his wife, then waited patiently while the doorman she’d hired to work as part security, part coat check relieved them of their cell phones and pointed them to the bar.

  “Keeping an eye on the door?” Holly asked as she sidled up next to her, glass of red wine in hand.

  “I’m the host. I have to be hostessy.”

  “That’s what you kept me on the payroll for, to handle the glad-handing.”

  “Naw, you’re off the clock tonight. No official business happening here. We don’t get many cheat nights, and there will be even fewer in the months to come. You should make the most of your night off, too.”

  “Oh, I plan to,” Holly said with a sly smile. “But I don’t mind mixing business with pleasure.”

  “You do it exceedingly well.” Corey threw an arm around her shoulder. “And that’s why I pay you the big bucks. You get the work done without cutting into my fun.”

  “I’m glad you think so. I used to worry you’d cut me loose as soon as you turned eighteen and didn’t need a chaperone anymore.”

  She laughed, “Yeah well, I still needed someone to drive Mom and Dad’s old minivan while I slept in between races.”

  “The baby blue beast.” Holly joined in the laughter. “With the peeling fake wood on the side, like something out of a seventies porn flick.”

  “Sometimes we used it that way, too.”

  Holly raised her eyebrow. “Maybe you did.”

  “Oh come on. You never made use of the shaggin’ wagon with Nato?”

  “What?” Nate asked, joining them.

  “Nothing,” Holly said quickly. “We were talking about the good ol’ days of being board bums before Corey made the tour.”

  A huge smile stretched his cheeks. “Good times. Who would’ve thought back then that we’d get to stand here now?”

  “Or have first-class tickets to New Zealand for training in two weeks.”

  “No shit,” Corey said. “Remember when we drove cross-country to get to Aspen the first time and we slept in the back of the van?”

  “And you still won gold,” Nate reminded her. “Me, not so much.”

  “Yeah, but didn’t it feel like life couldn’t get any bigger?”

  He tousled her hair. “Why the stroll down memory lane?”

  She shrugged, not knowing the answer. She’d never wanted those days to end, but she was glad to have the best parts of them with her all these years later.

  “She’s killing time until you-know-who arrives.”

  “Who?” Nate and Corey asked in unison, then exchanged a look of confusion and a joint shrug before turning back to her.

  “There.” Holly nodded toward the front door as Paolo walked in.

  “She’s waiting for Paolo?” Nate asked. “He’s more your type than Core’s.”

  “He is,” Holly said with an exasperated sigh, “which is why I’m lucky Corey’s every bit as interested in Elise.”

  “Am not,” she said even as her heart gave a little jump at the sight of her coming into view.

  Both Holly and Nate laughed.

  “Whatever you have to tell yourself, honey.” Holly gave her a little shove toward the door. “But go tell it over there long enough to give me some alone time with Paolo, okay?”

  Corey frowned slightly, but she knew better than to disobey. She didn’t like the implication that she’d been waiting for Elise’s arrival, but she was happy to see her. She hadn’t fully shaken the protective instincts she’d felt while eavesdropping last week, and she’d be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t enjoyed their last few encounters.

  “Hi guys,” she said, meeting them at the door, where the doorman had requested their phones. Paolo handed his over easily. Elise seemed suspicious.

  “I’m going to tag it with your name, Ms. Brandeis, and if you get any calls I’ll let you know.”

  Elise’s elegant brow furrowed. “If I keep it, I’ll know when I get a phone call.”

  “It’s for privacy,” Corey cut in. “It’s cheat night. There’s beer on tap and cigars on the patio. There’s a good chance a poker game might break out, and while I don’t expect any truly illicit behavior, I want everyone to relax without fear of someone filming a YouTube video featuring Team USA stuffing their faces full of wings and betting the house on a pair of deuces.”

  “I appreciate the idea behind the gesture, but I’m an athlete. I’m the one with everything to lose and nothing to gain. Do you think I’m the type to post a cell phone video online?”

  “If I made an exception for you, how could you trust me not to make them for everyone?”

  “Does he have your phone?”

  “Mine and Nate’s and Holly’s, too.”

  “How egalitarian of you.” Elise sounded mildly impressed.

  “It’s a good idea,” Paolo said. “Thanks for thinking of it, Corey.”

  “To be honest, I wish I’d thought of it a few years ago, but once bitten, twice shy.” Then turning to Elise, she added, “Trust me, okay? Also, don’t ever google my name combined with the words ‘hot tub’ or ‘women’s bobsled team.’”

  Elise’s blue eyes widened. “Are you kidding? I never know if you’re kidding.”

  Corey held out her hand. “Hand over the phone, and let’s hope you forget the question by the time you get it back, shall we?”

  Elise made her wait a few more seconds, hand extended, eyes pleading, before she relented and passed the phone over. “I suppose it’s not a bad policy. I have enough to deal with without some amateur paparazzo.”

  Corey slid the phone over to the doorman and nodded toward the bar. “Now with that out of the way, why don’t we find you a nice martini?”

  Corey threaded her way through clusters of people and between a few chairs to the bar as Elise followed closely behind.

  “Actually, I’m pretty picky about my martinis. I don’t usually drink the stuff they keep behind the bar at small hotels.”

  “Are you suggesting you’re a liquor snob?” Corey flashed her a smile, and then before waiting for a response signaled the bartender. “I’d like a dry martini, up. Please use the Plymouth for this one.”

  Elise pushed close enough to lean on the bar and examine the bottle as the young bartender poured. He set the martini glass delicately before Elise, who warily lifted it to her perfectly poised mouth. Corey held her breath watching her sip. She closed her eyes, the corners of her lips twitched up, and Corey exhaled.

  Victory.

  The pride filling her chest might have made her wonder again about Holly’s earlier comment if Elise hadn’t once again fixed her with her blue gaze.

  “Well-played.” She lifted the glass in salute. “And well-researched. I assume you don’t have Plymouth on hand at all times.”

  “Paolo may have dropped a hint or two. Holly has some Malbec in store for him.”

  “Again, nicely done.” She sounded pleasantly surprised. “You’re a thoughtful hostess.”

  “We don’t get to go off-track often. When we do, I want everyone to make the most of the opportunity.”

  “You want everyone to be as happy as you are,” Elise said matter-of-factly.

  “I guess so. Or I at least want to give everyone the opportunity.”

  “A noble pursuit. Most people of your success level would expect to have their wishes catered to rather than catering to the wishes of other people.”

  “Been there. Done that. Believe it or not, it’s not nearly as satisfying. What’s the point of having it all if you can’t share it?”

  Elise let her eyes drift slowly around the room before settling back on Corey more intently. “I find it hard to believe someone like you would lack for people to share things with.”

  She held her gaze before saying, “Having people around to drink my gin and eat my food isn’t the same as having people to share the important things with. It’s entirely possible
to be in the middle of a crowd and still be completely alone.”

  “Corey,” Elise whispered, and for the first time, the sound of her own name twisted in her chest as the two of them hung suspended in that moment with nothing and no one else around. What had made her say something so heavy, so personal, and what had Elise heard in the comment that had frozen even the woman who normally sped over ice? Did she know the feeling? Did she fight it? She seemed more like the type to embrace the prospect of standing on the mountaintop alone. Then again, maybe she’d cultivated that mindset out of necessity. The thought bothered her more than any of the others preceding it. She couldn’t handle the idea of anyone hurting her.

  “Anyway, this is cheat night, not a therapy session.”

  Elise blinked and her smile returned, but only to its polite position. “Right. Cheat night. You have a much more well-developed concept of that than I do.”

  “Basically you start with all the things you normally have to say no to during training, and instead you say yes to them.”

  “Sounds simple.”

  “It can be, or when done right, it can be an art form.”

  “Do tell.”

  “Some people go all in on their big kahuna. They eat the entire pizza or down the whole six pack.”

  “Or eat twelve tacos?” Elise teased.

  “Right. Rookie mistake,” Corey said, inordinately pleased Elise remembered the comment and felt relaxed enough to joke with her.

  “But then you’re stuffed and bloated and feel like you consumed lead. You only satisfied one craving when you had a million different fantasies running through your dreams all month.”

  “And now you have to wait another month before you get to fulfill the others.”

  “Exactly,” Corey said. “You’re a quick learner.”

  “You paint a vivid picture for me.”

  “I could draw you a legit diagram, but it’d be easier to stroll along the buffet.”

  Elise followed closely behind as Corey headed to the far end of a long row of tables pushed up against the wall.

  “Wow,” Elise said as she surveyed the spread. “I’ve been doing cheat days all wrong for my whole life.”

  “I’m not about to tell a woman her business, but yeah you probably have,” Corey said. “But don’t get carried away now. It’s not about quantity. You don’t want to gorge yourself and feel terrible.”

  “I feel you’re going to impart some of your hard-won wisdom on how to avoid that.”

  “Like I said before, I share with my friends.” She paused to see if Elise balked at being called a friend. Instead she sipped from her martini glass and waited for Corey to continue. Pleased by the acceptance of the new label, she pushed on. “When we’re training, we have our goals for healthy eating, and they are different for every athlete, but we all know what we need a lot of.”

  “Lean meats, proteins, whole grains, calcium, vitamins A, C, and D.”

  “Right, things like carbs are a mixed bag based on what we’ve done and what we have to do,” Corey added. “But we also have similar lists of what we shouldn’t have.”

  “Booze, fat, bad carbs, refined sugars.”

  “You see where I’m going here, right?”

  “I do see connections between the list and what’s on the tables.”

  “And what’s in your hand.” Corey nodded to the gin. “That’s your base layer. But aside from not wanting a massive hangover tomorrow, I suggest limiting yourself to one or two of those all night because you don’t want to fill up. Both lessons I learned in Sochi, by the way.”

  “Right. It’s shocking we didn’t run into each other while there.”

  Corey caught the sarcasm of the dig and smiled. Elise’s droll comments probably put a lot of people off, but she didn’t mind having her chops busted by beautiful women. She preferred sass to sycophants any day, another lesson she’d started to learn in Russia. “Anywho, the same premise applies to the food. Variety and moderation.”

  “But aren’t cheat days all about gluttony?”

  “They are, but we’re professionals here, not 17-year-olds on prom night. You can’t blow your wad in the first fifteen minutes.”

  “Seriously, your way with words, have you ever considered a career in poetry?”

  “You never know, maybe I’ll write a self-help book when I retire.” The last word stuck to the roof of her mouth a little bit, but she didn’t want to dwell there. “You can be my first follower.”

  “Please, lead the way.”

  “If we call the alcohol level one, then this table represents level two, high-fat foods. As you can see, we’ve got bacon cheese-burgers, pepperoni pizzas, French fries, buffalo wings, nachos, and so on, but do you notice anything unique about the setup?”

  “They’re all mini servings.”

  “Ding ding, we have a winner. Sliders, small plates, pizza cut in squares instead of wedges, get your fix without filling up.”

  Elise strolled down the line. Same with the bad carbs and sugars. Mini bagels, donut holes, personal cups of chicken Alfredo, cake balls, and kid-size candy bars.

  “When I said a little something for everybody, I meant literally little bits.”

  “Indeed you did. I’m impressed. When you first mentioned this event, I sort of expected a drunken bacchanal, not anything well-planned or tastefully executed.”

  Corey handed her a small lunch plate. “Here’s another pro tip. Use smaller plates. Make a first pass, sit down and enjoy it, then come back for another round or two. Don’t shovel it in. Savor.”

  Elise accepted the plate and started down the line, picking up a slider and a small cup of pasta.

  “And when you’re locked and loaded for round one, I’ve got an Adirondack chair on the back deck with your name on it.”

  “One? Does that mean you aren’t going to join in the revelry with me?”

  She scanned the room once more, trying to hide her pleasure at the invitation. She should probably circulate and say hi to a few more people, but as much as she wanted her guests to be comfortable, this was her night off, too. She’d purposely kept the list of attendees small and low maintenance so she could relax. Plus Elise might need that concept demonstrated for her. She didn’t seem to have much practice settling into the moment. Who was she kidding trying to make excuses? She was going to spend the better part of her evening by Elise’s side, not because she needed to, but because she wanted to.

  • • •

  Elise hadn’t checked her watch a single time all night. Before arriving at the inn, she’d told Paolo she planned to stay only for an hour, but judging by the way dark blue had begun to overtake the last hints of orange along the Adirondacks’ uneven horizon, she’d overstayed her self-imposed limit. Still she made no move to extract herself from the chair her body had molded itself to. She’d probably entered a food coma, or a sugar crash, but she didn’t care. Much to her surprise, she felt full and relaxed instead of stuffed and guilt ridden, and it must’ve shown.

  “You look better than I’ve seen you in years,” Paolo said as he leaned against the porch rail opposite her.

  “Uh, thanks?” Elise said. “I won’t even get mad about the backhanded aspect of that compliment, because I actually feel pretty good, too.”

  “Didn’t I tell you Corey could teach you a thing or two outside the gym as well?”

  “Did you?”

  He laughed and raised his glass of red wine. “I think I did, though at the moment I can’t remember when.”

  She smiled, and sipped from her second martini. She’d followed Corey’s advice on the drink front as well and nursed her first one for over an hour, then chased it with a bottle of water. It wasn’t the way she’d been raised, but then again, she didn’t put a great deal of stock in the way she’d been raised. Corey certainly knew more about taking time off than any role model she’d had throughout her childhood. In her current state, she didn’t mind admitting Corey knew a great many things she didn’t. She wasn�
�t sure how important those things were in the grand scheme, but they’d proven helpful tonight. She intended to say so, but as she turned to the chair beside her, she noticed Corey’s attention focused not on her, or even on the scenery. She stared at a young woman who’d emerged from the French doors.

  “Corey,” she called, “this is awesome! Thank you for including me. I’ve always heard stories about your cheat nights being epic, but I didn’t think I’d ever get invited.”

  “Me either,” Holly said under her breath.

  “Whoa, Tigger,” Corey said, standing up and extending her hand. “It’s no big deal, just a little get-together.”

  Instead of taking her hand, the girl threw her arms around Corey’s shoulders and squeezed. Elise raised her eyebrow over the rim of her martini glass. Despite Corey’s innuendo about her past indiscretions she wouldn’t have pegged her as a cradle robber.

  “You finding everything your heart, or at least stomach, desires in there?” Corey asked.

  “You know I can’t drink, but I’m going to hit the buffet hard,” the girl said. “Also, someone said something about s’mores, right?”

  “Sure thing.” Corey stepped back. “If the fire’s not already going, I can get one started for you.”

  “You can do that? Like now? I want a s’more and you can make it happen?”