“Sorry.” Amber shrugged. “But Garrett’s a hottie.”
I shifted, drawing my knees up under my chin.
“Hold still,” Bella told me.
Frannie scooted closer. She’d barely put on any makeup, beyond a few flicks of mascara and tinted moisturizer that emphasized her freckled complexion instead of concealing it. The things you can get away with when you’re sixteen. Her mother was the CEO of some global pharmaceutical conglomerate, which made her family even richer than Josie’s, but she struck me as a sweetheart rather than a spoiled brat. Maybetoosweet to survive this cutthroat sport.
“I’ve always wondered,” Frannie said. “Are you and Garrett, like…”
“We’re just friends,” I said.
She frowned. “Really? But you two are so perfect together.”
“He’s a great partner.”
The sort of answer I would give in an interview—but it was also the truth. The two of us had an easy rapport from the start, and I knew plenty of people assumed we were dating. We denied it, until Sheila told us not to bother.Let them think what they wantwas her advice.
So we let the rumors slide. Sometimes we even played into them, accidentally or on purpose—walking around arm in arm with the natural ease of people who spend hours a day touching, snatching food off each other’s plates at post-competition banquets, gushing to reporters about how much weadoredworking together.
Part of me was always waiting for Garrett to make a move. Back in Nagano, Bella had said he liked me—and he did seem to enjoy mycompany. He’d never dated anyone in the skating world, and we didn’t have time to meet many people outside of it.
I could have been disappointed, or even insulted. But it was a relief, in a way. I wasn’t sure how I would react if Garrett tried to take things between us to the next level. Better to keep going the way we were, as good friends and colleagues. I knew all too well how wrong a romance between skating partners could go.
Since I’d been such a poor source of gossip, the girls turned their attention to Bella. She was nearly finished with my hair, coiling the plaits and pinning them at my nape.
“What about you, Bella?” Amber said.
“Yeah, what about you?” Chelsea waggled her freshly plucked eyebrows.
Bella stiffened, tugging the braid so tight that my scalp stung.
“Come on, spill,” Frannie said. “Cause we all know there’s nowayyou and Heath Rocha are ‘just friends.’ ”
Chapter 32
“Heath and I are skating partners,” Bella said. “That’s all.”
Her voice had taken on the same smooth, political tone Sheila adopted when asked any question she’d rather not answer. But was Bella uncomfortable because the girls were talking like this in front of me, or because there was some truth to what they said?
“Bullshit,” Amber said. “We’ve all seen the way he looks at you.”
Frannie nodded. “And those pictures of you two in Japan! The cutest.”
“We were just sightseeing.”
“Sure.” Chelsea winked, blue glitter eyeshadow flashing. “Sightseeing.”
I’d seen the pictures. Everyone had. Heath and Bella posing outside the Senso-ji Temple, his arm looped around her waist. Smiling and sipping bowls of matcha in the Meiji Jingu Inner Garden. Dancing cheek to cheek under the neon glare of the Harajuku district as street musicians strummed hand-painted guitars.
I refused to believe they were doing anything so mundane asdating.No, this was the Lin PR machine hard at work. Bella always insisted she had no time for boyfriends. She’d stayed a virgin until eighteen, when after a ruthlessly analytical comparison of potential candidates, she had a one-night stand with a French skater at the 2003 World Championships. To Bella, sex was a box to check off, another task to put behind her so she could focus on her real priorities.
“Those pictureswereadorable,” Josie said, looking pointedly my way. “Especially the one where Heath was standing behind you and—”
“That’s enough,” Bella snapped.
Josie’s mouth clacked shut. The other girls fell silent too. In the background, Madonna sangI’m sorryin several different languages over a throbbing dance beat.
“It’s getting late.” Bella pushed one last pin into my hair. “We should get dressed.”
