Fat snowflakes drifted from the sky outside, and I tried to catch one on my tongue as I waited alone in the still night. I guess I could have waited inside, but after all day on buses, I wanted the fresh air. The arena was also strung with gold lights and was clad in wood unlike the typical concrete suburban hockey arena. Everything at Pinnacle looked upscale.
“Sam, right?”
I retracted my tongue and found Theo watching me with an easy grin, his cheeks dimpled. The snow caught in his damp, light brown hair. “Merry Christmas! Is Henry here too?”
“No, he’s in Toronto. And yeah, I’m Sam.” I extended my hand, and we shook. “Merry Christmas. Great show!” Our breath clouded in the crisp air as we spoke.
“Thanks. I hope Henry’s taking a break from training over the holidays?”
“Nope.”
Theo frowned. “He’s going to burn out if he’s not careful. Or injure himself.”
What did Theo care? “That would work out pretty well for you.”
He seemed to shake off any concern. “Nah. I’d rather keep on beating him fair and square. No offense.”
I had to laugh. “None taken. I know Henry can beat you next season at the Olympics when it counts.”
Theo flashed his dimples. “Guess we’ll find out.”
“I was surprised to see you here. Aren’t you afraid you’ll burn yourself out performing twice a day for two weeks? It’s a tough schedule.”
“Are you kidding? Performing is the best part of skating. If I could do this and not spend all my life in the practice rink, I’d be set.” He shrugged. “But you don’t get to headline shows unless you win big competitions.”
“Fair. There wasn’t anything closer to home?”
Theo shuddered. “Being as far from home as possible was the whole point. Besides, it’s gorgeous here.”
I remembered belatedly that his mom was a notoriously overbearing skating mother. Luckily for Henry, our parents were chill. They let him do his thing and cheered him on—and had spent a lot on his skating over the years—but they just wanted him to be happy. With a pang, I missed not being with them on Christmas even though we’d done a big dinner the night before.
I made small talk with Theo, which felt a little disloyal to Henry, but I wasn’t going to freeze out the guy. It was Christmas, and he seemed a little lonely. I almost asked him if he wanted to have a late dinner with us or something, but he left before I could.
Then Etienne appeared, and he grabbed me in a huge hug, almost lifting me off my feet. Laughing, I slapped his back, and amid the fresh smell of the falling snow, I inhaled that faint, familiar rosemary and ocean cologne along with his unique scent. His neck was still damp from his post-performance shower. He squeezed me tightly, the hug going on.
And on. He slapped my back this time. “Merry Christmas, man.”
“Merry Christmas!” Bree exclaimed. She held out her arms, her hair tucked under a purple toque.
I had to let go of Etienne to hug her. It was probably getting weird at that point anyway—we were bros, not long-lost lovers like the ones on that time-travel show Obaachan watched. I hugged Bree and her boyfriend, Tim. He was very tall and quiet, and he adored her. As he should.
I went to grab my bag from reception and said thanks again to Alice. Soon enough, Etienne and I were alone. We followed a plowed walking path through the trees, big snowbanks on either side.
“Wow, there’s so much snow here. Toronto had a green Christmas.”
Etienne grimaced. “It’s not Christmas without a ton of snow. I always hated that in Vancouver. Hey, how’s your grandfather doing?”
“Not bad! Still won’t wear his hearing aids, but he seems happy in the old folks’ home. We brought him over to the rental house for dinner. They all say Merry Christmas, by the way.”
“Same from my family. They went to the beach and are having a barbecue.”
“Cool.” I wanted to ask what they thought about Chloe and Phillipe coming out of retirement, but I wasn’t about to bring that up on Christmas. Etienne hadn’t been up for talking about it the last couple of weeks. I guessed he was processing, and I didn’t want to push.
The path was lit with strings of golden fairy lights wound around wooden railings. I supposed it was like a boardwalk in summer. We passed big cabins with lots of space between them and covered porches. I squinted. “Is that a hot tub?”
“Yeah. All the cabins in Le Bois-du-Nord have them, and the really deluxe ones up on Eagle Ridge and the Skyline.”
“And Spruce Grove?” I asked hopefully.
He cut me a dubious look. “Dream on. Though there’s a communal sauna for each block of cabins. Could be worse.”
Etienne led me off the main path, snow crunching under our boots as we veered deeper into the forest. There were no Christmas lights decorating the staff area, but with the moon reflecting on the snow, we didn’t need them.