Page 47
My turn.
“Yeah, we’re ready,” I said. That was it. That was all I had in me. My heart got all fluttery. I’d done a thousand of these interviews, but today the words weren’t there. I wasn’t even sure how much of me was in the room.
The quiet stretched.
A smile usually fixed things. I tried that and said, “I can repeat Jen’s answer if you want. She said it better, though.”
A few people at the back of the huddle laughed.
Okay. I could do this. Make a joke. Give them the usual lines. Get out before the whole mess inside my head started to leak through the cracks.
A man behind Kendra raised his hand. “Graham Pike, TSN. Camden, you’ve always been considered stronger in free dance. How confident are you about keeping pace with the more technically focused teams tomorrow?”
Keep pace?
“We wouldn’t be here if we couldn’t keep pace,” I said, holding onto my smile.
“Of course.” The guy’s smile was polite and rehearsed. “But Hasegawa and Ward are widely expected to lead after the rhythm dance. Do you see tomorrow as an exercise in limiting the gap before the free?”
Ren’s name tripped all my thoughts. Less than an hour ago, he’d been naked, braced over me, peering into my eyes like I was the only person in his world. Then he’d barely looked at me after the shower.
I smiled harder. “No. I see it as an exercise in beating them.”
Casey snorted beside me.
Zoe nudged my wrist in a little warning to tone it down.
Garaham smiled back. “So, you believe you and Phillipps are technically equal to Hasegawa and Ward?”
“Zoe,” I said. “Is standing right there. You can ask her.”
His attention shifted. “Zoe?”
She didn’t miss a beat. “We believe in our program. Ren and Tamsyn are exceptional technical skaters, but so are we. Tomorrow’s result will come down to what happens on the ice.”
Perfect answer. Calm, confident, no drama. I should let her do the talking from now on.
“Aiko Nakamura, Kyodo News,” a new face said. Local person, but dressed similarly to the woman from the disciplinary panel. All business. “Mr. Navarro, there were reports this morning that you were selected for anti-doping testing. Do you have any concerns about the result?”
The entire vibe in the room changed. A few heads lifted. It got real quiet, real fast.
My smile held. “No, why would I?”
“Can you confirm you were tested?”
“What? Sure, I peed in a cup. Very glamorous. One of the great Olympic moments nobody tells you about.” I let my smile loose, let it do its thing. See how relaxed I am, nothing to worry about here.
A few in the room laughed.
Miles did not.
Aiko looked down at her notes. “So, you would describe the test as routine?” she asked.
“Everyone gets tested,” I said.
She looked up. “Not everyone was tested this morning.”
My smile tightened while my heart rate picked up. “Guess I’m special.”
