(rivals to lovers, small town, sports) [WATTYS 2024 SHORTLIST] (Season 3 coming soon) After a devastating Olympic loss puts her career in a downward spiral, an aging skier returns to her laid-back mountain hometown to rediscover her love of her spor...
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Juniper was still wearing her silver medal when she met Holly for breakfast. She'd come from an early media appearance. Her blonde curls were glossy and her skin glowed, but Holly knew her too well for the makeup to truly disguise the shadows under her eyes.
"Just a coffee for me." Juniper grimaced as she glanced over the menu. "I only got like, two hours of sleep last night. Not sure I can keep anything else down."
"That's what happens when you do shots all night after not drinking for months," Holly teased.
"I'm a fucking Olympic medallist. I'll survive a little hangover." Her big, toothy grin spoiled the grumbly tone. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I remember you ordering a few of those drinks for me."
Holly held up their hands in a not-guilty gesture. "My sister's a fucking Olympic medallist. I'm allowed to help her celebrate her dream coming true."
"Fuck yeah, you are." A smile floated across her face. "If I'm being honest, though, Summer's mostly to blame for the lack of sleep."
A grin cracked Holly's lips, even as an ache spiked through them. They wondered what Eddie was doing right now. "Is Summer joining us?"
"I wanted sibling time."
"We didn't celebrate enough last night?"
"I can always celebrate more." Juniper chuckled through a huge yawn. "But mostly I need you to explain what the fuck you were talking about the other night. You can't say you don't wanna distract me. My race is over. There's nothing to distract me from."
The server stopped to take their order, oblivious to or uninterested in Holly's scarlet cheeks. When he'd taken the menus and gone, Juniper folded her hands on the table and gave Holly a look so direct it made them squirm.
They'd explained the gist of it the other night. How they'd pretended to date Eddie and eventually it had become real. But Holly had glossed over the details, and then Summer had pulled Juniper away, so they had never exactly got to the heart of it. To Juniper's role in why they'd done it.
To the fact it might be over now.
Juniper said, "The part I don't understand is - was everyone in on it? Were Dad and Carla and Gia all lying to me, too? Did they even meet Eddie? Was she ever even in Lovers Gap at all?"
"Of course she was. Didn't you see her post from our weekend at the lodge? It wasn't all a lie." Holly pushed the tip of their spoon away, then pulled it back. "No one except me and Eddie knew it was fake. I mean, Carla found out at Eddie's birthday, but that was right before we talked about it and agreed to date for real, so-"
"Wait, fuck, so Carla did know? She never even gave me a hint."
"I asked her not to tell you," Holly mumbled.
"Well." She made a sound in her throat. "I didn't tell you when Ava tried to kiss me, so I guess we're even, huh?"
The server arrived with their coffees, two little taps and a clink of the sugar bowl. Holly took a sip of their cappuccino. It tasted wrong. They'd got too used to oat milk in their coffee.
