And the reward would come when she won the gold. She knew that.
But still, her mother wasn't allowed in the village, and what she didn't know, she didn't know.
They opened the door to their apartment. It was spacious and lovely, with cream-colored decor, a living room, kitchen and two queen beds in the large bedroom.
"This is awesome," Lisa said. "And the living room has a fold-out sofa. You can even stay here if I have a guy over."
Amber laughed. "Good to know."
"Seriously. And who knows? You might even be busy with some stud of your own and I'll be bunking on the couch."
Highly unlikely, but she wasn't going to spoil Lisa's grand plans.
"Come on, let's unpack and go check out who's here."
"Okay." She carried her luggage into the bedroom and set it down.
This time would be different. She was determined. And she was so happy Lisa was her roommate again. If anyone knew how to have a good time, it was Lisa.
Amber had worked her ass off the past four years. She intended to show that on the ice. She was disciplined and ready.
But when she wasn't performing, she intended to party. Or, at least, learn how to party.
She had to start somewhere. She was twenty-four years old and it was time to start living.
TWO
THE ACTION WAS ON AT THE CLUB TONIGHT. WILL walked in with a bunch of his teammates, along with his new roommate, a Swedish snowboarder named Elias, who was totally up for having a good time.
It was great to have a club at the village. The committee always did a great job of making sure the athletes had entertainment without having to go far. There were restaurants and music venues open every night, along with the club where everyone could meet up, enjoy music--but without alcohol, which wasn't allowed in the village. Not that you couldn't get it or bring it in if you knew the right people or knew how to do it, but it wouldn't be served in the club or at the dining hall. Which didn't bother Will in the least. He didn't plan to drink much. Boozing it up before competition started would only leave him hungover and sluggish and that would affect his game play.
He knew some athletes could party from the start of the games until well after the finish, and still perform at ace capacity. And Will could party as well as the rest of them, but he took it easy during the season and he intended to pace himself here.
"Let's get drinks first," Elias said.
Will nodded and they all made their way to the bar. It looked like a lot of athletes had arrived today, because the club was full.
"Shots?"
Will arched a brow at Ivan Petrov, a fellow hockey player. "What did you do, Ivan? Smuggle in vodka?"
"You know it."
He wasn't at all surprised. "A little early for shots, don't you think?"
"Never too early for shots. Warm you up."
Will laughed. "I think I'll just have a soda."
"I'm in for shots," Elias said.
Elias and Ivan did shots, while Will and the rest of them opted for sodas, juice or water. Then they made their way around the club, stopping to talk to people they knew. The advantage of having been to the games before was that Will knew a lot of people, so he'd lost sight of his group by the time he'd finished catching up with several guys from the bobsled team he'd friended four years ago.
Which was fine. He knew he could easily find his friends again. He wandered around, checking out the tables to see if he could spot the guys.
Instead, he spotted Lisa Peterson, a snowboarder he'd met during the last international games. Lisa waved him over.
She got up and hugged him. "Hey, Will. So glad to see you again."
"You, too. I'm happy you're here. How's the knee?"
"All healed up and ready to kick some ass."
"Glad to hear it. You as hyped up and ready to go as I am?"
"You know it, buddy. Oh, Will, this is my friend, Amber Sloane. Figure skater. Have you met her before?"
He hadn't, but damn if she wasn't fine looking, with long wavy blond hair and amazing blue eyes. "I haven't. Will Madigan."
Amber stood and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Will."
"He goes by Mad Dog when he's on the ice," Lisa said with a wide smile.
"I see."
She didn't even ask why. Everyone asked why. She was so formal. So incredibly shy, too. Wasn't she just the sweetest thing he'd ever seen?
"Where are you from, Amber?"
"Long Island."
"I'm from Chicago."
"I know. And you play for the St. Louis Ice."
Maybe that's why she hadn't asked about the Mad Dog thing.
He arched a brow. "Are you a hockey fan?"
"Yes."
Still wasn't much of a talker. He was used to overconfident women, not ones who barely said a word. But there was something about Amber that intrigued him.
"Oh, I see someone I have to say hello to," Lisa said. "I'll be right back. Good to see you, Will."
"You too, Lisa."
Amber looked like she wanted to sink under the table, so he motioned to the chair. "Mind if I sit with you?"
"Oh. Sure."
"Are these your first games, Amber?" he asked.
She looked down at her water glass, the one that looked as if she hadn't even taken a drink out of it. "No, actually. It's my third."
"Your third? Really? Wow. So you're a veteran."
"A veteran. Old, by game standards." Her lips curved and oh man, did that ever transform her face. She was beautiful, but with a smile? Damn stunning.
"You're hardly old. What are you? Twenty-three or so?"
"Twenty-four." She swept her finger around the condensation of her glass. "In the figure skating world, twenty-four is ancient. My biggest competition this year is seventeen. Trust me, I feel every bit of that seven-year difference."
"Damn. That must weigh on you. There's so much pressure to perform in so many of these sports, to be at your best every minute of every day. It's no wonder there's so much burnout. At least it's that way in hockey. I always feel that grind to be the best. It has to be the same for you, right? Those young kids coming up all the time, trying to shove you out of the way, so they can be the next big star."
Amber was shocked that Will was so perceptive, that he'd picked up right away on the high pressure of her sport. "It can be brutal."
"So why push yourself and come back for more? Did you medal previously?"
She nodded. "Bronze the first time, silver the second."
"Ah. I get it. You want the gold."
"Yes."
"The one advantage you have over them is you've done this before. You've felt that pressure in venues like this where they haven't. So go kick your competition's ass and get it."
"I intend to."
The one thing a person who wasn't a competitive athlete never understood was that need to win. Will understood. Everyone here understood. That's what she'd always loved about these games, about staying in this village. She was surrounded by people who got it, that burning desire for gold. That and she was away from her parents--from her mother--who had put unrelenting pressure on her every day of her life.
She had always been motivated to win. She could push herself to do better every time she was on the ice.
But, to her mother, she had never been sharp enough. Whatever jump she'd done hadn't been high enough or angled correctly.
She had never been good enough for that gold, according to her mother.
She loved her mother and she knew her mother loved her. But being here, away from her, was the best vacation ever. Her coach pushed her, of course, but it was different. He wanted what was best for her. And when she skated well, she knew it and so did her coach.
With her mother, nothing she ever did on the ice was right. Her mother constantly berated her for what she did wrong. Years of that had worn her down, had made her feel that she'd never be good enough for the gold.
Which was partly the reason she had come b
ack again this time, why she had worked so damn hard to qualify. Part of it was because she wanted that gold medal. The other part was to prove her mother wrong.
She was good enough. This was her year and everything was going to go right.
"I can't believe we didn't run into each other four years ago," Will said.
"Yeah, funny that." Except she'd seen plenty of Will four years ago. How could she not? Good looks, oozing charm and women flocked to him as if he held the secrets of the sexual universe.
And he'd never once noticed her or even realized she existed. It had been like she was invisible. Which wasn't a surprise. All she'd done was practice and perform, then hide in her room. She'd never hung out in groups. Lisa had dragged her out to eat, but when it came time to party, she'd begged off, claiming it wasn't her thing. In reality, she'd so wanted it to be her thing.
But she was older now and this time she was trying to be braver. Which was why she had ventured into the club with Lisa and now found herself trying oh so hard to make conversation with Will Madigan, who likely thought she was the most boring person he'd ever met.
Come on, Amber. You can do this.
"So . . . what about you, Will? I know the US hockey team won the silver last time. You back for the gold, too?"
He smiled and everything inside of her quivered. "Hell, yes. I was lucky to be selected. We're all really damn lucky to be on the US team."
"Awesome. But no break for you."
"Trust me, I'd rather be here than taking the two weeks off while the games are going on. I skate all the time. It's my job. This is like a fringe benefit."