Page 127 of Crashing into Love

“Drew, our yells won’t make it up that far.”

Drew smiled down at their tiny genius, who was now nearly eleven and going on forty.

Gia had already been accepted to every college she’d applied to. While it had mostly been up to Selma to pick because Gia was still so young, the three of them had visited a few campuses together, and Gia had been most excited about attending the University of British Columbia, which was one of the best universities in Vancouver and in all of Canada, too. People sometimes referred to it as one of the Canadian Ivy League schools, and it also happened to be a top research university around the world, with one of the lowest acceptance rates in Canada. The other important part was that Gia would still get to live at home while attending a great school. Selma and Drew had also talked about Drew moving to Canada for work until they could figure out their next step, so Drew had accepted a job as a coach for Team Canada junior snowboarding. She’d been offered jobs in the States, too, but for now, her heart was in Vancouver.

Selma was behind midway through her race so far, sitting in third place, with a fourth-place racer right behind her, and there was a moment when Drew worried that she wouldn’t be moving on to the final. She yelled Selma’s name in support, and Gia echoed it, despite knowing that her mom couldn’t hear her. Drew held on to Gia’s hand and probably squeezed it a little too tightly as they all watched Selma break away from the rider in fourth place and join the front of the pack. Drew still wasn’t sure Selma would make it, but she should’ve been sure because this woman might be a better boarder than Drew now. Selma took it easy at the end, only needing to come in third to advance, but she moved up to second and landed safely.

“Mom!” Gia yelled.

Selma rushed over and kissed Drew while Gia hugged her around her waist.

“What was that, hotshot?” Drew teased.

“She clipped me. I was lucky enough to stay upright.”

“Not luck; that’s skill, baby.” Drew kissed her again. “I love you. Congratulations!”

“Love you, too,” Selma replied. “You realize what this means, right?”

“No clue. What on earth are you talking about?” Drew joked.

???

“This is weird,” Andy noted as they all stood there. “I did not have me standing up here with my ex-girlfriend and her current girlfriend and us all fighting for gold.”

“Well, you should have, or you haven’t been paying attention,” Selma suggested. “No matter what happens…”

Drew winked at her. That had been their motto for the past several months: no matter what happened in this race today, they had each other. It didn’t matter if one of them won, both, or neither; they’d still be leaving here together.

“No matter what happens,” Drew replied and pulled down on her goggles.

Selma did the same. Once everyone was ready, they took their spots. The German was in the first gate. Selma was next to her. Drew and Andy followed. Italian and Polish boarders rounded out the final.

Drew took her deep breath, bent over, and held on, waiting. This was it, her last race at the Olympics. After this, she’d still race professionally for a bit, but she’d be starting her job in a couple of months and would likely stop racing regularly after that. For quite some time, she’d worried that she wouldn’t be ready, but she knew now, before her final Olympic race, that she was. Not all pro athletes got to choose when they retired, and she got to be one of them, so she’d give this course her all, and, hopefully, at the bottom, she’d find out that she’d be going home with a medal.

She took off, along with the rest of them, and made it through the first berm. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the Italian boarder hit it poorly and topple slightly. The racer wasn’t out, but she’d be behind now. Drew took the lead into the first turn, and she could feel her girlfriend behind her. She loved that. She loved racing with Selma. It made her better.

When she moved over for the next turn, Drew heard something behind her, and it took everything in her not to turn her head to check on Selma. She held strong, though, because she knew Selma would want her to. Then, as she prepared for the jump, Drew got a glimpse of red with her peripheral vision. Team USA was in blue, so it wasn’t Andy. Italy was in blue and white. Poland was in mostly white. It was Selma rocking her Canada red, and she was still alive in this race.

Drew allowed herself a small smile and made her next turn, still holding on to the lead. When her eye caught blue, she knew that it was Andy who was now even with her. Drew needed to get some space, so she got as low as she could, going into the next jump, landed it perfectly, and noticed there was no more blue but red again. Drew turned her head slightly and saw Selma there. They were neck and neck, with only one turn and the final jump to go.

Drew didn’t know where anyone else was now. For her, there was only Selma, and she knew that Selma wasn’t going to let her win without a fight, just like Selma knew Drew wouldn’t let her win, either. They made the last turn with Selma just behind her. Drew knew her girlfriend was drifting off her now, so out of the turn, she shifted wide, giving Selma some extra wind to deal with as they both raced for the final jump. When Drew was up in the air, she couldn’t move her head to check her standings because it could hit the wind and cost her a microsecond that she’d need in the end, but she knew Selma was right there beside her, a few feet away.

Drew landed, hearing the snow crunch beneath her board and feeling the hit throughout her whole body, and then angled herself just right and crossed the finish line, not knowing if she’d won or come in second. She just knew that she was going home with a medal, and when she saw the red uniform next to her, she knew that her girlfriend was, too. Drew tossed her goggles off and lost her helmet right after. They both landed in the snow somewhere before she hurried over to Selma and lifted her into the air. Selma’s goggles were gone, too. Her helmet was in the snow, while she was still in the air.

“We did it!” Drew yelled as she lowered Selma back to the ground and kissed her.

“Babe! You did it,” Selma said after the kiss and held on to Drew’s cheeks.

“Yeah, we did.”

“No, you.” Selma pointed up to the board. “Babe, you did it.”

Drew saw her name next to the number one, Selma’s next to the number two, and Andy’s name next to the number three. She’d just won an Olympic gold medal.

“I love you,” Selma said. “I’m so proud of you.” She kissed Drew on the cheek.

“I…” Drew met her eyes. “We went one-two.”

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