Free Fighting for the Edge by Jennifer Comeaux

tomorrow.”
    “Did Chris move in yet?” Marley asked.
    Aubrey peered over the half-wall in her bedroom that matched the one in the loft. Chris had gone downstairs and was headed toward the front door. She sat on the double bed and tucked one leg underneath her.
    “Yeah, he just got here, too.”
    “Are you doing anything fun for your first night in the city?”
    “He wants to get a Christmas tree for the apartment.”
    “That doesn’t surprise me. He loves everything about the holidays. His constant humming of ‘Jingle Bells’ will drive you nuts.” Marley laughed but sounded somewhat wistful.
    “Do you miss him?”
    Marley didn’t answer at first, and a strange feeling settled in Aubrey’s stomach. “We were together so long…” Marley finally said, and after another pause she added, “I made the right choice for my career. I needed to put skating first, and it’s paying off.”
    It sure was. Until the current season, Marley and Zach had been firmly ranked behind Aubrey and Nick, but that fall they’d won gold and silver at their two Grand Prix events, just as Aubrey and Nick had. The gap that had previously existed between the two teams was gone.
    “Nationals is going to be intense,” Aubrey said.
    “I know. I just want us all to skate our best.”
    Aubrey knew Marley meant it because that’s the type of person she was. It’s why she had to keep all her focus on Nick and herself, concentrate on their skating and nothing else. She couldn’t think about the fact that she needed to defeat one of her best friends to win the national title.
    The front door slammed, and Aubrey looked over the wall to see Chris carrying two boxes through the living room.
    “I should get back to unpacking. I still have to unload the rest of my car.”
    “Have fun tree shopping.”
    Aubrey thought she heard the melancholy tone again. She ended the call and went out to the stairs but had to wait for Chris to reach the top before she could move any further. There wasn’t enough room for both of them plus the wide boxes in Chris’s arms.
    He aimed for his room and didn’t ask her about the call, so either he didn’t hear the ring or he really was finally moving on from Marley. And that matters because…?
    She quickly jogged down the stairs and made her way outside, zipping her fleece jacket closed. She’d found a spot for her Jeep right across Beacon Street, but she knew that wouldn’t always be the case. Street parking in the busy neighborhood was going to be a royal pain.
    She began hauling her belongings inside the brownstone, and Chris ran back out to help her carry the piles of clothes and boxes of shoes and accessories. They had to make seven trips before they emptied the Jeep.
    “You do realize you didn’t move to China.” Chris laughed at the stack of boxes filling Aubrey’s room. “It’s only an hour and a half to the Cape if you forgot something.”
    “I’d rather have it all with me so I don’t need to keep running back there.”
    “We can unpack later. Let’s go get the tree.” He slapped his hands together.
    “Alright, alright. Keep your pants on.”
    Chris coughed. “I could make a crude comment, but I’ll refrain in favor of politeness.”
    She laughed. “Touché.”
    Chris called Aunt Debbie as he and Aubrey climbed into his truck, and she rattled off directions to a tree lot in nearby Allston. Debbie was Em’s family, but Aubrey had known her so long that she called her aunt, too. Aunt Debbie and Uncle Joe owned the Beacon Street apartment, and they’d told Chris and herself to call them anytime they needed help. Of course, Chris considered finding a Christmas tree a dire situation.
    They followed the easy directions and found themselves in a large lot with row after row of lush firs. Up and down each row they wandered, passing up what looked like perfectly fine trees to her. She bundled her knit scarf tighter around her neck and huddled her chin against it.
    “What’s wrong with