Dedication Takes a Lifetime

I twined my fingers with Shaun’s as we stood at the edge of the stage, waiting for America’s most influential woman to introduce us.

“So next we have a couple who’ve been battling injuries and the tabloids for two years. This dream snowboarding duo has been followed by the American public to the degree of a TomKat or a Brangelina. Please welcome Casey Burgess and Shaun White!”

Applause greeted us as the producer told us to go, and we headed onstage, waving to the crowd. Oprah hugged me and shook Shaun’s hand, motioning for us to sit on her couch.

“Welcome to the show, guys.”

“Thanks for having us,” Shaun answered, a pro at this.

“Now, Case, I wanna talk to you,” she said, turning her body towards me.

Oh, God.

“You had an injury during a practice run at Shaun’s, right before the Winter X Games. What was that like?”

“Super stressful. I mean, I don’t like not being able to compete when I’ve got a medal to defend, and I had decided to try the halfpipe in addition to snowboard cross and slopestyle. So there was a lot of stuff I had to miss.”

“And when you did commentary on the women’s snowboard cross, did that affect you?”

“Yeah, actually. When you’re down there, racing, you don’t really get a sense of the danger. But up there, you see how close you are to winning or wiping out. It really hurt my confidence.”

“Yeah,” Shaun piped up. “When she got her cast off, I wanted to race her, you know, for fun, but she refused. I got her to confess it was fear, and I offered to help her regain her confidence by essentially teaching her how to ride again, but she just wasn’t ready. And I respected that.”

“So, Casey, are you riding yet?” Oprah folded her hands in her lap.

“Yeah. He got me out on a bunny hill near my house, and the rush was just so nice to feel again.” I brushed hair out of my face. “It’s addicting.”

A small round of applause came from the audience. I smiled, as did Shaun.

“And the tabloid battle, do you wanna talk about that?”

“Yeah, I’m fine with that.”

“Okay, then. After the break,” she said into the camera, “we’ll talk to Casey and Shaun about their issues with the tabloids.”

I relaxed for a moment, enjoying how nice she was and how easy it was to talk to her. Shaun kissed the side of my head and I smiled. “You’re doing great,” he told me.

“I don’t know what those tabloids are talking about,” she said. “You guys look very happy together.”

“We are,” Shaun confirmed with another grin.

The cameraman told us we were going back on air. He counted down from five, and I put on a nice smile.

“Okay, so we’re back with Casey Burgess and Shaun White, who’re going to talk about their battle with the tabloids. So, Casey, you posted a statement on your website, saying, quote: ‘The only source you should trust is me, Shaun, or one of our close friends… Any other information should not be taken as true.’ Why did you decide to lash out at the magazines?”

“It started out innocently enough,” I began to explain, looking down as Shaun placed his hand on my leg. “Once we started getting calls at six, maybe seven, in the morning, I started getting angry. Then headlines proclaimed that we were on the rocks or cheating on each other, and I started reading. With headers like that about you, how could you not? They twisted our words around and manipulated things to make the taglines seem true. That was it. I wanted to clear the air – I’m an athlete, not a celebrity. We didn’t belong there.” I took a deep breath. “Then they started attacking me individually, and that’s when the hate mail started arriving.”

“And Shaun,” Oprah said, turning her attention to him. “Most guys around your age would bolt then, you know, to appease the public and stop the tabloids. Why didn’t you?”

“Casey and I have been through so, so much together,” Shaun said, giving my leg a little squeeze. “She’s the first girlfriend I’ve ever had who understands how much time snowboarding takes. She gets what the job requires and she doesn’t care. She’s my good luck charm; she’s one of my best friends. You don’t just abandon someone like that, especially when you love them as much as I love her.” He blushed and looked over at me.

A resounding “aww” came from the crowd as I sat there, staring at him open-mouthed. After all the awkwardness my unplanned confession had brought on, he had finally said he loved me, too – on national television.

“Well,” Oprah said, “as you can see, they are definitely not on the verge of breaking up. Thanks for coming on, you guys.”

Once we were backstage, I threw myself at him, lips moving quickly in a frantic kiss.

He pushed me away. “Whoa, Case, what was that all about?”

“You love me,” I said, snaking my arms around his waist. “Did you plan on that or did it just… happen?”

“It just came out.” He turned the color of his hair. “I was talking and after I said it, I was like, ‘yeah, that’s true.’” He rested his cheek on my head. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it.”

“It’s okay, you’re slow sometimes, I understand.” I smiled and poked his side, causing him to squirm away.

“And I’m sorry,” he continued, “that I let things get awkward between us. It’s a shock…” His face gave away the fact that he was stressed, so I ran my fingers through his soft hair. He closed his eyes and hummed contentedly for a moment before continuing to ramble. “I didn’t wanna lie to you or lead you on or break your heart and… I’m not good at handling situations like that, you know?”

I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “Don’t worry, Shaun. I love you. So much. And I knew that if I was patient, you’d discover you loved me. It was too obvious.” I wrapped my arms back around his waist and pressed my face into his chest, inhaling. “You just needed to man up and see it for yourself.”

“You know me better than I know myself; how do you do that?”

“No clue - I’m good, I guess?”

“That you are, Casey Erin Burgess,” he said before kissing me. “That you are.”