Taking the Ice (Ice Series Book 3) (6 page)

“I still pinch myself every time we compete because I can’t believe I’m really skating with you.” He traced his fingertips lightly under my jaw. “My dream girl.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and placed a whisper of a kiss on his lips. “It’s all been real, but it’s felt like a dream.”

“And it’s far from over,” he said. “I’m counting the seconds until I can get out there and skate this hot flamenco program with you.”

The huskiness of his voice sent a shiver through me, and I just about forgot the magnitude of the event. Sergei broke the spell when he cleared his throat.

“Time to go,” he said.

The four of us walked through the tunnel and waited as the previous team spun into their ending pose. I took off my jacket, and Em gave my back a once-over for any makeup smudges. Josh pulled me into one more hug, and we stayed in the embrace until we received the signal to take the ice.

As soon as we removed our guards, the audience erupted with cheers. Goosebumps shot up all over my skin, and my heart thumped hard against my chest. I pushed off from the boards and took long, deliberate strokes.

While the score was read, Josh skated to my side and grasped my hand, and we glided over to Em and Sergei. The crowd had quieted for the score, but was now in full frenzy mode, yelling and waving signs of support. I took a tiny sip of water to wet my dry mouth, and I intertwined my fingers with Josh’s, holding on as tightly as I could.

Sergei leaned forward so we could hear him over the chaos. “You have a connection no other team has. Focus on each other, and you’ll make it all happen.”

Josh and I bobbed our heads and skated to the end of the rink for our introduction. The booming cheers drowned out the pounding of my pulse in my ears. I looked up at Josh, and he squeezed my hand and mouthed, “I love you.”

I smiled and exhaled the long breath I’d been holding.

Here we go.

Chapter Five

S
URROUNDED ON ALL SIDES BY OVERWHELMING
love from the crowd, Josh and I skated to center ice and tensed our bodies for our opening pose. Josh stood behind me, and we turned our heads slightly toward each other without making eye contact. I wished I could see the sureness in his eyes one last time, but I couldn’t budge with the music about to start any second.

The quick strum of the guitar began, and I remembered the advice Em had given me at the hotel. Josh stroked my arm, sparking the fire inside me, and I zeroed all my focus on the heat and the energy between us.

Our eyes met as we took our initial steps across the ice, and I saw how intensely Josh was locked in on me. With the strong guitar beat guiding us, I felt completely inside the program already. Josh reached for my hand, and we sped toward the triple twist, our blades whooshing in unison.

I drifted closer to him, gliding on a back outside edge, and he clutched my hips and rocketed me into the air. I stretched my legs into a split and then quickly pulled my body into a tight coil, twisting three times. As I came down from my high, Josh caught my waist and returned my feet effortlessly to the ice. The audience’s cheers sounded far away as I kept my eyes on Josh’s, continuing to live in the little world of just the two of us.

We had to turn away from each other to set up for the side-by-side triple Salchows, and I felt the connection to Josh slip away. My heart raced in double time as a blast of reality hit me. I hadn’t landed a clean Salchow all week.

You have to get this. You HAVE to make this happen.

We curved toward the judges, and I fought against the panic seizing my muscles. Pushing off from the ice, I spun three times, but the ground was coming too fast. I hadn’t jumped high enough. My right blade hit before I could open up for the landing, and my stomach dropped as I felt myself leaning off balance. I splayed my arms wide, but I couldn’t stop myself from falling.

Oh God, this isn’t happening.

A hush fell over the crowd, followed quickly by applause of encouragement. The sting of the ice made me bounce right back up, and I looked to Josh, who was perfectly upright and holding his hand out toward me.

“Stay with me,” he said.

I took his hand and refocused on the determination in his eyes. We were at a critical moment, where I could either let the mistake shake me or I could blow past it as if it had never happened. Our dream was hanging off the edge of a cliff by its fingernails.

I knew exactly what I had to do.

I had to
fight, fight, fight
every second for the rest of the program.

With the fire back in my step, I followed Josh’s lead into our footwork sequence. We mirrored each other’s steps with crispness and ease, giving every movement the fierceness Em and Sergei had taught us. We finished with a tight set of twizzles and then powered forward to the setup for the throw triple flip.

Josh moved behind me, and we sailed backward in a straight line, his hands on my hips. I felt his strength in the curl of his fingertips, and I felt my own deep within. I jabbed my right toe pick into the ice, and Josh winged me into the air. Three turns later, I came down with a clean landing, not a spray of ice to be found.

The music slowed a bit, and we whirled into our side-by-side spins. Since I had the louder voice of the two of us, I was in charge of calling out “Change!” when we had to switch positions during the spins. Josh heard my cues, and we stayed exactly in sync through each variation. The crowd suddenly sounded louder as we regained speed and stroked around the corner of the rink.

Josh swung me up over his head, and I got a clear view of the fans beating their hands together for us. All the faces whizzed past me and then turned upside down as I twisted backward in the lift. Josh held me up by just my hip as he rotated over the ice, his feet turning swiftly and smoothly, and a roar went up when I flipped over for the set down.

I pressed my palm to Josh’s chest, and his heartbeat pounded in time with mine. We shared a lingering, smoldering look, and I arched my back and pivoted down into our last element, the death spiral. As I rose to my feet, Josh hooked his arm around my waist, and we stood nose to nose, our lips so close to touching. The final notes of “Nyah” trailed away.

Josh gazed into my eyes and didn’t let me go even as the audience showered us with applause. So much adrenaline was still coursing through me, and I leaned into Josh and kissed him. He wrapped me in a hug, and as I slowly caught my breath, the magic faded and a heavy weight sank upon me. The performance had been strong, but I’d made an error that would definitely cost us.

We bowed to all four sides of the arena and skated to the boards hand in hand. Em gave us a smile, but I saw the worry behind it.

“I’m so proud of you,” she said as she embraced me. “You fought back so hard.”

Sergei said the same as we hugged and stepped up into the kiss and cry. He and Em flanked Josh and me on the short bench, and I watched my failed jump replay in slow motion on the monitor in front of us. My hands balled into fists.

That damn Salchow.

Josh touched the small of my back and bent his head to my ear. “Jump or no jump, we killed that program.”

The monitor showed a close-up of us during the footwork, playing off each other with flirtatious smiles. Had we dazzled the judges enough to keep us in the running for the top two spots? Since we’d skated in an early group, we were going to have to wait over an hour for the final result.

“The score for Courtney Carlton and Joshua Tucker,” the announcer began.

I dug my nails into Josh’s thigh and stared at the TV screen.
Please don’t bury us.

“The score for their short program — sixty-five point two five. They are currently in first place.”

Sergei patted my knee, and I let out a tiny exhale. Considering the huge mistake I’d made, the score was pretty good. But none of the major contenders had skated yet, so we likely wouldn’t be in first place for long.

We moved backstage for a series of interviews, and by the time we finished we’d been bumped down to third place. We changed out of our costumes and went upstairs to watch the final group, specifically Roxanne and Evan.

As we got quick hugs from my parents on the concourse, a horde of fans approached us for pictures and autographs. I appreciated their support, but I was having trouble putting on a genuine smile. Inside I was only getting angrier with myself for letting nerves overpower me on the jump. No way could that happen again. We were in a situation where we had to skate perfectly in the free skate to have any chance of moving up.

“Steph’s in Section Twenty-Two,” Josh said as he looked at his phone. “She said she’s by herself. My parents are somewhere else.”

That was all I needed to hear to follow him to her seat. Stephanie might not be the most sympathetic person regarding my mistake on the ice, but she wouldn’t berate me like Mrs. Tucker would. I couldn’t avoid Josh’s mom forever, but I was going to stall as long as possible.

Stephanie waved us into two empty seats beside her, and she gave us both hugs, mine more a courtesy.

“Well, your dress looked fabulous,” she said. “I hope you’ll get a chance to wear it again.”

The slight snarkiness to her tone actually made me smile. Stephanie had come a long way in accepting me as Josh’s girlfriend and partner, but she couldn’t stop the attitude from coming out every now and then.

“Did you ditch Mom and Dad?” Josh asked.

“They were arguing about dinner later, and I was so over it. It’s no wonder they couldn’t agree since they barely talk to each other.”

Her mouth turned down, and I thought about my own parents and how easy their relationship was. They didn’t lead an exciting life like the Tuckers did, but they enjoyed each other’s company and hardly ever fought. I had the total opposite from Josh in parental role models.

The six-minute warm-up on the ice ended, and we all put our attention on Roxanne and Evan striking their opening pose. For two-and-a-half minutes I watched them conquer each element, though not with the expert unison Josh and I had shown. They finished with their arms open to the audience and huge smiles on their faces, and the uneasiness in my stomach grew as I added up the points in my head. Their score was going to be massive.

I couldn’t stand to look as the numbers came up on the video board. I didn’t have to because Roxanne’s shrieking and fist pumping told me the story. They were seven points ahead of us.

“She needs to calm the hell down.” Stephanie glared at the kiss and cry.

Even in her bratty days, Stephanie hadn’t ever made a spectacle of herself when the score was announced. Roxanne was acting like the competition was over.

“Anything can happen in the long,” Josh said.

“Exactly,” Stephanie said. “You can make up seven points. They’re going to crash and burn on the quad, and there’s nothing special about the rest of their skating.”

The next team took the ice, so the conversation halted, but I kept silently running the numbers, thinking back to our season’s best score versus Roxanne and Evan’s. We’d topped them by seven points before, so doing it again was very possible. We only had to finish second to make the Olympic team, but I really wanted to win on our home turf and prove we were worthy of all the attention we’d received.

And I didn’t want that one stupid jump to be the reason we lost the title.

The remaining three teams didn’t crack into the top of the standings, so we were still in fourth place when the final leaderboard flashed on the screen. Josh and I headed back downstairs to draw for the free skate start order, and he pulled me aside before we reached the media room.

“You’ve been so quiet,” he said. “Don’t keep beating yourself up over the Sal.”

“It’s just so freaking frustrating. Everything else was the best we’ve ever done. If I’d landed it, we’d be in first for sure.”

“We’re still in this. We just need to start with a clean slate at practice tomorrow. Today is done and all that matters is getting ready for Saturday.” He gently squeezed my shoulders. “Are you with me?”

I flashed back to our performance and the similar pivotal point I’d encountered when my butt had hit the ice. I’d made the right decision then and I had to do the same now. I had to stomp out the regret and only look forward. It was the only way we’d have any chance for greatness.

“Always,” I said.

He hugged me to his side and kissed the top of my head as we entered the room where all the other pairs had gathered. We would be in the final flight of four teams on Saturday, so we had to wait until almost the end to pick our start order number. Josh had drawn the optimal last spot four years ago for Stephanie and him, so I let him try to replicate that when our names were called. He rubbed his hands together and reached inside the bag, and I crossed my fingers and watched his face for his reaction.

He smiled.

YES.

He held up the number, which represented the final spot in the order. We would close out the event and leave the lasting impression on the judges, and the crowd would be totally worked up and ready to explode by that point. It was all set up for us to have our shining moment.

We just had to deliver.

Chapter Six

W
ITH THE TEMPERATURE NO LONGER AT
brutally-cold level, Josh and I decided to walk from the arena to the nearby North End for dinner. Stephanie joined us but was on her phone with a work issue during the half-mile trek to Boston’s neighborhood of all things Italian.

I wheeled my skate bag across Salem Street and stopped in front of L’Osteria on the corner. I’d eaten there a few times and knew it would have vegan options for Stephanie.

“Is this place okay?” I asked her as I pointed to the menu next to the door.

She paused her conversation and took a quick glance. After a nod of approval we all went inside, where the stark contrasting warmth had me tearing off my coat. We sat beside the windows, Josh and I on one side of the table and Stephanie on the other.

“You’d think I’m the boss and not the intern,” she said as she placed her phone on the table. “The assistant to the designer I’m working for is so clueless. I don’t know how this guy finds his way to the office every day.”