Taking the Ice (Ice Series Book 3) (8 page)

“Congratulations, by the way,” he said.

That didn’t seem like what he’d wanted to tell me, but I smiled anyway.

“Thanks. I saw you guys had a good comeback.”

He shrugged and looked down at his sneakers. “It wasn’t our best competition.”

“Josh!” Stephanie marched over to us and gave me a scowl. “What are you doing? We have to go.”

“Oh… yeah… I forgot.” He turned back to me. “We have a meeting.”

My heart sank that he was leaving just as we’d actually started talking. Should I hint we could talk more later? How was I going to smoothly pull that off? And with Stephanie giving me the stink eye?

I chickened out and said quietly, “Have fun.”

They walked away, and Josh glanced quickly at me over his shoulder. Stephanie didn’t give me another look (nor had she congratulated me, but that didn’t shock me). She was so easy to read. Unlike her brother.

I picked up my plate and plopped the slice of cantaloupe onto it. Standing so close to Josh had made me wonder for the millionth time what kissing him would’ve been like. He was so quiet and gentle that I imagined his kiss would be soft and sweet. The perfect first kiss. Not like the one my Homecoming date had given me. He’d practically cracked my teeth he’d crashed his mouth into mine so hard.

Why was I even still thinking about this? It had taken Josh and me two years to say more than five words to each other. At the rate we were going, we’d be thirty by the time we got to first base.

I laughed to myself as I remembered how frustrated I’d been. If only I’d known then how incredible our first kiss and every kiss after that would be. All the years of waiting had just made them sweeter.

Josh hung up his call and put the phone on the desk. “Sorry, it was a scheduling issue.”

“That’s okay. It gave me time to take a trip down memory lane.”

“Before the phone rang, I was about to say I saw the lady at breakfast again the next day, and driven by my massive crush on you, I asked her if she’d send me a copy of the photo. I told her we were friends but didn’t get to see each other much since we lived on opposite sides of the country. I’m not sure if she bought it or if she thought I was a total creeper.” He laughed.

“That is amazing. I can’t believe you’ve had this picture for ten years.”

“I kept it in a safe place where Stephanie would never find it. Whenever I’d choreograph programs in my head and I’d imagine skating them with you, I’d look at it and remember how you felt next to me. I never gave up on the dream of having you that close to me again.”

The lump returned to my throat, and I curled my fingers into Josh’s hair. Who needed a ring when I had more love than I could ask for? I kissed his lips, smiling against them.

“Closer than you could’ve ever imagined,” I said.

He grinned and smoothed his hands around my waist. “If I’d known at sixteen what we’d be doing now, I would’ve self-combusted.”

I giggled. “So, why did you wait until now to show me the picture?”

“When we became partners I got the idea to pair it with our photo from our first event, and then I decided to wait and give it to you at our last nationals. I thought it was the perfect symbol of how far we’ve come and how anything is possible.”

I picked up the frame and smiled as I looked again at the photos. “And you knew I needed that reminder now more than ever.”

“Is it helping?” He hugged me against him with one arm.

I connected with his eyes and gave him another kiss, and then I slipped off the bed with the frame in hand. I placed it next to our Daruma on the nightstand and went back to Josh, straddling his legs so we sat face to face.

“I love all the symbols you’ve given me that remind me to have faith. It’s been really hard for me to forget all the disappointment I’ve had, but I’ve realized one very important thing.” I tugged lightly on his T-shirt. “You and I were always meant to be here, so the disappointment happened for a reason. And I know with all my heart that tomorrow we are going to do everything we can to make our dream come true.”

Chapter Seven

B
REATHE.

It was crazy I had to tell myself to do that basic function, but my nervous energy had thrown everything out of whack. Just seconds away from the six-minute warm-up, I stood in a crowd of my competitors, smothering from sparkles. I closed my eyes and shut out the noise and the shininess. Breathing slowly in and out, I concentrated on Josh’s strong hands on my shoulders and the warmth of his presence behind me.

My eyes opened to see a TV camera pointed at my face, so I stared straight ahead at the ice. I couldn’t think about the millions of people watching at home, wondering if I was going to finally reach my seemingly unreachable star.

“Would the following couples please take the ice…”

Josh and I were announced last since we were skating last, and the audience saved their loudest and longest cheers for us. We flew around the rink in our back crossover warm-up, weaving between the three other teams. Josh popped me into the air for our triple twist, and the cheers fired up even louder.

We slowed to find a pocket of space for our next element, and I looked around us. In our teal costumes we stood out as a splash of color among all the black and white worn by the rest of the group. I knew our skating would stand out, too, as long as I found a way to land the triple Salchow, the jump I hadn’t done cleanly all week.

Gliding on back edges, we slipped between two teams and completed a huge throw triple flip. I held the landing a few extra moments, branding the feeling of success in my mind. I needed to duplicate that feeling on the Salchow.

We skated past Em and Sergei, and their encouraging nods and smiles stayed with me as we built up speed for the side-by-side jumps.
They know you can do this. YOU know you can do this.

I pushed off the ice and spun tightly in the air. All my muscles responded without any thinking on my part, and before I knew it my right blade had connected with the ice. My knee wobbled with excitement as I realized I’d conquered my nemesis, but I stayed upright.

Yes!

Josh was smiling beside me, and I put my hand in his with a flourish. We stroked along the edge of the rink and stopped in front of Em and Sergei. As we sipped from our water bottles, Sergei said, “That was perfect.”

“I knew I could do it.” I slapped the boards.

“And you’ll do it again in the program,” Em said. “Just as easily.”

“Should we run through the toes next?” Josh asked.

Sergei nodded. “Then the loop.”

We set our bottles on the boards and reentered the busy scene on the ice. When two other teams moved out to talk to their coaches, we took the opportunity to carve a path across the rink for our side-by-side triple toe-double toe combination. We picked into the ice and rotated in sync on both jumps, landing with matching clean edges. We followed that with a solid throw triple loop, and I was practically giddy. I wished we could skate first even though last was the premium spot. I didn’t want to lose the empowered feeling I currently had while waiting for everyone else to skate.

As we closed in on the final seconds of the warm-up, we practiced one of our lifts and finished with our pair spin. The announcer directed, “Couples, please leave the ice,” and I let everyone else go ahead of me through the door. I wanted to feel the ice under my feet as long as possible.

Josh and I snapped on our guards and followed Em and Sergei backstage to a tucked-away nook. Roxanne and Evan went in the opposite direction but not before Roxanne gave me one of her bug-eyed death stares she usually reserved for her partner. If she thought she was being intimidating she was wrong. She just looked ridiculous.

Em helped me into my jacket so I could stay warm, and I started my standard pacing routine. Josh stood in one spot, jiggling his arms and legs ever so slightly, as he lost himself in his thoughts.

I began visualizing our program, and I could hear the music of Muse as if there was a stereo in my head. The actual recording we were using for our free skate was very special. The Cape Cod Symphony had performed the piece for us with Josh accompanying them on piano. Not many skaters in the history of the sport could say they’d skated to their own musical performance. Since Josh had also choreographed the program, his creative touch was all over it.

When I’d mentally run through the whole program, I flexed my knees and turned to Em and Sergei. I had to start chatting before my mind went places it shouldn’t go.

“I talked to Liza earlier, and she sounded a little shaky,” I said.

“I could see her tightening up at practice yesterday.” Sergei shook his head. “Even though she has a huge lead, she’s worried about putting up a big score tonight. I keep telling her not to think about keeping pace with the Russian girls. Just skate.”

“That’s really the best advice for all of us.” I smoothed my fingers over my braided bun. “Just skate.”

“It’s the only thing totally in your control,” Em said.

“I remember you telling me that at my first nationals.”

She smiled. “Some pearls of advice are timeless.”

Had it really been thirteen years since I’d done this for the first time? I still felt like that twelve-year-old girl in these moments before taking the ice. So vulnerable and so terrified of making a mistake. Even though I had every intention of fighting my butt off the entire four minutes, ice was slippery and there were no guarantees of success. The perfect jumps I’d done in the warm-up seemed so long ago now.

“Just a few more minutes,” Sergei said as he looked at his watch.

Josh and I didn’t have to speak. We came together like magnets and put our arms around each other. Usually we shared a few words, but today our embrace spoke for us. We held on tight, giving each other the silent assurances that only our love could inspire.

When we finally let go, we began the slow walk to the ice. Every step we took raised my adrenaline level, and I felt like I had been plugged into an electrical socket when we stepped out of the tunnel. Roxanne and Evan were still skating, so we hung back and faced away from the ice to stay focused on ourselves. I couldn’t help but hear the loud applause at the end of the program, though.

Em took my jacket, and I rubbed my bare arms and patted my legs.
Get me onto the ice. Let’s do this.

I kept my head down so I wouldn’t see Roxanne’s face, but I heard her squeal as she and Evan met their coaches at the door. A larger part of me tensed, and I hurried to take off my guards and set my blades to the ice.

Josh and I glided separately around the rink as Ellie Goulding’s “Burn” played over the sound system. There was no way I wouldn’t hear Roxanne and Evan’s score when it was announced, no matter how hard I willed myself to tune it out. I just had to do my job and remember what Em and Sergei had preached.

Just skate.

The music quieted, and I quickened my strokes, knowing what was coming. The announcer read the score, the very
large
score, and the tightness in my stomach curled into knots.

Holy crap, they must’ve landed the quad and everything else.

I’d never expected to hear a number that big. It completely changed the game. We were down to fighting for second place and the one remaining spot on the team. My legs quivered, and I glanced at Josh as he skated to my side and took my hand.

He looked stunned, too.

Double holy crap.

His fingers squeezed mine with added pressure as he guided me over to Em and Sergei. At least they were still smiling and didn’t seem fazed.

“Just like the warm-up,” Em said. “Light and easy.”

I closed my eyes and tried to believe it could be that simple.
Heart, please stop beating so fast. Be calm!

The crowd was anything but calm. Their noise rang so loudly I couldn’t hear what Sergei said as Josh and I skated away. I’d looked forward to feeding off the crazy energy, but it was just making me shakier. I didn’t feel in control of my body. Not the optimal situation when about to start a four-minute program.

We moved into our opening pose, standing back to back at center ice, and my heart beat up into my throat. I took a long swallow, but I couldn’t push down the panicky sensation.

You gotta get it together NOW.

Right on cue, “Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3” began, and I was thankful our choreography didn’t start until a few beats into the song. I breathed along with the slow piano notes and then stretched my right arm out to the side. Josh mimicked me, and we joined hands and turned to skate side by side.

Our contemporary dance movement took us across the ice and into the triple twist, where Josh’s normally steady hands fumbled my waist on the catch. I sucked in a breath and exhaled when he set me down. His face was frozen with surprise, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. If we couldn’t execute our money element perfectly, how were we going to get through the hard stuff?

The hardest happened to be next, so I dialed up the image of the perfect Salchow I’d done in the warm-up.
Don’t think. Just jump.

My body had memorized how to do the Salchow, but my limbs were so freaking jittery. Josh and I spaced apart to prepare for the setup, and I struggled to gain control of my nerves. With a quick push off the edge of my left blade, I sprang upward and pulled my arms in to rotate. I immediately sensed myself off axis and tried to correct my position, but I landed with a forward tilt, all my momentum threatening to take me down in a face-plant. I quickly shot my hand out and palmed the ice to brace myself and keep my body upright.

Next to me Josh was doing the same thing, and I marveled at our unison even when making mistakes. I doubted the judges would be as impressed. We couldn’t have any more glaring errors or—

STOP. You know what you have to do.

I thought of our Daruma and keeping our focus trained on a positive outcome. Regardless of how rattled we felt, we had to give every drop of effort we had in our bodies. There could be no regrets.