Chapter 9
Dom volunteered to be the one to run out to check that everyone was there when we finished warming up.
He seemed to think it was the gentlemanly thing to do.
I had long since gotten over any modesty issues I may have had.
Walking around in a dress with a skirt so short it barely covered my butt had become routine years ago.
But if he felt good about being the one to go out and talk to people, so I let him.
He was dressed in an old costume as well, but it looked much more reasonable than mine with its black pants and long-sleeved shirt.
True, the shirt was silk and nothing he’d wear in real life, but it wasn’t so out there that there wasn’t somebody who would wear it as part of an everyday outfit.
When Dom got back, I had already tied up my skates.
I could do it in my sleep, so it hadn’t taken long.
I was waiting for him near the exit, skate guards still on to protect the recently sharpened blades I was balancing on.
He tied his skates up as fast as I did, the black boots perfectly moulded to his feet after all this time.
He pushed himself up and walked over to stand beside me.
“You ready to go show off?” he asked quietly.
His dark eyes focused on a spot in the distance.
“Of course,” I said, even though my stomach was doing flips. Normally, this only happened when there was a panel of judges analysing my every move. We had trained long and hard, so I had no doubts about our ability to skate clean. If I could just shut my emotions off, things would be great.
We walked out together and stood by the boards.
We could have stepped onto the ice then, but we didn’t.
Neither of us needed to say that we wanted a second to wait.
It was one of those things we just knew about each other after all these years.
I scanned the small crowd that had gathered to look for everyone who had said they were going to come.
My friends were sitting on the bench furthest back, talking to Dom’s three friends.
They didn’t interact very often, but they’d been around each other enough to have a small sort of rapport.
Without comment, Dom and I slid our skate guards off at the same time.
I unzipped my jacket and placed it off to the side.
Usually I would hand it to Olga or Mark, whoever was closest, but they weren’t around now.
It didn’t matter if the jacket got dirty this time, not really, so it was fine that nobody was around to take it from me.
I still didn't set foot on the ice, waiting for him to complete our ritual. Just when I was starting to wonder what he was waiting for, the back of his hand bumped against the back of mine twice. I couldn’t remember when the routine had started.
It had been too long. It was definitely before our first international competition, back when we were on the junior circuit, but I couldn’t be more specific than that.
Without a word, we grasped hands and stepped onto the ice.
Even though our audience comprised solely of family and friends, we still raised our clasped hands above our heads in one fluid, practiced motion and waved with our other hands.
This wasn’t officially part of the skate, but it was as much a part of the routine we’d have to perform in front of judges as the rest of it.
I didn’t have to look at Dom to know that he had plastered his performance smile on his face, too.
We separated our hands and took our own paths to centre ice.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him shaking out his legs, while I did some deep edges.
It only took a few seconds to arrive at our starting spot.
We slipped into our well-practiced positions easily.
One of his hands settled around my waist, while the other slipped into mine.
Our eyes met while we waited for the music to start.
My heart pounded, the adrenaline of performing this for the first time in front of people making the silence seem to last an age.
The corners of Dom’s mouth twitched up slightly.
I knew that small smile anywhere. It was his way of telling me without words that we had this.
Finally, the music for our free skate started a second later. Normally, this would come a day after the short program. When we'd discussed tonight, Dom and I had both said we wanted to do it first. To break the ice, so to speak.
It felt like the wait was a lot longer than usual.
It had been long enough that my anxiety started building.
But as soon as the opening notes of the music played, my nerves disappeared.
I didn't even think. I moved on instinct. We had done this so many times that I didn’t need to think about the steps or what I was supposed to be doing with my hands.
I gripped Dom’s hand tighter in my own and we started moving.
The opening seconds of the program were easy, getting us warmed up.
A touch of our free hands here, a spin there.
Then he took the lead, guiding me by the hand as we made sure our speed was just right.
Even a fraction of a second off in timing by either of us could be disastrous, especially when we were hoping to land a quad twist in competition.
We skated backwards together, then his hands settled around my hips and I gently placed my fingertips against them.
My knees bent to prepare for the twist and then, with his help, I was up in the air and flying.
We hadn’t mastered the quadruple twist yet, so we did a triple that night. I landed effortlessly, keeping my hands up above my head so I wouldn’t touch him on the way down. The thrill of flying through the air, even for such a brief moment, was unparalleled.
The rest of the program went by in a blur.
We had a minor hiccup with our side-by-side jumps, with a hand touching down on the ice.
That would be a deduction in competition, but everything else went smoothly.
I grinned at Dom before turning to everyone in the stands.
We were both breathing heavily as we skated closer to where everyone was.
We’d have a better conversation when we were at dinner, but for now we would need some time to catch our breath.
Alexis and Kendra were near the boards on the other side of the glass.
I’d watched them walk down when they saw me skating over.
Alexis’s nose was pink in the cold arena air and she was bundled up in a jacket and mittens.
I wasn’t surprised that she seemed cold, but at least she was also smiling. “You did so well!”
“I’m glad you guys could make it,” I replied. We had to raise our voices to be easily heard through the glass.
“The bus didn’t show up when it was supposed to,” Kendra said, dark curls bouncing as she turned to Alexis, who was nodding, “but we made it!”
“Barely,” Alexis said. “We hadn’t even gotten to catch up with your parents when Dominic came in and told us you guys were ready.”
It always seemed odd to hear Dom called Dominic.
His family and I had always called him Dom, so I rarely heard his full name outside of our introduction in competitions or with people who didn’t know us very well.
“You’re coming for dinner too, right?” We wouldn’t all fit in my parents’ car, and they’d be much slower on the bus.
“Zain is going to give us a ride,” Alexis said, looking over her shoulder at Dom’s friend. When she turned back to me, she mouthed, “He’s hot.”
I laughed. “Do you want me to see if he’s single?” I lowered my voice enough that I wasn’t sure that she could hear me at first, but her wagging eyebrows assured me that she had.
Brandon walked down from the spot he had been sitting then. “I knew you were great, but it’s so much faster in person than it looks on TV.”
People had always praised Dom and me for our speed, but I knew the feeling of surprise.
The first time my parents had bought me tickets to see a show made up of retired skaters when I was a kid, I couldn’t believe how fast and talented everyone was compared to what I was used to.
On TV, they were so tiny that it didn’t seem like they could move that fast. With the scale of a full-sized rink, it was much different.
“Thanks,” I said, sliding my feet backwards and forwards with a nervous energy that was building in anticipation of the next skate. Now that it was only minutes away, I felt like I needed to keep moving. Maybe then the criticism wouldn’t be able to reach me.
A couple of moments later, Dom stopped short beside me, a dark figure coming into my peripheral view. “Almost ready for the next one?”
Turning from my friends, I nodded. “We probably should get it started.” Maybe it was like ripping off a bandage where it was better to do it as quickly as possible.
I couldn't imagine it could be worse than the knowledge that it was coming.
Turning back, I said, “One more short skate, then we can talk.”
I skated to our starting position, keeping a couple of extra feet of distance between Dom than I than usual.
He looked at me curiously as we got settled, but didn’t push.
He must have known what was on my mind. The fear of doing the routine had never been so bad for him.
He had never been very serious with Emma, and she didn’t seem to have nearly as much jealousy as Brandon.
Now that he didn’t have somebody he was dating here, all he had to worry about was his parents.
His friends may tease him or joke around similarly to the way Alexis and Kendra would treat me once we were away from Brandon, but at least there wouldn’t be any judgement from them.