Chapter 32 #3
After the announcement that the time allotted for the warmup was out, those of us still on the ice skated to the entrance in the boards.
I looked out over the crowd until I found the collection of red jackets and the waving Canadian flags from our teammates.
Just above them my eyes landed on my parents and my brothers.
Somehow my mother looked more nervous than I did.
My father and Levi gave me unconvincing smiles.
Isaac was the only one who looked calm, which surprised me.
I waved at the group and smiled. I hoped they could tell that I was feeling okay.
Mark handed me my skate guards as soon as I got off the ice. By the time I had slipped them on and reached for my headphones, the announcer was announcing the first pair of the final flight. “Skating for the United States of America, Hannah Williams and Benji Coleman.” The crowd roared.
I turned my back to the ice as I shoved my headphones in my ears. I didn’t want to see how they did. I had less than fifteen minutes until I had to get ready for my turn on the world stage. Until then, I needed to go through my pre-skate routine.
We didn’t go very far. I rocked from side to side, halfway dancing while I listened to my music.
When I heard the noise of the crowd over the music, I resisted the urge to see what was happening.
I would turn my attention to Dom every time, watching his glazed-over face as he moved his body in the directions he would have to for our skate.
He took the better part of ten minutes to ignore the world.
I could tell when he was done, because it was the first time he truly saw me standing in front of him since we’d gotten our skate guards on.
It was also the first time that he started to look slightly nauseous.
Shit, I thought. Now was not the time. I needed to make him laugh.
The first thing that sprang to mind was copying his ridiculous smolder from earlier.
His lips pressed together as he tried to choke back a laugh. “Did I really look like that?”
A wave of relief washed over me. I put my phone and my headphones in my pocket. “Presumably. Irresistible, huh?”
“Definitely,” he said. “But I think we should stick to the original choreography today.”
I gave an exaggerated sigh. “If you insist.”
Olga stepped towards us and beckoned us forward. “It’s time.”
Evgenia Levedeva and Pavel Sorokin were sitting in the kiss and cry, chests heaving as they tried to catch their breath.
I forced myself to look away from them. Did they look happy?
Had they done well? There was nothing to gain by trying to figure it out.
I shouldn’t even focus on their score. Yet, with the booming voice announcing their score to the crowd, I couldn’t ignore it. They’d had a clean skate.
I swallowed hard and instinctively looked for Dom to see if he had registered the number. He was already watching me when I made eye contact. He winked. “It’s reachable.”
It was, but we needed to leave everything on the ice.
His hand tapped mine just as our names were announced. Then, instead of pulling it away, he opened his hand for me to hold.
“Together?” I asked.
He gave me a single nod. “Always.”
We raised our hands in one fluid motion and waved to the crowd with our free hands.
Then, instead of separating, we skated to centre ice together.
Together, we could do this. Everything about this program had been designed to play to our strengths.
If there was ever a time to feel comforted by that fact, it was here.
We settled into our starting position and locked eyes. I watched his shoulders move ever so slightly as he breathed and matched my own breaths to his pace. We were one person on the ice. The more synchronized, the better.
My body moved as the first note rang out.
I didn’t need to think about what I was doing.
We had run through our program countless times.
I would probably still be able to remember all the steps when I was eighty years old.
The only thing that got through to me other than the music and what Dom was doing beside me was the occasional roar of the crowd.
As we moved into the step sequence, our eyes met. The crowd knew what was coming and their excitement was palpable. Dom could feel it too. His eyes were alight. Their excitement was feeding him.
By the time he lowered me from our last lift, I was smiling.
We had made it through the entire program with no mistakes.
The atmosphere had pushed us to be better than we had been all season.
They had cheered us on through every element and, as Dom and I waved to the crowd after the music ended, I saw our teammates and family standing and going crazy for us.
Olga and Mark spoke over each other as we put on our skate guards. “Brilliant. You were absolutely brilliant!” Mark exclaimed while Olga said, “Listen.” She put a finger to her ear. “You earned the applause.”
I started to make my way to the kiss and cry, but Dom wrapped his hand around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. He pulled me into my bone-crushing hug. With his cheek pressed against my hair, he murmured, “They're going to give us our personal best short program score. We were on fire.”
“We will see soon enough,” I said. If we had a personal best, we would be very close to Evgenia and Pavel’s short program score.
Possibly a little higher, possibly a little lower.
Either way, it would put us in an excellent spot going into the free skate.
With a clean quad twist, we would have the potential to score several points higher than them. We already had in the team event.
Our arms brushed together as we rushed to catch up with Mark and Olga. Olga looked at us quizzically, but I said nothing. Mark gestured for us to take our places in the centre of the bench. “Sit,” he instructed. He clasped his hands in his lap. “They will have your score any second now.”
Sure enough, the announcer’s voice boomed out less than a minute later. “The score for Pierce and Hughes,” he said.
I rested my hand on Dom’s knee and gave it a squeeze.
He placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed back.
Neither of us dared to breathe for the seconds before the number was said.
I tried to remember exactly what Evgenia and Pavel had in the second before the announcer added, “They are currently sitting in first place.”
I covered my face with my hands. Dom let out a whoop and pulled my body against his chest. He placed a kiss on my temple, which was one of the only parts my hands didn’t cover. “First,” he whispered. I doubted even Mark or Olga could hear him.
We were in first. No matter how the last two skates of the night went, we would go into the free skate in a position to earn a medal. After we had struggled all season to get the damn quad twist, that could be the key tomorrow. It would certainly give us some breathing room.
I uncovered my face and looked between Dom, Mark, and Olga. Their faces reflected everything I felt. This was possible.