Chapter 1 #2
It wasn’t overnight, but in some ways, it felt like with that first kiss, the world changed. Somehow, Brennan knew exactly what he was doing when he’d paired us together nearly a decade ago. He saw something in the two of us, and without him, we wouldn’t be where we are now.
“We’re going to rock this. You’re going to land the quad, and we’re going to the next Winter Olympics. You and me.”
He gently smoothed his hands over my hair, and I knew the lights reflected off the sheer amount of gel I’d used to keep my wavy strawberry blonde hair in place.
“We’re going to nail the jump and we’re going to medal. We’ve got this,” he said again.
I nodded and swallowed.
The quad.
Only a handful of female skaters had ever successfully landed it and only one has done so on the Olympic Stage.
It was a risk—one that I was a little hesitant to pull off.
Asher and I had done it successfully in practice several times, but the pressure was higher now.
And it was too late to pull it from the performance without risk of a deduction.
The butterflies were turning into angry swarming hornets again, and the terror must’ve flashed in my eyes, because Asher was pulling me against his chest. My arms locked around his waist. I just needed another minute. The waiting was truly my worst enemy. It made the voices loud.
He gave me a squeeze, pressed another kiss to the top of my head and leaned back. He reached up and pressed his finger to the crinkle between my brows. “None of that. We’re going to be amazing. We’re going to nail every move and wow the judges.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, and gave him a smile that I wasn’t sure was entirely convincing and took a deep breath.
His gaze searched mine, looking for the confidence he knew was hiding behind the stress and anxiety and making sure I wasn’t still lost in the fear.
I let out a shaky breath, and squared my shoulders.
His brows raised—a question, and I nodded. He was right.
“You know what I’m going to say.” He grinned.
You’ve got this, Aimes.
The breath I took this time was cleansing and steadying. I met his smile with a real one, a confident one.
His greenish hazel eyes were bright and excited, his nose and cheeks were slightly pinked from the chill in the rink, his hair artfully messy and I just found myself staring at him.
Marveling at how alive he looked in this moment, how ready he was to take this challenge on and win it.
He stole my breath every time, and I wasn’t even sure if he understood the full scope of what I felt for him.
It had been me and him blazing our way across ice and life for so long now—he was my best friend.
The person I called first when I had news.
We saw each other every day, spending countless hours in each other’s company and I hadn’t grown tired of it—I didn’t think I ever would.
There wasn’t a part of me that never wanted to not be around him.
I stared at him because his outfit complimented mine—black pants with a pale pink top, sparkling crystals along the open collar and lapels.
My own outfit was a sparkly pale pink dress, the skirt ending mid-thigh.
There was a sheer cut out along my left side, and crystals galore that spread out from the cut out and over my chest—they spread out down my back towards the skirt.
It’s one of my favorites, and it’s perfect for this dance.
Light, pretty, and romantic. We would be telling a love story—one where he was throwing me into the air and watching me spin around and away, but always coming back.
Brennan didn’t want us wasting our chemistry, knowing full well that audiences and judges ate that element up.
I peeked out onto the rink and watched as Brittney Howard flew across the ice.
If I were still a single skater, she’d be my direct competition.
Her technical skills were just shy of perfect and her coach had relentlessly trained grace and fluidity into her programs. I’d tried early on befriending her—wanting another skating friend outside of Nicola, Louis and obviously Asher, but she’d made it very clear that she wasn’t looking for friends.
And I’d accepted it. I understood the energy and focus it took to be the best, but when I saw her being overly friendly with everyone else who trained at our rink, I’d been hurt.
As her music came to an end, we watched her close out her program and then bow to all sides of the audience before skating off to where her coach waited for her.
Her scores would be high—they always were.
I caught sight of Nicola and Louis, and gave them a small wave and thumbs up.
Louis grinned and waved as Nicola nodded her head in acknowledgement.
Things weren’t the best between us since Brittney’s arrival—tense—but I wasn’t going to be the one to end the friendship…
even if it wasn’t the same as it used to be.
The overhead screen showed Brittney’s face—cheeks tinged a reddish-pink from exertion, her chest heaving and a few rogue blonde pieces of hair stuck to her forehead. Her scores were predictably high and would most likely guarantee her a spot on the next U.S. Olympic Team.
The announcers invited Nicola Camden and Louis Grant to the ice, and I clapped, and Asher whistled. I nudged him with my elbow, and he chuckled.
Nicola and Louis looked good together on the ice. Her brown skin complimented the jewel tones of her costume so well—both vibrant and vivid under the fluorescent lights. She glittered and glimmered out there. She’d added frosty white to her dark plaits, and I envied the effect it created.
Next to her, Louis’ tall build, pale skin and black hair looked almost like her antithesis.
His outfit was just as royally and vividly colored as hers, and I knew that their performance would be outstanding.
In Pairs, they’re technically hard to beat—their precision is incredible.
But while they look good together and can stay in sync, their artistry sometimes lacks.
They don’t tend to exude the chemistry that people wanted and had come to expect in recent years.
It had become wildly popular to romanticize skating pairs—there were whole online fandoms.
I’d seen pieces of this performance, and maybe Asher and I should be worried—it was their best to date.
Nicola and Louis’ music started and they took off, sweeping and circling around each other.
The technical difficulty of the skills they’d included in this program would score them high points.
I watched as they spun out into the middle of the ice and completed their final movements with expert precision as the final notes of their music fell over the crowd.
They bowed a few times before skating off the ice.
Asher wrapped his arms around me, and I grinned when it was announced they scored high.
They deserved it after that performance, and it just meant that we had to score higher.
My smile slipped when Britney headed our way and Asher’s arms fell from around me.
I stood there a little awkwardly when Asher drew her into a quick hug.
“You were great,” he said as he let her go.
Brittney grinned and reached out to squeeze his arm, and I tried to not let the hug affect me. It had taken me a minute to notice, but now I only ever saw how often they touched. I took a deep breath and gave her a smile.
“You looked good out there,” I said, meaning it.
I may not like her, but Brittney had talent, and I knew how hard she worked. Nicola and Louis walked up to join our little group.
“You guys were great too.” I said, reaching over to squeeze Louis’ hand.
They were both still breathing heavily, but all grins.
“You’re still going to beat us point wise,” Louis said.
Brittney huffed.
I looked over just in time to see her roll her eyes and cross her arms over her chest. I felt myself flinch, bracing for her impact, when Nicola interrupted her.
“When you land the quad, I think Louis and I are going to have to wish the Olympics goodbye.”
Louis put his arm around his partner and gave her a little shake. “ It just gives us more time to get better than these two for the next games.”
They were clearly joking, but I wasn’t dumb enough to think that there wasn’t a bit of underlying professional bitterness.
Brittney scoffed, and the sound wasn’t lost on anyone.
“You guys were perfect out there—out scored just about everyone else. There’s no reason we don’t all go to the games,” I said.
Brittney scoffed again, and this time everyone looked at her.
“What?” she asked, incredulously. “We’re just supposed to accept compliments from the great Aimee Bryant, figure skating’s Golden Child?”
Heat suffused my cheeks and my gaze dropped to the ground. The crowds of spectators were getting louder. The announcer said our names over the speaker, calling us to the ice.
“Brittney, come on,” Louis said. “There’s no reason to be rude.”
I could feel eyes on me, but I didn’t look up—I didn’t want to see Brittney glaring or ignoring my friends who were trying to stick up for me. I also didn't want to see Asher not doing a damn thing. I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
She huffed, pushing past me—purposely bumping into my shoulder.
I stumbled, Asher catching me, keeping me on my feet.
For a little while, the wasps in my stomach had been quiet, but now they were back—my whole body feeling on edge.
Part of my brain told me that it wasn’t a big deal that Asher didn’t always come to my defense in these situations, but they seemed to be happening with more frequency.
More vitriol and he often just stood there quiet.
More than once I’d confided in him that I didn’t like how Brittney treated me—that I didn’t understand the hostility.
Yet here we were again, in a situation where I was being harassed by her, and he said nothing.
The wasps turned to pricks of irritation.
“Brittney, apologize,” Asher said.
I looked up, my eyes wide. She stopped walking, turning to look around. Her own expression matching mine—disbelieving.
“You know she stood over here and picked apart everything she would have done differently in our routines,” she snapped.
Asher stiffened beside me, and for all I hated the constant animosity between us, I hated this part of the routine even more—the way she made me feel small and inferior. The way she’d already decided that I thought I was inherently better, that she was less than.
“We all do that…all of the time,” Nicola said, arms crossed and arched an eyebrow.
“She thinks she’s perfect! One of these days, she won’t be,” Brittney snapped. “One of these days, the ice will break her.”
“Brittney!” Louis scolded.
I wrung my pale hands together in front of me—anxiety and panic building in me. Tears burned in my eyes and I didn’t feel confident anymore. I hated that I let her words make me feel like this—like shit every single time, and I was tired of it.
Tired of feeling diminished.
Tired of my own boyfriend not standing up for me.
Tired of the constant hostility from someone I’ve only ever been nice to.
She stepped up to me, anger radiating off of her. She was fuming and livid.
I never understood why we always ended up here.
“One of these days, Asher won’t be there to back you up. You’ll realize that you're no better than anyone else,” she said.
We all watched as she stormed off.
I felt terrible and angry.
“Don’t listen to her.” Nicola said, placing her hand on my arm. “She might’ve gotten a good score, but she knows her program needs more work. Don’t let her words affect you.”
But why did I have to constantly take the high road?
I gave her a small smile that I didn’t feel and I knew wasn’t convincing.
Louis gave me a quick hug and wished us luck before they headed off.
Asher moved to stand in front of me, tilting my chin up so that I was looking at him.
That anger sparked again at the look of concern in his eyes, and I wondered why he could look that way, but not say a damn thing in my defense.
“Breathe with me.”
I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath—if only to focus myself before we hit the ice.
Going out there angry wouldn’t do us any favors.
He pulled me against his chest, his arms wrapping around my back holding me.
I circled mine around his waist to help my body let go of the tension strumming through it.
Asher pressed his lips to the top of my head, and then I felt him rest his chin there and we stood like that for a moment.
“Ignore her and her words. We’re going to go out there and crush this. We’re ready,” he said.
He kissed the top of my head again, and I took another deep breath.
Fuck Brittney and her bullshit.
Asher was right, we did have this, and we would rock it. I pulled back and gave him the perfect ‘let’s do this’ smile. He grinned back, and we listened as we were invited out onto the ice.
“Next up, performing their latest routine—Aimee Bryant and Asher Leland!”
The crowds in the stands erupted, and we pushed our way out onto the middle of the ice.