Chapter 49
~Riley~
At eight in the morning, I’m already sitting on the plane, my fingers drumming steadily against my thigh while people finish boarding.
“Nervous flyer?” the kind-looking, middle-aged woman next to me asks with a sympathetic smile.
I flatten my hand against my leg to stop the anxious tic. “Yes, but mostly, I’m just excited to get where I’m going.”
“It’s a four-hour flight,” she reminds me with a laugh. “You might need to find something to distract yourself.”
The reminder isn’t necessary. While the Grand Prix final was only a bus ride away in Calgary, the Canadian national championships are across the country in London, Ontario.
With the two-hour time difference, the four-hour flight, and the taxi ride to the arena, I won’t arrive at the rink until three o’clock and the men’s free skate starts at four.
It doesn’t leave a lot of time to see Hudson before he needs to get ready to perform, but this was the first flight of the day I could get on.
I don’t even want to think about the overnight flight I’m taking back so that I can be at the club for training tomorrow.
It’ll be worth it to be there with him.
In an attempt to make the time go faster, as the woman suggested, I pull out my phone and start scrolling through news articles about the competition. Everyone’s loving the close race between Keaton and Hudson, and several commentators think he should have been in first after the short program.
“I caught the highlights last night,” the woman says, catching a glimpse of the large photo of Hudson on my screen. “Such a talented young man. And he looks a lot nicer than that other one who wins all the time.”
The back of my hand presses against my lips to stifle my laugh. She’s not wrong; Keaton has more classic good looks, but Hudson looks way more approachable.
I keep my response as neutral as possible. “They’re both really good skaters.”
She hums in agreement before turning to her book and I read through a few more articles before the captain makes an announcement.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard. As you probably noticed when you got on, it’s a chilly morning out there.
De-icing’s taking a little longer than usual and as a result, the ground crew is a little backed up.
We’re on their list and they’ll get to us as soon as they can.
Hang tight and we’ll get you up in the air as soon as possible. ”
I don’t realize I groaned out loud until my neighbour pats my knee. “Whatever’s on the other end, it’ll wait a few more minutes for you.”
I doubt they’ll pause the competition until I arrive, but I keep that thought to myself. Some things in life we simply can’t control, and the weather falls firmly on that list.
In the end, we arrive forty-five minutes late, and an accident on the main highway means my taxi needs to take an alternate route to the arena. I give Hudson updates on my location every five minutes, but eventually, he can’t wait any longer.
I have to head in. My parents have your ticket, so I’ll wave to you in the crowd. See you soon.
Disappointment that I won’t see him before he skates makes my heart heavy, but there’s nothing I can do about it. The third skater is just starting when I slink into the open seat next to Sutton.
“Hey,” she greets me warmly. “You made it.”
“Finally,” I grumble before taking a deep breath to let the stress of the morning go. Only positive vibes from here on out. “How is he today?”
“Good. Not nervous at all. You know Hudson, nothing gets to him.”
Although she smiles, it doesn’t quite reach her eyes, and that same knot of worry from before squeezes my chest.
We quickly get caught up in the competition, cheering loudly for Dylan and Ryder from Riverbend when they skate. Keaton and Hudson are in the final group, and when the last six men take the ice for their warm-up after the flood, the crowd erupts in enthusiastic cheers.
Most of the skaters keep their focus on the ice but Hudson, as usual, circles the ice waving to his audience, drawing his energy from them.
When he finds his family, his smile broadens, and I see the exact moment he spots me there with them.
Even across the distance between us, the light in his eyes is impossible to miss.
He blows a kiss in my direction, hand on his heart, and is about to turn away when his gaze seems to catch on something behind us and he almost stumbles. With a frown, I turn around to try to spot the source of his reaction, only realizing that Sutton did the same when she mutters from beside me.
“What the hell?”
My head swivels to her before swinging back to the crowd again. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. “What is it?”
Instead of answering me, she stands up and climbs over me, shimmying her way past the other people in our row.
About ten rows back, a woman in a pink coat stands up and also makes a hasty exit, jogging up the stairs before Sutton reaches the aisle.
I watch as Sutton hesitates, clearly torn between going after the retreating woman or staying to watch her brother skate.
“Sutton?” her dad calls out curiously, and that seems to make up her mind. Her face grim, she squeezes past the other people in our row again and sits back down.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my eyes darting between her and Hudson on the ice, not wanting to miss a thing.
“I’m not sure,” is all she says. “We’ll talk to Hudson about it later.”
The man in question lands a practice quad and his brothers whoop their approval. With a concerted effort, I push the strange incident to the back of my mind and call out more encouragement. “You’ve got this, Hudson!”
He’s fourth to skate in the final group.
The skater in third place after the short program goes just before him and skates well but not flawlessly.
All Hudson has to do to get the silver medal and a spot at Worlds is beat those scores, but I know he won’t settle for anything less than trying his absolute best. He doesn’t just want the silver; he wants to make Keaton work for the gold.
As Hudson circles the ice, his eyes find mine again and I blow him a kiss in return for the one he sent me earlier. He mimes catching it and placing it in his pocket, making his brother groan on the other side of Sutton.
“He’s such a dork,” Tyler mutters but I can hear the affection beneath his words.
Almost against my will, I glance back over my shoulder to look for the woman in pink, but her seat is still empty.
The opening notes of Hudson’s music fill the air around us and a ripple of recognition rumbles through the crowd. They’re already clapping along as Hudson rounds the corner and lines up for his first jump, the quad Salchow.
As he steps forward in the lead-up to the jump, I spot her: the woman in the pale pink coat standing in the aisle near the boards directly in front of him, right in his line of vision.
Hudson’s edge seems to slip out from under him on his take-off and I gasp before the rest of the crowd realizes what’s going to happen.
The line is all wrong, there’s not enough lift, and he quickly gets disoriented in the air. Somehow, he stays on his feet, but it’s not even a triple jump; he manages about two and a half rotations before landing forward and stumbling awkwardly out of it.
The sense of deflation is palpable, not only from Hudson but in the crowd itself. Everyone was rooting for him to do well, and everyone knows he probably just blew his chance at gold.
There’s no trace of a smile on Hudson’s face as he heads into his next jump sequence, the triple Axel-triple loop combo.
With pure determination, he powers through it.
It’s missing all his usual lightness and finesse, but he lands it, and the crowd’s supportive applause seems to help lift his spirits. Sutton and I cheer as loud as we can.
A slower sequence follows and it helps to ground him even more.
His smile re-forms and his personality begins to emerge again, drawing the crowd back in.
His quad toe loop is perfect and so is the triple Lutz.
His spin combination earns another swell of applause and so does his footwork sequence.
By the end, the crowd is clapping along again, and when he lands his last jump and finishes with another glorious spin, everyone around me leaps to their feet.
For a long moment, Hudson holds his ending pose, breathing heavily as his mind catches up and processes everything that just happened. I know that feeling very well, and when I see him shrug and offer the audience a ‘not too bad’ gesture, I know he’s okay.
A little disappointed, I’m sure, but it could have been a lot worse.
Sure enough, when the marks come, he’s in first place, with only Keaton and the fifth-place skater left to skate. At worst, he’ll get the silver medal. He’ll be going to Worlds. It’s not a bad result by any means.
It’s just not exactly what he wanted.
Pip the dolphin returns to the kiss ‘n’ cry, and Hudson waves his flipper over in my direction before being ushered into the backstage area as the next skater takes his position.
I wish I could be waiting backstage to greet him and wait with him for the final results. My muscles twitch with the urge to bolt from my seat as the next skater finishes his program and Keaton takes the ice.
The defending champion is on his game today, and from the first flawless quad flip jump, it’s clear he came to win. He doesn’t put a foot wrong, and the crowd is on their feet a full twenty seconds before the end of the program. We just witnessed greatness and everyone knows it.
I’m sure Hudson knows it too, whether he watched or not. The roar of the crowd is impossible to miss when Keaton’s marks come up.
As the crew start preparing the ice for the medal ceremony, I head down to the boards, wanting to be as close to him as possible.
Sutton stands with me while the rest of the family stay in their seats, cheering loudly when Hudson’s name is called and he skates out to accept his silver medal.
He waves to the crowd, but I can immediately tell that something is off.
The light in his eyes, the special spark of joy that makes him him, is dim.
His eyes pass over me and Sutton but there’s no special wave for us, no acknowledgement of anyone in particular as he steps onto the podium and bows his head to accept his medal.
He goes through all the motions, congratulating Keaton and posing for photos, but his smile isn’t real. When they take their victory lap, he doesn’t stop when he passes me.
“Shit,” Sutton mutters, and when my eyes meet hers, she shakes her head. “Let’s get backstage.”
Security is tight and the closest we can get is waiting outside the barriers by the back door. Skaters exit and stop to sign autographs or take photos with fans before climbing into waiting cars or taxis.
I send several texts while we wait.
You did great, I’m so proud of you.
Worlds will be amazing!
I’m waiting outside.
Not only does he not respond, the messages aren’t even read.
When Hudson comes out, there’s a familiar figure at his side, her arm looped through his, and my stomach dips so hard, I almost lose my balance.
“Who’s that?” Sutton asks from beside me, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Hudson.
His face is paler than I’ve ever seen it, and he doesn’t look at the crowd, smile, or wave as he walks straight towards a waiting taxi.
Next to him, Blake beams as if she’s just won the lottery, soaking up the crowd’s attention like a sponge.
What the hell is going on?
“Hudson!” Sutton calls out to get his attention, but her voice blends with the other fans around us, and he doesn’t look back before getting into the car. Blake shimmies in next to him and the door slams shut, leaving me in stunned silence as the car drives away.
This can’t be happening again, can it? Hudson told me he wasn’t interested in Blake, but Trevor claims he wasn’t interested in Evelyn either and that didn’t stop him from fucking her.
“Riley?” Sutton’s voice sounds far away as she says my name. When I don’t respond, she grabs my arm and pulls me away from the fans still waiting for Keaton. “Look, I don’t know what that was about, but I do know something you don’t. It’s time someone told you the whole story.”