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Every head in the room turned to look at her—even the dogs.
I frowned at her, confused about her question. “How would he compete as a figure skater without jumps?”
“Paired ice dancing. There are some lifts and some easy jumps—hops really,” Ciara explained as if it were the simplest solution in the world.
Artie peered around Enzo’s broad frame to squint at her. “You make it sound easy but where am I supposed to find a female skating partner that doesn’t mind that I’m about to be as blind as a bat in the next year or two?”
There was a pause and then: “What if I was your figure skating partner?”
Artie’s frown deepened and he crossed the room to where she was standing. They were the same height and stood nose-to-nose as Artie seemed to be searching her face, even as blurry as his vision was, for any indication that she was joking.
“You can’t be my partner. You’re a singles figure skater,” he said, writing her suggestion off completely as he dragged a hand through his blonde hair.
“Why not? I could pair skate,” Ciara asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Looking over their heads at Enzo, instead of an angry expression he looked almost thoughtful as he watched the exchange in front of him.
“No.” Artie threw his hands up with frustration. “You can’t. It’ll wreck the career you’ve been building for years.”
“Artie, babe,” Enzo said softly, gently pulling on the omega’s wrist until Artie turned to face him. “Maybe just hear her out.”
Enzo and Ciara locked eyes and something I couldn’t quite pick up passed between them.
In spite of myself, a thread of nasty envy coiled deep in my belly as Enzo seemed to deflate like a puppy dog before my very eyes. Where had the arsehole hothead from a couple of minutes ago gone?
Artie’s shoulders sank in surrender. “You don’t even know me. Why would you do something like this for me?”
Brown eyes flashed over to me, and for once, Ciara’s walls were completely down. The emotions in them were a mixture of regret, guilt, and something that I hadn’t seen in four years… was that genuine affection?
Something she’d never admit out loud with her own lips.
Then her expression shuttered completely and she returned her attention to Artie again. “Think of it as an atonement of sorts.”
Her lips curled upward and she gave Artie a gentle shove. “Besides, I’ve already gotten a gold medal in my singles. Maybe I’m just narcissistic enough to try for another one with ice dancing instead.”
I knew her words were a complete lie. Ciara liked to present herself as someone tough that cared about few people. But there had always been a barely concealed softness to her that I’d noticed right away when I first met her.
Enzo and Artie seemed to be slowly realizing it too as they spoke about practices and how they were going to work out how to even begin learning how to pair dance.
After all was said and done, I followed Ciara back out into the hallway without thinking.
“Ciara,” I called her name softly.
She turned to look over her shoulder at me, the ghost of a smile on her lips before it was gone again.
“Thank you for doing that—for Artie—I mean,” I said as I shut the apartment door behind me.
Ciara nibbled on her lower lip. “I didn’t do it just for Artie, you know.”
“I know.” I nodded looking down at my feet and realized that she wasn’t wearing any shoes. “I’m also sorry that Enzo dragged you out like this. He can be a real arse sometimes.”
This time Ciara’s grin was wide. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who is worse at acting first and thinking later than I am.”
“I’d cheers to that,” I said with a snort, my eyes finding her dusky pink lips again.
It was almost impossible not to think about kissing her when we were alone like this. Standing in the bare apartment hallway reminded me of all the times we’d stumbled back to the hotel from drinking with the rest of the athletes and Ciara dragged me into her room, into her space, and had her way with me.
Without thinking I stepped forward until her nose nearly brushed into my shirt and leaned down.
