Theapproachwas another matter.
“From the blue line,” Joshua called, skating backward toward the boards. “Full speed, Lila. Kardok, center ice, wherever feels natural.”
Kardok skated to his position and turned to face me, planting himself with that stillness he had—all that coiled power, waiting. His expression was neutral. Patient.
It had been patient the first time.
And the sixth.
He’d been patientevery single timeI’d screwed this up.
I took a breath, pushed off, built speed across the ice toward him and then?—
In the moment I should already be in the air, I pulled backagain.
Just before the jump, I slowed, so that the lift was…well, it was weaker than it should have been. Kardok was an orc, so it would never beweak…but he had to compensate with his strength rather than my momentum.
Itworked, but it was wrong. And we both knew it.
Kardok set me down and said nothing, which was somehow worse.
“I know,” I said.
“You keep doing the same thing,” he said, not unkindly but very directly. “You slow down. Every time.”
“Iknow.” I pushed my hair back from my face. “I’m working on it.”
“You’re not trusting the catch.” He crossed his arms. “You’re trying to control the landing before you’ve even left the ice.
I could feel the irritation gnawing at my insides as I pushed myself backward. “I’m used to being in control.”
To my surprise, he left his spot, then came to me slowly. “What did you do with your other partners?”
I winced and watched his eyes widen slightly. “You tried to control them?”
“No! I’m just…”
Embarrassed now, I turned away from him, trying to make it back to the blue line. “Let’s try it again.”
When I reached my starting spot, I turned back to see that Kardok had returned to his spot in the center, waiting. Patiently.
I tamped down that rogue thought from earlier, the one I’d hidden.
My other partners were figure skaters. Experienced.
I took a deep breath and launched into motion, throwing myself across the ice. I tried to think of myself as a projectile, loosed from a sling or something, heading straight for Kardok.
But at the last moment, I hesitated—and then his hands were around my waist, lifting, lifting…holding.
He stood there in center ice, the same way he’d frozen in my apartment, me balanced over his head.
I glanced down at him to see him watching me.
“I’m here, Lila,” he said quietly. “I’m always here, and you can trust me to be here. You just have to commit.”
Was that the issue? I didn’t trust Kardok because he wasn’t a figure skater? That was dumb.
“Put me down,” I whispered, not recognizing my voice.
