Mark’s grip tightened. “And dammit, Dean—you delivered.”
My chest swelled hard enough to hurt. “Yeah?” I managed.
A grin finally cracked through his composure. “Yeah.” Then he grabbed me in a huge hug.
I laughed again, breathless now, adrenaline still flooding every inch of me.
Ethan was already sitting there waiting for me when I reached the Kiss and Cry, jacket zipped halfway up, one leg bouncing with leftover adrenaline.
“I think that was better than my 87.54,” he quipped as I dropped into the seat beside him.
“Hey, don’t do that.” I nudged his shoulder. “You skated great.” I was still buzzing.
“I beat Iliev.” Ethan looked pleased with himself. “Not by much, but I beat him.” Then he leaned closer, lowering his voice theatrically. “Which will not delight your boyfriend’s delegation.”
I choked. “He isnotmy?—”
“Dude, please,” Ethan cut in, rolling his eyes so hard I thought he might actually injure himself. “‘Boyfriend’ sounded classier than several alternatives I considered.”
I stared at him in horror.
His grin widened. “Relax. I’m not announcing it over arena speakers.”
“That is an alarmingly low standard for reassurance.”
“Noah already thinks you’ve unlocked some kind of secret Olympic sex-fueled performance boost anyway.”
“Oh my God.”
Ethan shrugged. “Personally, I’m offended you hid this from me. I thought we had honesty.”
“We absolutely donothave that level of honesty.”
He pressed a hand to his chest. “Cruel.”
Despite everything, laughter broke loose again, still tangled with leftover adrenaline fromthe skate.
Ethan’s expression softened. “Seriously, though,” he said, lowering his voice. “You doing okay?”
I opened my mouth to give the usual answer—and stopped.
Luka was standing beside the boards watching me with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.
“He was watching your every move.” Ethan’s voice barely carried.
I snorted. “So you were watching him instead of me?”
He looked deeply offended. “Please. I multitask beautifully.”
“Sure you do.”
“I knewyou’dbring it home.Hewas the interesting one. Davorin looked about three seconds away from either applauding wildly or having a complete nervous breakdown.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I am absolutelynotexaggerating.” Ethan’s grin widened. “Honestly, if the skating thing doesn’t work out, the guy could have a future in intensely repressed staring.”
I barked out a laugh just as the screens showed me on the ice, my quad in slow motion.
