The crowd vanished.
The judges vanished.
Even the standings disappeared.
There was only the program.
Mila squeezed my hand once before we separated into our opening position.
Then the music began.
Dean
Nathan and Brookestood with me, and I was grateful for that. Neither of them appeared relaxed, which I totally understood.
They know what Luka and Mila are capable of.
“Nate, breathe.” I patted his arm. “You’re in second place.”
He rolled his eyes. “Sure—for now.” He glanced at me. “You must be feeling pretty torn right now. I mean, who do you root for? Your team—or your boyfriend?”
I snorted. “First of all, he’s not my boyfriend.”
Brooke made a noise of profound disbelief beside me.
Nathan didn’t even blink. “Okay, sure. And I’m here for the free snacks.”
I coughed. “Can we maybe focus on the Olympic event happening in front of us?”
“Thatisthe Olympic event happening in front of us,” Brooke informed me dryly. “Trust me, the rest of us are deeply invested now.”
I groaned under my breath while Nathan grinned. Then his expression softened as he glanced back toward the ice. “But seriously, I get it.”
That caught me off guard. “Get what?”
He shrugged. “Wanting your team to win while also wanting someone specific to skate well.” His eyes flicked toward Brooke before returning to the rink. “It’s weird when the lines blur.”
Brooke bumped him with her shoulder. “Aw. Nathan’s having emotions.”
“Don’t spread that around. That’s gonna tank my social capital.”
I laughed.
Then the arena lights shifted, the announcer’s voice echoed through the building again, and my attention locked onto the ice as Luka and Mila stepped onto it.
Nathan exhaled slowly beside me. “Okay,” he muttered. “Now I’m nervous again.”
“They look calm,” Brooke murmured as the camera found them at center ice.
He huffed. “That’s because Davorin’s creepy like that.”
I almost smiled. Nathan was wrong. Luka didn’t look calm. I knew him too well now. I could see it in the way he inhaled before the opening pose, in the tighter line of his shoulders, the way his focus sharpened until the entire arena disappeared around him.
Pressureconcentratedhim.
The music began, and immediately the arena changed.
That was the thing about Luka and Mila. They didn’t attack a program the way Nathan and Brooke did, with speed and impact and huge emotional projection. Luka and Mila pulled people inward, drawing the entire building into the space between them.
