“You did it,” he said into my ear, his voice a little raw.
Irina kissed Mila’s cheek repeatedly while Anya bounced beside the barrier, clapping hard enough to injure herself. And as for Sokolov….
Bože. He was smiling.
I stared at him in disbelief. Mila noticed too because her eyeswidened before she leaned toward me. “We should document this moment for history. Twice in three days?”
Sokolov’s mouth twitched in response before he folded his arms again, his composure sliding back into place.
The screen overhead replayed elements from the program while the arena announcers talked rapidly in Italian and English.
My pulse began climbing all over again.
Mila reached for my hand, our gloved fingers locking together.
“Will it be enough?” she murmured.
I knew exactly what she meant. This wasn’t about first place. The Canadians had been extraordinary tonight.
No, this was about the podium.
The arena dimmed slightly as the score graphic prepared to load.
My heartbeat slammed hard enough that I felt it in my throat. Beside me, Mila squeezed my hand.
Then the numbers appeared.
140.13
The crowd wentwild.
For one heart stopping second, I genuinely did not understand what I was seeing.
Second place.
The realization crashed through me so hard my breath left my lungs.
Mila made a strangled sound beside me before throwing both arms around my neck hard enough to nearly knock me sideways. I caught her automatically, laughing in shock while the crowd roared and cameras flashed from every direction.
Second place.
Ahead of the Americans.
More importantly, ahead of the line we’d needed to cross.
Aleksy shouted something incoherent behind us while Irina covered her mouth with both hands, crying. Even Sokolov looked momentarily stunned before pride settled across his face.
Then the team points flashed up, and suddenly the scale of it hit me.
Even if Marek placed fifth in the singles, Velkarya would win its first Olympic team event medal.
And Mila and I—we had put them there.
Ihad put them there.
The boy who stepped onto the ice at four years old because everyone told him he was good enough to matter there.
The boy who learned very quickly that success made people proud.
