Page 17 of The Fall

I turn to head toward the ice when I hear Max calling my name.

“Hey, Coach. I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I was just frustrated.”

“I get it,” I tell him, knowing I’ve been in his place before. “No need to apologize.”

“Well, tell that to Sav because she slapped me upside my head and told me I had to.”

That makes me laugh, loud. “I highly doubt that.”

“She did, I’m telling you. She’s scary when she’s mad. She also said you helped her with the lift, so thanks for that, too.”

Savannah made Max apologize to me? That doesn’t seem right. It would make more sense if she asked him to yell at me more. But somehow I manage to control my surprise.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m here for.”

Savannah walks up behind Max, and when he casually drapes his arm over her shoulders, I wonder, again, if there’s something else going on between them. It wouldn’t be unheard of between partners, but it’s also not ideal. If something happens in the relationship, it likely ends the partnership as well. That’s one reason why I’ve never crossed that line with my partners.

“What’s going on here?’ she asks.

“I was just telling Coach that you smacked me around a bit and made me come apologize.”

She rolls her eyes. “Well, you were being a dick.”

He laughs. “You’re a dick every day to him.”

He has a point there, but I’m going to keep that to myself because I’m also curious as to why she suddenly cares about my feelings.

“Yeah, well, I’m allowed to be,” she says in response. “Who’s this?”

I look over and see my mom grinning ear to ear at the three of us. I was so distracted that I forgot to introduce her.

“Oh, this is my mom, Natalia. Mom, this is Max and Savannah.”

Mom shakes both of their hands. “I’ve heard so much about you two. It’s great to finally meet you.”

“Whatever he’s told you is a lie,” Max jokes.

“Actually, it probably isn’t,” Savannah adds, which makes my mom laugh.

“Don’t worry, it’s all good things. I’m excited to watch you two this season.”

“Thanks, we’re hoping Coach can lead us to some first-place victories,” Max says, and I’m grateful they’re both being nice to my mom. Not that I ever thought they wouldn’t be. Actually, I never imagined either of them even meeting my mom, but I guess she had other plans.

“I might be biased, but I think you’ve got a good shot,” Mom says.

I’m about to wrap up this conversation when Savannah asks, “Do you skate too?” She points to the white skates in Mom’s hands.

She smiles. I’ve never been one to capitalize on my mom’s history. I usually don’t tell people who she is unless they specifically ask. Since I (unfortunately) have my father’s last name, it’s not widely known that I’m the son of a gold medal figure skater. She’s also not easily recognizable these days. The chemo did a number on her, but recently I’ve started to see her come back to life a bit. I’m hoping the new treatment at the University of Colorado will help even more.

“I do skate. It’s been a while, though. I was hoping Logan had a few minutes to go out on the ice with me.”

“You’re going to skate?” Savannah asks me with raised brows. Her eyes fall to the black skates in my hand like she just realized I was holding them. “We haven’t seen you skate since you got here.”

“Yeah, well…” I trail off because I really don’t know what to say.

“Maybe we should skip class and stay and watch,“ Max suggests. Savannah looks like she’s about to agree with him. Having an audience, especially them, would make this entire thing even worse.

“No. Nope. You both need to go to dance. Remember, eye on the prize. New York International.” I know I won’t be able to get on the ice if they’re watching me.