Page 41 of The Fall

Sometimes I wish I could be more like Max. He’s always so unbothered by everything. I don’t know how he does it.

“I’m sure everyone will do great,” I mumble. Max smirks because he knows I don’t care how everyone else does.

Once we’re nearing the end of our warm-up, I see Logan making his way back over to us, talking to a man in a suit. Both men are smiling, but when Logan’s eyes find mine, I swear his smile gets a little bit bigger.

He claps the guy on the shoulder before he excuses himself and makes his way over to us.

“You both warmed up?” he asks.

“As much as we’re gonna get,” Max says, standing up and reaching a hand down to me.

“Who was that?” I ask, nodding to the man in the suit who is now walking away from us. I’ve ignored Logan’s initial question, but he doesn’t seem too bothered by it.

“A judge I’ve spoken with a few times before.”

“What did he want?” My tone is accusatory. I don’t mean for it to be, but I’m on edge.

“Geez, Sav,” Max mumbles.

“He was just asking how I was. I don’t know if you remember, but I did retire from the sport pretty abruptly.” Oh. Yeah.

“Right.” I nod. I’m not sure what I’m even mad about or why I snapped at him. Of course, these people are going to know him and be interested in what he’s doing now. If I remember correctly, he won this competition last year.

Logan reaches out and puts his hands on my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. “Hey, you’re going to do great.”

I exhale, and my shoulders drop a little tension.

“You’ve got to relax, Savannah. I know we have a lot riding on this season, but we have time. And this competition is not the end of the world. You’ve got to make sure you enjoy this, too. None of this will be worth it if you’re too stressed to enjoy the process.”

“I know,” I say, looking directly into his eyes. “I know.”

He searches my face before turning to Max. “Go do a few laps on the ice. Let me chat with Savannah for a few minutes.”

I swallow, wondering what he could possibly have to talk about, before I nod quickly to Max, who is looking to me for confirmation that it’s ok to leave. Bless him.

Logan grabs my hand—the first time since our dinner at his house—and pulls me into an empty room and sits me down in a chair. He circles around behind me and starts massaging my shoulders. I moan and instantly regret it.

He leans down toward my ear and in a low, deep voice says, “I’m not letting you on that ice until you relax, Savannah.”

The sound of his voice in my ear sends a shiver down my spine but also releases some of the tension in my back.

“I’m usually not this tight.” I roll my neck from side to side as he squeezes my shoulder muscles. I’m usually not a fan of massages. It’s too much touching. But this? I like this. A lot.

I lean forward slightly, and he moves his hands down my back, pressing and squeezing as he goes.

“Take a deep breath for me.”

There is a tiny part of me that wants to go against what he’s saying. As if holding my breath would be more beneficial. Sometimes it’s silly that my mind constantly wants me to push back.

But I do as he says, inhaling and exhaling all while his hands continue to press into my back.

“Good girl,” he whispers into my ear.

Dear lord. Is he trying to turn me on or help me relax? Honestly, he’s doing both, and I have no idea how to feel about it. My neck heats, and I know if I looked in a mirror, my cheeks would be flushed. Logan’s hands on me and his deep voice in my ear? It’s too damn much. I need to tell him to stop. I should tell him to stop.

But I don’t actually want him to.

“You are one of the best skaters out there,” he tells me. “You’ve worked your ass off. So, you are going to go out there and skate this just like you have a thousand times at home. Pretend it’s just me out there watching. No one else.