Page 27 of Hate You Most

She crouched, demonstrating the jump again—slower this time—letting Viktoriya feel the rhythm of the steps, the weight shift and the snap of the rotation. Unlike a triple lutz, which had three clean rotations, a triple axel demanded an extra half-turn in the air because of its forward takeoff. Three and a half rotations before landing backwards on the opposite foot. It was one of the hardest jumps in women’s skating for a reason.

Viktoriya mimicked Dakota's movements, arms stretching, knees bending, core engaging. It wasn’t the ice, and she could feel the hard floor beneath her whenever she'd land.

“Your problem,” Dakota said and stepped closer to adjust Viktoriya’s hips and legs. “Is that you’re overthinking the landing. You have to put trust in the rotation, don’t fight it. You're letting fear take over and get to your head before you've even pushed off.”

Viktoriya’s eyes met hers. “Easy for you to say—you make it look like nothing.”

Dakota smirked, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “You want to land it, don't you? Do what I do, no excuses.”

Viktoriya could hear Dakota's breath against her neck, feel how close they were standing.

Her hands moved to the side of Viktoriya’s hips, fingers firmly digging into her side. Dakota held her there for a second before guiding her carefully through the jump, lifting her just enough that Viktoriya instinctively held onto Dakota's shoulders to steady herself.

Viktoriya realized that for the first time in months, she wasn’t thinking about the landing of the jump—she was thinking of Dakota, and what it would feel like to have her hands grip her hips again.

She was trusting the rotation in the air. Dakota sat Viktoriya gently down on the floor again and motioned for her to do the jump without assistance.

She took a deep breath in and cleared her mind completely. She took off, drew her arms close to her body and in the air she let her mind wander. She was thinking of something as she rotated three and a half times in the air and landed on her opposite foot.

“Yeah, just like that!” Dakota squealed and grabbed Viktoriya's arm in excitement. “See, what did I tell you? I knew you could do it”

She was smiling like she had just won something herself.

Viktoriya stared at her for a second too long before looking away. Dakota seemed convinced this had happened because of technique or her coaching or whatever confidence boost she'd given her. In reality, Viktoriya had stopped overthinking the jump halfway through because her brain had chosen that exact moment to wonder what it would be like to kiss Dakota's soft lips again.

Instead of wondering what that particular thought meant or what it made her, Viktoriya took the moment and moved closer toward her rival.

“Just like that?” She asked and walked her fingers up Dakota's arm. Viktoriya moved closer and kissed her soft lips. She did it so slowly that Dakota could've stopped her a thousand times, that she could've easily pulled away. But she didn't.

Instead, Dakota kissed Viktoriya back with such an intensity and hunger that it nearly made her gasp. She held a firm hand on the Russian's waist and pulled her even closer. Viktoriya's body should have flooded with panic—that was what had happened the last time they did this—but somehow, it was starting to feel like the most natural thing in the world.

Viktoriya broke away from her lips.

“You know, this is such a bad idea,” she half-whispered against Dakota's neck, close to her ear.

“You started it,” Dakota breathed out.

She closed her eyes and parted her lips as the American pushed between her lips and pressed a tongue to hers. The whole thing was almost divine.

Viktoriya pulled away and gave Dakota another moment to decide if this was what she wanted. Dakota's response was to use that time to pull at the T-shirt Viktoriya was still wearing.

"Let's take off these clothes,” Dakota laughed and tugged eagerly at her washed-out grey T-shirt.

Viktoriya had always been a person that thrived on having control of a situation. Her entire day was scheduled down to the minutes, and it had always given her a certain comfort to know what to expect ahead of time. So it came as a shock when she found herself happily surrendering control and taking off her T-shirt, just because her rival had asked.

A moment after Viktoriya stood fully naked in front of Dakota, about to open her mouth and say something when she realized two very important things.

One: Dakota was still fully clothed. And two: something needed to be done about that.

Viktoriya pulled the American's T-shirt over her head and dropped it onto the wooden floor. She was wearing a black lace bra underneath—and she was gorgeous.

Volkova reached out for the bra when Dakota gripped her wrist, a sly smile on her lips. She pulled the straps of her bra down slowly herself and exposed her breasts.

For a long moment Viktoriya did nothing but admire the girl in front of her. It was a sight she never thought she'd see.

Dakota looked at her in a way that made Viktoriya wonder if anyone had ever looked at her like that before, as if she was worth more than just her talent and her skating. With Dakota she could just exist, in whatever magnitude that was.

It felt so good to be seen like that.