AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But now, Claire and I had switched places. It was my turn to sit in the stands and support her.
It actually worked out perfectly. My team and I were spending a week in Cali to prepare for our roadie games on the weekend, and she was competing at the Nationals competition hosted at the very same stadium through the week.
My team and I practically ran out of practice at a rink across town to get here on time to be able to watch her program.
And now we looked super out of place wearing our hockey gear in different levels of undress and taking up two full rows at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships.
As soon as Claire took the ice with her partner for warm-ups, the guys all stood up and started cheering for her. Griff immediately started shushing them. They didn’t understand that the figure skating crowd was much tamer than the hockey crowd and that old judges typically hated rowdiness.
I couldn’t even help Griff explain the figure skating world to the guys because I was leaned forward with my elbows on my knees, zeroing in on my girl’s every movement. I was honestly nervous as shit for her.
Claire always explained to me that she got second-hand nerves while sitting in the stands watching my games, but I never really understood what she meant up until that moment.
I held my breath every time they entered a jump.
Griff nudged my shoulder and an amused grin slid onto his face. “You can’t be nervous now, it’s just warm-ups. Save the nerves for the real program.”
I nodded and pulled at the collar of my shirt. He knew what he was talking about when it came to skating because he watched my sister compete throughout her career. I watched Sav compete too, but I was just a kid at that time. Plus, this was my first time watching Claire compete in person, and I wanted her to think of me as a good luck charm the way I thought of her as mine– which I knew was kinda ridiculous, but I couldn't help it. I was ridiculous when it came to her.
“What’re you doin, bud?” Griff looked at my hand in my pocket strangely.
I took a deep breath and pulled the ring out of my pocket to show him. It was a gold band with a round diamond– simple and beautiful.
His eyes went wide. “Damn, okay. I understand the nerves a little more now.”
“Thank you,” I said dryly. I’d been carrying the ring around since before Christmas. We’d only been dating seriously for a few months at that time, but we’d known each other almost our entire lives. I knew she didn’t want to settle down until after the 2026 competitive season because that was an Olympic year, and that was totally fine with me. But I figured giving her a ring that symbolized my love for her wasn’t considered “settling down.” We didn’t have to start having babies or anything just because we were engaged. I just wanted us to be an engaged couple instead of a regular couple, and I hoped she felt that way too.
Anyways, the ring had kinda become a nervous tick for me… like you remember when teachers told you to mess with a paperclip in your pocket when you were nervous during speeches in class? The ring became my paperclip… And I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to pop the question today or not, but I wanted to be prepared at all times just in case the perfect moment presented itself.
When it was finally time for Claire and her partner to take the ice, the guys and I all clapped politely.
She didn’t look my way; she kept her head straight forward. She tested her edges a bit, kicked out her knees a couple times, then simulated a check-out position.
She looked strong. She looked beautiful.
Her dress was maroon with gold beads and a flowy short skirt that appeared maroon but had layers underneath that were gold and only showed up when she jumped. Their long program was to the soundtrack of Romeo and Juliet, and she was perfectly dressed for the part of Juliet. Her partner Andy was in a white puffy pirate looking shirt and black tight pants.
A couple minutes later– the minutes felt way longer than 60 seconds each– she and her partner were in their starting position. They had their arms wrapped around each other and their faces were just inches apart. I could tell she was slightly shaking, and I hoped that was just from the cold, not from nerves.
I tried to drown out the guys around me starting to chirp quietly.
“Ooh baby!”
“Get a room, am I right?”
“This is kinda sexy. You guys think this is sexy?”
“Shut it, guys,” Griff said firmly.
“Ooooh!” they all quietly chorused.
Griff shook his head. “Duke’s gonna blow and ya’ll are gonna get us thrown out,” he warned.
But I was good. I was secure in our relationship. My legs were just bouncing because I was so nervous for her.
Thank the lord their program music started and everyone finally shut up…
Claire
