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He hated me because he wished he was in my place. Dios mío, I wished he was too. Let my mom pass on the torch to him instead of me, and we’d all be happier.
Somehow I didn’t think he’d ever believe that. And that made him my enemy.
TWELVE
Niko
There wasnothing I enjoyed more than seeing my two skaters whirl across the rink, hitting their marks with the same precision they had at Finals even though they’d been short on practice in the last few weeks. It was pretty amazing that I evenhadtwo skaters I could consider “mine.”
But as I watched them from my spot near the boards, two worries nagged at me, dampening my spirits.
One was the unanswerable question of whether Jasper and Lou would be able to compete at the National Championships at all. We still had more than a month to go, but we hadn’t made any definite progress in dragging Lou out from under her mother’s thumb yet.
That didn’t matter, of course. Whatever practice time she could make it out to this rundown rink for, we had to use as if we were sure we needed the preparation.
The other worry had to do with what I was seeing in front of me. Yes, my skaters were going through the motions, but something was missing. The soul-stirring emotion they’d provoked with this routine wasn’t hitting me the same way, and I didn’t think it was only because I was familiar with it. I’d seen it plenty of times before Finals too, and it’d brought tears to my eyes then.
No, Jasper and Lou weren’t totally connecting with the material the way they had before. Which was probably understandable, given the tensions hanging over them as well.
It was my job to bring them back into harmony with the music and the movements.
After they’d struck the ending pose for the free skate program, I went over to join them. “Your rhythm and positioning is excellent, both of you. But I can tell you’re a little distracted. Not your fault, obviously, but there’s a little trick I’d like you to try out.”
Jasper lifted his eyebrows in a typical skeptical expression, softened by his crooked smile. “A trick?”
I grinned back at him. “Just a little something that I’ve found helps me—how would you say it? Get into the groove?”
Lou rubbed her hands together in anticipation, always ready for a challenge. “Lay it on us!”
I tipped my head toward the speakers I’d set up on the boards. “When you go through the routine again, I’d like you to sing along with the lyrics, as much as you can.”
Jasper’s eyebrows shot even higher. “You want us tosing? We’re figure skaters, not a band. Shouldn’t we be saving our breath for the moves?”
I shrugged, still smiling. “I don’t mind if you take it a little easy and adjust to fewer rotations. And you don’t even need to use the right words, just make some kind of sound that matches the melody. The point is to get yourself fully in sync with the music and the emotion it’s trying to convey.”
Lou rolled her shoulders. “I’ve never been much of a singer, but I’ll give it a shot.” She elbowed Jasper. “Come on, it could be fun.”
Jasper gave her a teasing glower. “You have strange ideas of fun, Punk.”
Lou laughed and tugged him over to their starting position. I could tell from the loosening of his stance that he was going to give my suggestion a fair try too.
After I’d started their song playing again, my gaze wandered briefly to the other end of the rink. Quentin had claimed about a quarter of it for his own use. The last time I’d checked in on him, he’d been attempting a swift donut spin. It appeared he was still at it, his leg wobbling a bit before he managed to get it into its arcing position.
When he straightened up again, a dark scowl clouded his expression. I couldn’t suppress a twinge of sympathy. It had to be hard for him, coming out here to Austin to help Lou while leaving his coach back in Boston, trying to train without professional guidance.
I’d have stepped in as well as I could, but he’d brushed off most of my overtures—and I had to admit that I wasn’t sure I’d really do him more good than harm. I was new to this whole coaching thing, and I’d never really studied his skills on the ice before. I could advise Jasper and Lou from a position of familiarity. I didn’t have anything close to that with Quentin, and he didn’t have time for me to learn everything I’d need to in order to be really useful.
He shot a puzzled stare at Lou and Jasper when they took off across the ice, their voices wavering alongside the vocalist in the song. Their singing might not be the most in-tune I’d ever heard, but the eager gleam that was lighting in their eyes and the passion flowing through their limbs was all that mattered.
Partway through the routine, they ran out of breath and their voices fell away. But they swept into their final lift with the same vivid emotion that had captivated the audience at Finals. My cheeks ached with the stretch of my smile.
We weren’t beaten yet, no matter what Lou’s mother had to say about it.
Lou glided over to me, her whole face lit up. “That felt amazing!”
Jasper trailed behind her, rubbing the back of his neck, but I could tell from the pleased flush in his cheeks that he’d felt the difference too. “As long as we aren’t doing that when we have an audience,” he muttered.
Quentin took the opportunity to skate closer to the center of the rink where he could take a longer lead-up. He pushed himself into the spin again, whipping his leg up and around while curving his back.
