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Quentin frowned. “I’ve never skated to this song before.”
“It shouldn’t matter,” I said lightly. “If you’rereallygreat, you can stop worrying about getting everything ‘right’ for a few minutes and let out what comes naturally.”
The frown deepened into a grimace, but Quentin dragged in a deep breath. A mask of concentration came over his face.
He looked so stern I couldn’t help laughing. “Stop thinking so hard. You’re supposed to befeeling.”
A hint of a slump came into Quentin’s posture. He glanced away. “What if… I don’t really know how that works?”
The hint of vulnerability brought a lump into my throat. A flicker of surprise passed through Jasper’s eyes, and then he surprisedmeby nudging me toward the other guy. “Maybe you need the right inspiration.”
I glided over to Quentin, and he lifted his hand automatically to catch mine. Even through our training gloves, the warmth of his skin seeped through. When our eyes met, a tingle raced up my arm.
“You think you can match my footwork?” I asked.
Something had softened in his expression. “I’ll give it my best shot.”
I shifted my feet into a series of basic steps, letting the rise and fall of the melody guide me. Quentin followed intently, but I caught a slight sway in his body and the motions of his free arm as he sank more fully into the music.
I swiveled toward him. “Want to try a sit spin?”
His gaze held mine, the smolder behind it heating me more than his touch. “I can manage that.”
We pivoted together, his arms coming around my waist and mine lifting into the air. My knee brushed his thigh. He held me carefully, but I could already see his stance had loosened from when we’d started this impromptu joint coaching session.
His face, not so much.
“Come on, Wolfe,” Jasper called from a few feet away, his tone playful in its heckling. “You’ve got a gorgeous girl in your arms. Try to look like you’re happy about it.”
Quentin let out a grunt, but then a smile crossed his lips—smaller but also gentler than any I’d seen from him before. Another tingle ran through my nerves as we gazed back at each other in the few seconds longer before we eased apart.
To my surprise, Quentin sent me gliding back toward Jasper. “You’re already good with her. All that extra practice. Maybe I need you as a role model, old-timer.”
Jasper only chuckled at the tongue-in-cheek insult and pulled me into his arms. “NowI get some respect. Let’s see if I can get you to cough up a little more.”
He picked up the pace a bit and lowered me into a dip as we swept across the ice with a crescendo in the song. Then Jasper handed me off to Quentin, watching expectantly. I gave myself over to the other guy’s support, arcing back as he echoed Jasper’s movements.
“Good,” Jasper said. “Now a person would think you actually like her.”
Quentin shot a glance over his shoulder at his rival. “Gotta learn from the best, huh?”
There was a new companionableness to their banter, as if they actually liked each other too. As if they might even be able to see each other as something like friends—if not right now, then in the not-so-distant future. Recognizing the shift warmed me as much as the feel of Quentin’s arms around me.
“What’ve you got for me next?” Quentin asked, passing me over again.
I glided back and forth between them through several more simple moves, through one song and another. Niko shouted encouragement from his spot by the boards and after the first few exchanges hollered up through the stands. “You should come down and see this properly, Rafael. Cooperation in beautiful action.”
My bodyguard emerged from his usual post by the main doors and came most of the way down the steps to take in our unusual training exercise. I sped from Jasper to Quentin and then back again with a breathless laugh. Both of the guys were grinning freely now, and there was a fluid grace to Quentin’s strokes across the ice that I’d never seen before.
My heart swelled alongside the music. Somehow, we’d headed farther down the path of becoming a united group than I’d realized was possible with Quentin in the mix. Was there a chance he could fit in with the rest of us more permanently after all?
“You know,” Quentin said as he caught me again. “This is almost… fun.”
Jasper snorted. “You make that sound like a bad word. I think I see part of your problem.”
“Hey, I’m working on it, aren’t—”
The boom of the door slamming open cut off his retort.
