AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her eyes sparkled. “Is that a promise?”
As I gazed down at her, I realized it wasn’t the promise I most wanted to make. I wanted to tell her it could be like this forever—because I’d make sure no asshole gangsters or crazy stalkers got close enough to so much as frighten her ever again.
I only hoped I was strong enough to truly stand beside this incredible woman I’d underestimated for so long.
EIGHT
Luciana
Jasper glidedto a stop next to me and rolled his shoulders with a sharp exhalation.
“I know we’re technically not done with practice, but I’m going to head to the locker room a few minutes early. Can’t quite shake the ache in my back, but the heat from the showers usually does the trick.”
That sounded fair enough, especially considering Niko had taken off ten minutes ago for a meeting with another potential sponsor.
I gave Jasper’s hand a quick squeeze. “Sure. I’m going to work on that spin a little more on my own, and then I’ll be heading out too. I’ll see you at the apartment.”
Jasper shot me a smile and pushed off toward the stands. As I watched him go, my stomach knotted.
Were his sore muscles only because of the training we’d been putting in here over the past week, or was it more than that? I couldn’t help wondering if his apprehension about tackling this competition with a total newbie coupled with the bomb I’d dropped on him and Niko about my past were catching up with him, especially now that we were surrounded by skaters more at his level.
There was nothing I could do but give him whatever time and space he needed, though. And make sure my skills reflected the time I’d spent on the ice rather than my competitive experience.
I whirled through the spin we’d been working on a few more times, counting out the beats in my head, picturing my partner whipping around next to me. Another skater cruised by, but my focus didn’t waver.
Niko had booked us some private rink time, but we often took part in the freestyle sessions as well. By now, I was used to skating on the same rink as my competition. It hadn’t taken much for my anxiety to dissolve.
No one was looking at us. They were all too busy worrying about their own routines to pay all that much attention to ours.
And when they were evaluating us, I thought we’d put on a pretty good show so far as our free skate program came together.
Seeing the time slot was just about up, I pulled off my skates, gave the blades a quick wipe, and sat down on the bench to pull on my sneakers. My own muscles were twinging with exhaustion, but it was a welcome burn. The feeling of work well done. Of dreams I was chasing so much more closely than ever before.
I got up with a heft of my workout bag just as the skaters taking the next time slot spilled into the stands. Right at the front of the pack was Quentin Wolfe.
And just my luck, the cocky jerk strode straight down the aisle toward me.
His eyebrows arched as he looked me over. He stopped in front of me and tsked his tongue.
“I almost didn’t realize it was you, Mrs. St. Pierre. What’s with the new look? Figured you needed to play up that pretty face as much as possible to distract everyone from your partner?”
I rolled my eyes at him. If he’d had any idea what my disguise was actually protecting me from, the pompous asshole would probably have wet his pants.
“Some of us know that our looks are part of our performance too. And my name is Lou, by the way.”
“Lou,” he said with a mocking drawl, eyeing me with his piercing baby blues. “And where’s the great Saint Jasper? Did he run for the hills when he heard I was coming?”
I didn’t bother to hold back my guffaw. “Some of us also aren’t paying that much attention to when everyone else comes and goes. Neither of us had any idea you were in the next time slot. I guess I’m just slow.”
I shot him a sickeningly sweet smile that I knew would look obviously fake.
Quentin snorted. “I doubt that. From what I’ve seen, he’s the one who’ll be holding you back. Don’t know why you decided to put your money on a fading star like him.”
“You obviously haven’t been looking very hard if you think he’s fading,” I retorted. “And after what I’ve seen ofyourversion of skating, I’d rather be on the ice with him any day.”
Quentin flashed his teeth at me, but the expression had the quality of a restrained snarl. “Considering who you call talented, my feelings aren’t exactly hurt. You’d think him wimping out last year would give you enough of a clue, but I guess you’ll find out who’s willing to put the real work in.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Says the guy who’s standing around heckling a girl he’s not even competing with rather than getting on with practice.”
