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I tapped my partner with my elbow, and he looked up. When he met the boy’s intent eyes, his expression turned just as awkward. “Oh. Hi.”
“I’m sorry,” the kid said in a rush, swiping his hand back over his hair, which was twisted into short dreadlocks over a neat fade. “I just—it’s so cool seeing you, Jas—I mean, Mr. St. Pierre. I’ve been watching you since you were in Juniors. Got a bunch of your performances recorded to study them and everything.”
I’d swear Jasper’s cheeks pinked a little. “That’s—that’s very flattering.” He straightened up, gathering confidence in the face of the younger skater’s admiration. “It’s totally fine for you to call me Jasper. We’re all colleagues here.”
The kid hunched his shoulders as if in embarrassment. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the same level as you. I try.”
Jasper hesitated and then pushed to his feet. “I bet you can. How would you like it if I gave you a few pointers? I don’t need to rush right out.”
The boy’s mouth dropped open. “For real? That would be amazing!”
Jasper glanced back at me in question. I shot him a smile and a thumbs up. I couldn’t think of any better way for him to end the day before the competition started than by basking in awed respect of a fan and up-and-comer.
“I’ll see you later,” I told him. “Have fun!”
Watching my partner step onto the ice with the younger guy set off a flutter of warmth through my chest. Jasper could still be a grouch, but getting back into the competitive circuit was helping him get his own bearings again. And when he wasn’t all tangled up with insecurities, he was a sight to behold.
And not just for his looks, as incredible as they were too.
After a hasty change into street clothes, I headed out into the mid-afternoon sunlight with high spirits. My hand brushed my phone in my pocket, but the motion detector alert hadn’t gone off since Haggard’s intrusion the evening Emi had arrived.
He didn’t seem inclined to take me on in public, and I’d have made him sorry for it if he had. Besides, Rafael would be trailing at a discreet but not immense distance behind me.
I was rarely completely alone.
I veered down a quiet side-street that offered a little peace on the walk to the apartment, daydreaming about how I’d spend the night before the competition. It was time to get out of my head and just relax. We’d done all the prep we could.
Maybe the four of us could meet up with Emi for dinner again. Then cuddle up on the couch with some popcorn and a movie, like a real date night. And afterward… who knew what we might get up to?
Just as my lips curled into a smile, engines roared down the street. I spun around to face two sleek black sedans that tore across the road and screeched to a halt by the curb right next to me.
Several burly men leapt out—and leaptatme. I dashed away, but another car pulled up just ahead with a few more thugs barging out in front of me.
Shit. I had no idea what this was about, but it obviously wasn’tgood.
Two of the closest men lunged at me as if figuring they’d grab my arms. In their dreams.
Thankfully, when I’d gotten changed I’d adorned my fingers with their usual chunky rings. Shrugging off my duffel bag so it thumped on the ground, I sent a fist slamming into one guy’s nose. Another bashed the second guy’s jaw, the metal edges scraping open his skin.
While the first prick stumbled, blood pouring down his face, the other snarled and snatched at me again. I ducked and punched him right in the balls.
He staggered, but his companions were closing in on me in a tighter ring. I blew at my bangs with a huff of exasperation, glancing around at them.
“I guess you guys don’t want to talk this out like gentlemen? Well, okay then. Your funeral.”
A couple more loomed over me, and I lashed out with both my fists and my feet. My heel rammed into one guy’s shin hard enough to provoke an audible crack of bone, and my rings slashed open another thug’s brow deep enough to send a stream of blood into his eyes.
But there were still more of them, and they were backing me toward the wall of the nearest building. I couldn’t let them get me pinned.
A few of them were pulling out guns, another a knife. I swallowed thickly. My rings wouldn’t be much match for those.
My gaze darted around. There was an alley opening just ten feet away. If I could take off down there—
I didn’t even need to complete that thought before a massive body charged into the midst of my attackers with a roar.
“Get the fuck away from her, you pieces of shit!”
Rafael’s fists whirled through the air. He pummeled two of the thugs’ heads together before they could even shift the aim of their guns and kneed another in the gut so hard the jerk spewed vomit as he crumpled.
