AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As Jasper lowered her back down after at least a few dozen trials, annoyance fluttered across her soft features.
She set her hands on her hips, frustration knitting her brow. Her hair had dampened along her forehead with sweat. "What am I doing wrong?"
I cocked my head. “There’s definitely something a bit off, but it’s hard for me to tell just watching. Here, let’s try it you and me so I can feel exactly how you’re shifting your weight in the air.”
She moved to meet me without hesitation. Jasper stepped back, watching the two of us with hooded but curious eyes.
"Alright, whenever you're ready." I bent my knees, trying to picture us out there on the ice.
Lou didn’t waste any time waiting around. She nodded once and squared her shoulders, stepping towards me. “Ready.”
My left hand clasped her right one as I used my other palm to push upward on the junction between her hip and leg. With one shift of my shoulders, she was up in the air, her legs at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
Every brain cell in my head was trying to focus on the way Lou felt in my hands as a skater, but the awareness of her as a woman—a very attractive woman—filtered through despite my best efforts. Her limbs weren’t just strong but also sleek, and a hint of a tart but warm scent that was all her filled my nose.
A small part of my mind started imagining how it’d feel to run my hands farther over her trim curves. A totally unacceptable thought from a coach.
I’d never been very good at suppressing my natural desires. But I could make sure they didn’t affect the work we were doing together.
I raised her to the full height of the lift, noting the shifts in her body and tuning out the rest. Before I could dwell more on how wonderful she felt in my hold, I set her down on the foam pads again.
“What, too heavy for you?” Lou’s eyes shined playfully.
“Oh, please.” I tsked at her. “I could lift both you and our favorite raincloud here with one arm if I wanted to.”
Jasper shot me a baleful look from the sidelines.
“I think I see where your trouble is,” I went on. “You’re tensing up your core. It needs to be steady but not rigid.”
Lou laughed. “So tighten my abs, but also stay relaxed. Why didn’t I think of that?”
From the humor in her tone, I could tell she wasn’t actually dismissing my advice. I nudged her shoulder with my knuckles teasingly. “You know what I mean. It’s all about balance—both in the air and within yourself.”
“Hmm, are you sure you’re not actually a yoga guru?”
Even as the joke spilled from her lips, her gaze turned more thoughtful. She looked down at herself, setting her palms against her stomach as if she were feeling out the differences in how she could flex the muscles there.
That dedication was what made this woman so compelling, wasn’t it? She kept her spirits high through criticism, not letting any of it hit her hard but paying close attention all the same.
I wasn’t sure I’d met another skater so determined to improve but also so able to roll with the punches.
Okay, that wasn’t the only thing I admired about her. There was the energy she brought to every attempt, bold but not foolhardy beyond her capabilities. Her easygoing confidence that never drifted into arrogance.
She would have been justified in a little arrogance, really, but instead her lapses were in the other direction, into insecurity. Somehow she had no idea how skilled she already was.
She was an undiscovered star, a diamond hidden away here in Hobb Creek. I had made up my mind to change that.
After she and Jasper rose to their highest potential, everyone would know her name — and remember why they knew his. The whole world would be able to appreciate the stunning imagery that they were able to create.
She was the catalyst that would push Jasper out of his rut. I just knew it.
But when she momentarily swept her hair out of its ponytail to run her fingers through it, waking up the urge in me to touch those silky waves myself, I pulled myself backward, away from her. The attraction I felt could never be acted on, or I could ruin everything.
I motioned toward the doorway where the locker rooms awaited. “I think I’ve tormented you two enough for one day. You’ve come amazingly far already. Better to let today’s lessons sink in so you can meet tomorrow’s practice with a positive attitude.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re quitting now?”
The edge in his voice sent an uneasy prickle over my skin. “I wouldn’t call it quitting. There is such a thing as too much practice.”
