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My own nerves had formed a twitching ball in my stomach, but they were as much excitement as anxiety. But then, maybe it made sense that he would be worrying more than I was.
This was my first chance to show the wider world what I could do. The possibilities were endless.
He’d already experienced the highs of success… and the lows of failure. He knew exactly how awful it would feel if he faltered out there.
It wasn’t right.Iknew what an amazing skater he was.
And maybe by working together, we’d find our way to a place where he could believe it again too.
Just before we settled into position, I tucked my hand around Jasper’s neck and pushed up for a quick but tender kiss. When I drew back, he was staring at me with a hint of a flush in his cheeks but the storm clouds parted.
“Lou…”
I tapped him on the chest with a playful smile. “I just want you to know that I can’t wait to be your partner—in this and in all kinds of other ways. We’re going to make something really beautiful together.”
His shoulders came down as an answering smile crossed his lips. “Yeah. Yeah, we will.”
We arranged ourselves in our planned poses, my ears pricked for the first strains of our music. When the opening note reached my ears, my heart leapt.
Jasper and I took off at the third beat of the song, a dreamy nocturne that we had both agreed captured the emotion we wanted to evoke in our viewers. In that first moment, I realized he was just a tad ahead of me, not quite in sync. I pushed myself to catch up and wobbled, and my pulse stuttered.
We matched each other as we swept across the ice, every lift of our hands mirroring each other. When we whirled into our first set of spins, I caught a brief waver of Jasper’s leg, but he straightened it in less than a second.
Keep breathing. Keep moving. We could do this.
We veered apart and circled back toward each other in preparation for the first—not quite as tricky—lift. Jasper’s eyes met mine, and everyone off the ice seemed to dissolve from existence, as if we were the only two people in the universe.
When he hoisted me into the air, the cold air breezed by my face, stinging my cheeks. But I didn’t care. This was what I was put on this planet to do.
I arched my back, letting my arms reach out wistfully, and hoped that my expression conveyed the gentle, heavenly emotions of the music.
Maybe I focused a little too hard on what my face was doing rather than the rest of me. As Jasper moved to lower me back down to the ice, my body shifted, and I sensed in an instant that I’d missed a moment when I needed to adjust my position more.
My weight wasn’t even; my balance was off kilter. And Jasper had set his hand a little farther down my hip than was ideal, so I couldn’t quite get it back on my own.
With a jolt of panic, I felt myself wobble. I hit the ice at an unsteady angle, already sensing gravity pulling my knee toward the ice.
But I pushed myself against its tug, and Jasper caught my elbow in a move that wasn’t technically part of the routine but blended in well enough. I righted myself without outright hitting the ice.
The judges would have seen the awkward landing, even if it hadn’t been as bad as it could have been. But as we set off to begin the next series of spins and jumps, I reminded myself that it was over.
We had so much more to show ahead of us, and we were going to knock their fucking socks off like no one else could.
I caught Jasper’s eye and shot him a grin, hoping he hadn’t been thrown by the error either. His expression relaxed, and he gave me a slight tip of his head just before we launched into our double Lutzes.
We hit the ice in perfect synchronization and whipped straight into the next sequence. With every breath, the pump of our legs felt even more aligned.
I experienced each breath Jasper took as though it were my own, our chests rising and falling together. We were even more united now than when we’d hooked up in the training room.
This was something different, something hovering on a soul-deep level I’d never felt before.
Our jump combo was effortless; our landing without fault. A smile lingered on Jasper’s lips—not aimed at me but for the simple joy of the routine.
He was reveling in the art of skating itself, falling in love with the sport all over again. My heart soared at the sight.
This was what Niko had been working so hard for. I hoped he could see my skating partner’s expression from his place in the stands.
Our toe loops descended to the ice at the exact same moment. My outstretched hand met Jasper’s, and he pulled me close enough that I could feel his pulse hammering.
