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Jerry started the song, a bass heavy but still melodic pop song that had appealed to both me and Jasper, and my partner and I launched into the opening moves. We soared across the ice, every movement in harmony.
I’d done this hundreds of times now, but my heart still lifted when we jumped and spun together.
My nerves no longer jittered when we swept from the death spiral into our now-trademark lift. As Jasper whirled me around, I pictured what it would feel like for him to fling me into the air rather than lowering me like he usually did.
When we reached the end of the routine, my tee was damp with sweat. We’d been at this for hours already.
As we skated back to Jerry, I clapped my hands. “I think we could pull it off. Let’s give it a shot!”
Jasper squeezed my shoulder. “I’m on board.”
Jerry set his hands on his hips. “Perfect. I’ll tinker with the moves afterward to smooth everything out, and we can get started tomorrow. Now, Lou, you could still lift your skates a little higher in that one footwork sequence. And Jasper, I think you could get more air with your triple Axel.”
“Don’t forget to remind them about their hand positioning in the first lift!”
At the cheerful voice, I glanced around Jerry and realized Niko had come back from his water break. He beamed at us while he shucked off his skate guards.
As Niko stepped onto the ice, Jasper wagged a finger at him teasingly. “You need to take off the coaching cap and focus on your own routine.”
“That’s right, old man,” Quentin called out from the other end of the rink. “You’ve got a lot of work to do if you want to beat me once we get to Worlds.”
Niko had decided to take a step back from coaching for a while and return to competing himself, joining us under Jerry’s guidance. But he couldn’t stop himself from weighing in here and there.
Thankfully, he also didn’t take it hard when we chided him about it. He chuckled and tugged Jasper to him for a quick kiss.
“I can do that,” he said, and blew a kiss to me as well before skating off.
Jerry simply shook his head in amusement. “All right, let’s see you each go through your current routine one more time, and I’ll give you a few more notes to run through in your dreams tonight.”
By the time we were heading out the door, a pleasant burn had spread through all my muscles. I stretched my arms over my head and let out a glorious sigh. “This is the life.”
“It is a pretty awesome one,” Jasper agreed, and caught my hand to hold it.
Quentin came up by my side and took my other hand, not to be outdone. “I’ve got no complaints.”
“As long as Emi keeps sending me those cases of Calpis, I’m right at home,” Niko put in, making us all laugh.
We ambled down the Boston street thatwasfeeling more and more like home with every passing week. I loved the noise and activity of a big city, and despite the Harvester’s intervention, this had been my favorite of the places we’d stayed during our travels for training and competitions.
The guys had easily agreed to settling down here for the time being. Quentin had no interest in returning to his hometown where his mother would be more than happy to harass him, and we were close enough to Ontario that it wasn’t difficult for Jasper to head up north to visit his family from time to time.
Right after Worlds, his mom had asked his dad for a divorce and moved back to Canada. Apparently bringing him to the championships had been her last-ditch effort to fix their relationship after she’d realized she couldn’t tolerate his awful treatment of their son any longer. Mr. St. Pierre hadn’t reformed enough, so she’d kicked him to the curb—like I happened to think she really should have done at least a decade ago.
But it was good to see how happy Jasper looked when I joined him on one of his trips across the border.
The loft we’d scored was just a few blocks from the arena where we were training. About halfway there, my phone chimed with an incoming text. I hefted my equipment back farther over my shoulder and pulled out the phone.
Emi had sent one of her emoji-filled messages.Just booked my plane tickets for next month! Can’t wait to see all of you!! You’d better be ready to go out on the town and have fun!
My lips jumped into a smile as I typed my response.I’m always ready. Just a few more weeks!
A chance to hang out with my best friend was just what I needed. And Niko always brightened up even more than his usual cheery self when his sister was around.
As I slid my phone back into my pocket, Jasper gave me a subtle nudge. “There’s another pair of them.”
His tone was wry. I glanced up and noted the two brawny men in sports jackets sitting in a car across the street from our loft building. It took all my effort not to roll my eyes as a mix of irritation and amusement swept through me.
“Always keeping an eye on us,” I said, matching Jasper’s tone. “I wonder how long it’ll take before Rafael’s sure we’re okay.”
