“To you.” Sergio laughs. “I’m pretty sure she hasn’t threatened your balls.”
“To be honest, I’d prefer it if she’d keep yours intact.”
Sergio’s cheeks warm and lift as he feels genuine hope for something more for the first time in ages. “Are you saying you have use for them?”
Jeremy gives him a non-committal shrug and rises to his feet. “We can worry about their usefulness tomorrow.” He holds his hand out to Sergio, and Sergio immediately takes it and lets himself be pulled to his feet. “As for now, I’m more curious about that kiss. It better be good if you keep living your days for it.”
Sergio drops his head and laughs. “You have no idea.”
“Then show me.”
Without speaking, Sergio follows Jeremy down the stairs from his living space. Down by the rink, they both hastily lace up their skates, then step onto the ice. Jeremy takes a few glides, and Sergio presses himself against the half wall and holds his hands out, palms up, in anticipation.
Jeremy loops around and skates back towards Sergio. He gestures at Sergio’s upturned palms. “What are those for?”
“For you to hold,” Sergio says, presenting the answer like it should be obvious.
“And why would I do that?” Jeremy asks as he skates another loop in front of him.
Sergio drops his hands. “So I don’t fall down.”
Jeremy makes an abrupt stop, his blades digging into the ice, making a crisp exclamation. “I’d assume if we’ve kissed multiple times on this ice as you claim, then you should be able to stay on your own two feet without my assistance.”
Sergio shrugs and does a tentative push-off with his left foot, causing him to glide forward on his right.
“There. See? You don’t need me,” Jeremy says, but grabs Sergio’s right hand anyway and begins to skate at a leisurely pace around the rink, keeping the half wall nearby for Sergio to grab onto if he loses his footing.
“I will admit, you are an excellent teacher,” Sergio says as they glide.
“I should hope so.” Jeremy laughs. “Otherwise, this whole figure skating coach endeavor of mine will be a complete bust.”
“It definitely won’t be a bust; you’re a natural,” Sergio assures. After all, he does have first-hand experience of what it’s like to learn under Jeremy’s expert advice. “What’s the plan after the Olympics this year?”
“Well…” Jeremy says, shifting himself so he’s in front of Sergio now. He changes the hand he’s holding, then guides Sergio to turn around, positioning them to skate backward with some success. Sergio still struggles a bit with the crossovers, but he’s getting there. “Allison is still young enough to have another run at the Olympics in four years, regardless of how this one goes. Hopefully, she’ll keep me and Rose on as her coaching team. Other than that, Rose and I will have to recruit more skaterseventually, I guess. We haven’t really thought much about it, though, since Allison has been our prime focus.”
“I’d imagine trying to find Olympians to coach is a competitive market.”
“You’ve punched Chadwick. You know it’s a competitive market.”
“Fair enough,” Sergio says. “He is trying to poach Allison by the way.”
“I figured as much,” Jeremy says and does another twist around, spinning Sergio to skate forward again. Now that Sergio is facing forward, he’s feeling steadier. Jeremy must sense it as he lets go of Sergio’s hand and does what looks to Sergio to be a complicated little twirl to position himself to skate backward-facing Sergio. “You try,” he says, gesturing at Sergio. “Give yourself a little spin.”
Sergio grimaces. “I don’t know about that.”
“Oh, come on,” Jeremy encourages. “It’s a little two-foot spin. You only have to go around once. You can do it.”
To his surprise, Sergio does manage to make himself do an awkward twist to the left, completing a full turn and a half so that he’s backward now. Jeremy grabs his hand again.
“Good job,” he says, and starts to pick up their pace, skating faster than Sergio has ever gone. But he likes it. Or maybe he simply likes any reason to have skin-to-skin contact with Jeremy. It’s more of a rush than the feeling of his skates moving swiftly on the ice.
“What can I say, I have an excellent teacher,” Sergio says, chancing a glance at Jeremy, who, to his surprise, is looking right at him as he skates.
“Hmmm …” Jeremy hums, and a soft smile creeps across his lips. “It’s funny,” he says and spins them again. “As much as I love helping Allison achieve her dream, I’m not sure if that’s for me in the long run.”
“You could coach beginners,” Sergio suggests. “Like I said. You’re an excellent teacher. Look what you’ve done with me. And I’ve seen you with Henry. You’re so good with him.”
“He’s terrible.” Jeremy laughs.
