“Finn, meet Bentley and Willow. Kids, meet Finn Graham.”
Bentley looked at Finn like he couldn’t believe his luck. Like he wanted to pinch himself and whisper-shout at Willow, “Finn Graham is gonna coach us!”
Willow looked at Finn like he was an especially slobbery dog that was liable to chew up her favourite sneakers. She eyed him from toe to head. Make that a slobbery dog she’djust caughthaving chewed up her favourite sneakers.
Something told Finn that Willow would be more work to win over, but that she just might end up being Finn’s favourite.
“Good to meet you both.” He offered his hand for a shake—Willow first. From the slight narrowing of her gaze, he suspected she knew it was an intentional move to gain her good graces, but he didn’t think she was mad about it. “I’ve seen some of your routines. You’ve got great on-ice presence.”
Willow accepted this compliment with a nod. Bentley shook Finn’s hand a little too enthusiastically and said, “Oh, wow, thanks.”
Okay. If Finn ended up with this gig—still a long shot—he could have two favourites.
Scott clapped his hands. “All right, now that we’ve made the introductions, I want to see what you make of their work together. Skaters, let’s see the last routine you worked on with Carlos, all right?”
He and Finn moved to the edge of the ice and sat on the boards as Scott pulled up their playlist. “And action.”
“About Damn Time” burst over the arena speakers—a good choice, Finn thought, for a young pair of skaters. High energy, not too sexy, just fun. He approved of the choice. Ice dancers or not, they deserved to be kids as long as they could.
He ignored the part of his brain that wanted to point out that when he and Paris were that age, they thought nothing of her barely-there costumes. It was just normal—expected.
At least today, Willow and Bentley were dressed much the same—athletic pants and T-shirts. In that respect, they were well matched. But as they tandem-skated around the ice, Finn clocked the distance between them growing a little too wide. And then too small again as Bentley almost hit Willow in the face during a turn.
Ah. It didn’t take a genius to spot the problem. “Stop the music,” Finn told Scott.
When Willow and Bentley paused at centre ice, Finn skated up to meet them. “Growth spurt?” he asked Bentley.
Bentley’s cheeks went pink. “Uh—what?”
Willow rolled her eyes. “Yeah,” she said. “The clown shoes didn’t give it away?”
Now that she mentioned it, Bentley’s skates did seem comically large in proportion to the rest of him. Finn would bet the growth spurt wasn’t done with him. “That explains it. Willow, you’re falling behind because Bentley is suddenly, what, two or three inches taller than he used to be?”
Scowling, she nodded. “At least he didn’t try to give me a black eye this time. Bad enough that I’mshortnow.”
Ah, the teenage years. Willow knew being short was to her advantage in their sport, but that didn’t make being a pint-size teenager any less annoying. “It’s not your fault,” Finn said. “It’snot Bentley’s fault either. Your brain just needs time to catch up to knowing where your hands and feet are. But in the meantime, you can’t practice like this.”
Willow and Bentley looked at each other, then back at Finn. Bentley’s eyebrows were knitted in honest confusion. Willow looked like she was considering socking Finn in the jaw. “So, what, we’re just supposed tonot practiceuntil he finishes growing?”
“Nope,” Finn said cheerfully. “You’re gonna switch places.”
Bentley’s expression didn’t change. Willow’s turned calculating, like she was reevaluating her opinion of him. Like maybe Finn could be a dog that brought her slippers instead of wrecked her favourite shoes. “Switch places,” she repeated.
“You set the pace. Bentley matches you. When his muscles remember what’s what, you can switch back again.”
A slow pleased smile stretched across her face. Willow shot Bentley an unbelievably smug look and cocked a sassy hip. Bentley, to his credit, looked alarmed by her challenging stance but didn’t back down.
They fumbled a bit at first as they adjusted to the new setup, but soon were gliding through their familiar routine. There was an ease to it this time—despite the switch up—and a joy that hadn’t been there before. The frustration caused by Bentley’s struggles evaporated as they no longer forced him out of step. Instead, the next time Bentley flailed and reached too far, Willow laughed, and even from a distance, Finn could tell whatever she’d said mocked his lack of grace, and Bentley, cheeks pink, snarked back at her.
Scott settled next to Finn, eyes on the kids, and said, “You’re good.”
“Oh well,” Finn rubbed his nape. “I mean, I didn’t do much—”
“Finn. They’re skating more in sync right now than they have in weeks. You’re damn good.”
Pride bloomed in Finn’s chest, but he didn’t let it grow too much. After all, Finn wasn’t the only skater they were talking to, and just because he had one good moment with these kids didn’t mean he was the best man for the job.
Robbie drummedhis fingers on the steering wheel and wondered if this was the wisest choice. Finn had kept Robbie away from his house for a reason.
