I answered. Joel's face filled the screen, still in costume, still in makeup, his hair slicked back from whatever he'd just skated. He was in a hallway somewhere, cinder block walls behind him, breathing hard.
"Say it again," he said.
My throat closed up.
"I love you," I said.
Joel pressed his free hand over his mouth. His eyes were wet, and he was laughing or crying or both.
"I've loved you for years," he said, muffled behind his palm. "I thought you knew."
"I didn't know if I was allowed to say it."
He dropped his hand. His face was a mess, makeup starting to smear at the corners of his eyes.
"You're always allowed," he said.
We stayed on the phone while I drove home. He told me about his exhibition skate, how he'd almost missed a jump because he'd been thinking about me. Then his voice shifted, got brighter.
"I did something," he said.
"What?"
"The exhibition. I had a costume change mid-program. Started in black, the usual. Then halfway through, I stripped it off and underneath was white. All white, with red accents."
Joel had worn black his entire career. The Ice Prince was cold and untouchable. I'd never seen him skate in anything else.
"How'd it go over?"
"The crowd lost their minds. I've never heard anything like it." He laughed, the sound bright and strange. "Natalia cried. My father left before the scores came up."
"He was there?"
"He's always there. He walked out during the standing ovation."
Joel didn't sound upset about it.
"Red accents," I said.
"Yeah." His voice went soft. "I wonder where I got that idea."
I told him about the game, about Murph's pride tape, about Vega's handshake. We talked over each other and laughed at nothing because neither of us could hold a coherent thought.
When I pulled into my driveway, I sat there with the engine running and Joel's face glowing on my phone.
"I wish you were here," I said.
"I'll be there tomorrow. First flight out."
"You don't have to—"
"Red." He cut me off. "I'm coming."
I didn't argue.
We stayed on the phone until I was inside, sitting on my couch in the dark with the house quiet around me. Joel was in his hotel room by then, changed out of his costume.
"I should let you sleep," I said.
