“No, she left in a daze. I tried to talk to her, but…well, what Brooks said. She said she needed space.” He points to the other side of the room. “She left her phone, so she couldn’t have gone far.”
If I know Isla as well as I think I do, I know exactly where to find her.
“You’re good, Spence?”
“Oh yeah, this is all cosmetic. Brooks and Thea can watch over me.”
I turn to Brooks.
“She’ll want to see you,” he says, knowing my question before I put voice to it. “Take care of her.”
“I will,” I say with one definitive nod.
I snatch her phone off the table and leave the room. I roam the venue for the next five minutes searching for stairwells. The first one I find is empty on both floors. I walk the length of the building for what feels like an eternity, ignoring other skaters and event personnel, until I stumble upon another set of stairs.
I rip open the door, and there she is, sitting on the ground, still in her figure skating costume covered by a loose gray zip-up hoodie. It looks like one of mine. I didn’t realize she had it. Her legs are pulled into her chest, arms hugged around them. Dark makeup stains the skin beneath her eyes from the tears.
Fuck, I hate seeing her distraught like this.
I drop to my knees in front of her. “Hey, hey, hey, you’re okay.”
She launches herself at me, arms wrapping around my neck, fingers clawing at my back. Isla’s head lands on my shoulder, and her crying resumes. “I fucked up. I fucked up so badly.”
“It’s okay.” I run my hands over her back in slow, soothing motions. “It’s okay.”
“I panicked, and I hurt him.” She sucks in a deep breath, but her words still come out shaky. “I hurt him.”
“Spencer’s fine. I saw him. He’s fine.”
Isla shakes her head, her ponytail swaying with the movement. “He’s never going to skate with me again. And I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to skate with me, either. It’s all ruined.” She pushes out of my arms and hops up onto her feet. “I need to get out of here. I can’t be here anymore.”
She jogs down the steps and enters the lobby of the venue, uncaring that people witness her disheveled appearance. I’ve never seen her unravel like this. That first night we met, she was upset but I could console her. All I can do now is follow her through the lobby of the building to the outdoors, where rain pours down on us.
“Isla,” I call, but she doesn’t slow down. I don’t know if she knows where she’s going.
She stops walking, turning to me. “You don’t need to follow me, Wes. I’m fine.”
“I’m not leaving you alone, Red. Not when you’re like this.”
“Like what? A disappointing, unhinged mess?” She throws her hands into the air, water flying off her. “I thought I could be better, that I could be worthy of being Spencer’s partner. I thought I had a shot at real success because he saw potential in me. And how do I repay him? I bust open his face during our first performance. Iembarrasshim.”
“His skate blade gave out. That’s not your fault.”
She runs her hands over her face, clearing rain from her eyes. “But I tensed. I pushed away from him. I didn’t trust that he had me. That’s my instinct, to assume I’ll be screwed over even when I should know that I won’t be. That’s who I am. You both deserve better.”
I’m shocked by her confession, that she could think so little of herself when she’s the most extraordinary woman I’ve known.
“I’m not going to speak for my brother, even though I know that giving up is the only way you could disappoint him.” I take a step toward her. “But for me…Isla, I’m so fucking proud of you. I thought that when I was watching you defy gravity, and I think that now.”
She shakes her head, gaze dropping to the ground. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” I assure her, tipping her chin up to meet my stare, needing her to see my sincerity. “You fought to get to this level, and you fought to stay, despite shitty partners and injuries and doubts. That’s how I know you’ll pick yourself up again.”
A tear falls down her cheek, and I wipe it away with my thumb.
“I’m lucky you give me the time of day,” I tell her, desperate to soothe her inner turmoil.
“Then, why haven’t I heard from you all week?” Isla crosses her arms over her chest. “You didn’t tell me you were out of town. I had to hear it from your brother.”
