Spencer makes a gagging sound. “Some of us are trying to eat.”
“Are they always like this?” Brooks asks, chuckling.
“Sometimes, they make each other mad,” Thea comments before popping a fry into her mouth. “Depends on the day.”
I roll my eyes. “You know you’re tempting us to make it worse for you.”
“Don’t bring me into this, Red,” Wes says. “I’ve been the butt of these jokes for years. You learn to roll with it. And now I don’t have to deal with it alone.”
Brooks, Spencer, and Thea all groan at the cheesy sentiment.
I give him a wide smile. “No, you don’t.”
A calm settles over me, thinking about my future. Spence and I redeeming ourselves on the ice. Supporting Thea in the way she deserves. Being there to witness my brother taking on the role of coach. Building a life with the man I’m hopelessly in love with.
I couldn’t ask for more.
SPORTS NEWS
Comeback kids dazzle in second performance following near disaster
NEW YORK, NY (AP)—All eyes in the figure skating world were on Spencer Davidson and Isla Covington as they stepped onto the ice together this weekend for the first time.
Davidson, a two-time U.S. national champion, teamed up with Covington after his last partner, Mira Vargas, retired. The pairing of Davidson and Covington was unexpected, given that he was one half of the Sunshine Duo and she had been dubbed an ice queen. But they proved to everyone at the John Nicks Paris Challenger the legitimacy of their partnership.
Their short program went off without a hitch, executing with technical precision and grace until the last skill. Davidson’s skate blade malfunctioned, causing him and Covington to crumble to the ice during a reverse lasso lift. The crowd sat in silent horror as medical staff helped the pair leave the ice.
No one thought they would compete the next day.
The crowd roared when Covington and Davidson’s names were announced over the loudspeaker for their long program on day two of the competition. Davidson sported a row of stitches acrosshis forehead and a broad smile as he and Covington held hands, standing side-by-side, awaiting their music.
The routine featured a new side to each skater, blending Davidson’s playful personality with Covington’s edge. The pair increased the difficulty in their long program and added new elements that neither had attempted in competition before. Halfway through the program, the crowd was on its feet, cheering on this incredible comeback performance. Everyone could recognize the skill and potential of this polar-opposite pairing.
Even with the point deductions from their short program, Davidson and Covington managed to snag first place in their debut competition, a promising start to what is hopefully a long career together.
Epilogue
Wes
Six months later
I waited as long as I could for this day.
Watching Isla sleep peacefully beside me, I’m so fucking relieved I can end this torture. I’ve ignored the instinct to ask Isla to move in with me every morning for the last three months. The words nearly explode off my tongue at the first sight of her beside me in bed. She already spends most of her time at my place, only heading back to Brooks’s condo when she needs a refresh on her clothes and to see him. Half her wardrobe lines one side of my closet, and her beauty products scatter around the bathroom.
But I haven’t wanted to spook her by moving too fast. To give her any reason to reconsider this relationship.
“Why are you thinking so hard this early in the morning?” Isla groans from beside me, her eyes still shut.
We’re both early risers, but neither of us likes it.
“You don’t even know what time it is,” I say. The blackout curtains in my bedroom make it impossible to judge whether it’s the middle of the night or mid-afternoon without glancing at a clock.
“The alarm hasn’t gone off.” She mutters the words into her pillow, voice still coated in sleep. She cracks an eye open, studying me with suspicion. “Unless I slept through it? Or you shut it off?”
Without me there to shake her shoulder, Isla requires six alarms spaced five minutes apart to wake up fully.
I move toward her, sliding an arm around her middle. She’s only wearing undergarments, like usual, preferring to sleep with fewer clothes on underneath several blankets. Her skin is warm beneath my fingertips, despite the shiver that runs through her body as I continue my exploration.
