“Anyway, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’d better say hello to everyone so I can go home unnoticed and take a long bath.”Don’t youdarethink about Matilda in the bath, flushed and covered in bubbles.
She held up her drink in a silent cheers, Jack and Sam returning the gesture.
They waved goodbye to her as she turned and darted off in a flurry of pink hoodie and blond ponytail.
“You ready?” Jack asked, after downing his drink.
“Let’sgo.”
Luca was easily the strongestpartner I’d had on the show, and he proved himself when we started practicing the lifts in week four.
Admittedly, I was always a bit self-conscious when it came to the lifts. Although I was healthy, I inwardly cringed when I first partnered up with a celebrity, worried I’d be too heavy. I’d been in dance and skating schools my whole life; you rarely came out of either of those unscathed.
But it was impressive how Luca could bear the weight of my body. We’d started with simple counterbalancing exercises and yoga poses to get used to trusting each other. Once the safety coach had arrived to oversee our initial training, we’d progressed into assisted jumps. This was all about learning control and gave Luca an opportunity to understand how much strength he needed to put into the lifts.
The exercises were awkward, to say the least.
I tried to ignore his hands on my skin, but the warmth around my waist wasreallydoing something tome.
The mirrors adorning every wall of the dance studio did nothing to ease my discomfort. We could see ourselves from everyangle. Wherever I looked, there was Luca, touching me—and the most alarming part was Ilikedit. How the way he towered over me looked almost protective, or how his arm wrapped around my middle felt intoxicating. Then I’d remember he hated me and the feeling would evaporate.
I’d had the foresight to play some music in the background, but I was half tempted to run over to the speaker and turn it up, hoping it would offer a distraction.
“The two lifts for your first skate should be straightforward to practice. The first is an arabesque into a carry lift. As Matilda skates toward you, you’ll pick her up from under here and here.” The coach pointed to my ribcage and underneath my lifted thigh as I demonstrated the arabesque. “Once you’ve picked her up, you’ll spin two rotations and place her down.”
“Seems simple enough,” Luca said.
“You’ll be able to master it easily on the ground; the difficulty comes when you move on to the ice.” He moved away from me, gesturing for Luca to take his position. “So, you need to perfect it before attempting it on skates. We need seamless transitions, exact hand placement, and no wobbles. Gotit?”
We both nodded, and Luca stepped behind me, taking the coach’s position.
“Let’s practice the lift without movement first.” The heat from Luca’s body pressed into mine, and I willed the tingles running through me to stop. My body was a traitor.
This is a professional relationship. Calm down.
I positioned myself in an arabesque as his arms poked through the space between my legs and torso.
“Brilliant, and…lift,” the coach instructed. Luca scooped me up. My body tensed with slight discomfort as he lifted me in the wrong places—underneath my armpit and lower thigh.
“OK, not quite.” Luca placed me down at the coach’s words. Itook a moment before repositioning myself. The coach came forward and adjusted Luca’s hands. “You have to move this hand lower, closer to Matilda’s waist, and the other one higher. The simple adjustment means less core work for your partner and more stability for both of you.”
He pressed Luca’s hand against my stomach, his broad palm stretching the expanse of it. Luca cleared his throat and I willed myself to stay still, but my skin buzzed under his touch. The coach readjusted his other hand, moving it away from my knee and closer to the top of my inner thigh. My breath hitched. I wasn’t supposed to notice things like this, but now that I had, I couldn’t seem to ignoreit.
“Perfect, a lot better…” The coach stepped back. “Now, if you lift, you should find it much more comfortable for both of you.” Luca cleared his throat again before lifting me in a significantly more comfortable hold. There were too many points of contact—too much ofhim. Firm muscles against my softer curves, and not a single coherent thought in my head.
“Exactly, that’s it.” The coach clapped his hands. “The next stage is moving. Are you able to move carefully with Matilda in your arms?”
Before he’d finished talking, Luca began to move, rotating us. While the whole thing was awkward and stiff, I was acutely aware of just how close we were. We practiced a few more times in silence. I searched for anything—and I meananything—to say to dispel the tension in the room, but nothing came to mind.
“That’s great, both of you. I knew you’d get this one quickly. Do you feel comfortable enough to practice it on the ice?” the coach asked as Luca and I stepped away from each other. I could finally breathe like a functioning human again without my body going haywire at his touch.
“Yes,” Luca answered, his shoulders rigid with tension. I triedto catch his eye, hoping to offer a reassuring smile, but he looked everywhere except atme.
Why is he making this so much more awkward?
“OK, brilliant. We can run through the next lift, too—it’s more difficult but, Luca, I think you’ll manage. Matilda has already run through the choreography. You’ll both be skating backward; Matilda will turn to face you, you’ll grab her waist, and she’ll hold your shoulders to jump. Once she’s up, you’ll spin backward twice before placing her down. She’ll skate off back, and you’ll follow her forwards.”
“OK.” Luca nodded, jaw set. “Let’s doit.”
