“But you felt it.” Dean’s gaze never left my face.
“Yes. Mila corrected for it. We stayed upright.” I swallowed. “We won silver.”
“That’s still huge.”
“Not at home.” The words came out flatter than I intended.
“What happened?”
I laughed softly, the sound chill. “Federation review.”
Dean’s expression darkened.
“They said my hesitation was emotional.”
“Jesus.”
“Not technical. Not physical.” I lowered my gaze. “Emotional hesitation under pressure.”
Dean sat very still.
“And you know what the worst part was?” I looked up, meeting his eyes. “They were correct.”
The silence thickened around us.
“That half-second stayed with me,” I admitted. “I learned doubt was visible.”
Dean stared at me for a long moment. “That’s not healthy.”
“No,” I agreed. “But it was effective.”
Dean scrubbed a hand through his hair. “My almost-year was Nationals.”
I tilted my head.
“I got silver. Again.” Dean’s mouth twisted. “Another guy landed a quad I didn’t have yet.”
“But you skated clean.”
“Yep.”
“And?”
He rolled his eyes. “And apparently consistency isn’t sexy.”
The bitterness underneath the joke made my chest tighten.
“Media started calling me reliable like it was another word for forgettable.”
“That is absurd.”
“Tell them that.”
I shook my head. “They werewrong.”
Dean’s gaze held mine. “I think you actually mean that.”
“I do.”
