Page 53 of Oh, Flutz!

I know how it feels to be put on the spot like this. I want to make sure she knows I have her back, even if she is the most annoying human being on the planet.

“Corny,” Katya says under her breath.

Giselle smiles. “You two seem to have a very close partnership, from what I can tell.” Before I can laugh, Katya cuts me off.

“Yes, very close. We get along wonderfully.” My partner shoots me a smile so sweet that even Lian is probably impressed. “Isn’t that right, Bry?”

Bry? What kind of acid trip am I on? She’s never once called me that. “Yeah, of course. We’re besties, me and Kat here.”Yikes.

Giselle drops her gaze to tap away at her computer, and Katya wrinkles her nose at me.

Kat? She mouths, obviously grossed out, and I stick my tongue at her before Giselle looks back up, and we both smile innocently.

“What do you guys do together, when you’re not in training?”

“Um.” I can practically see the gears in my partner’s head whizzing, trying to think of something normal friends do together. “We, um, get ice cream.”

Oh my god.

“Ice cream?” Giselle asks, smiling again. “That’s nice. Keeping the theme going. What are your favorite flavors?”

Does the ice queen even eat ice cream? She probably likes coffee, just like Lee. Or some equally depressing flavor. Like pistachio.

“Strawberry,” Katya mutters, and I can’t help it, I burst out laughing.

“What?” she protests, then gives me a meaningful look. “You’ve seen me eat it all the time, remember?”

Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.“Yes, of course,” I say, and it’s a struggle to keep my face in check, because I’m so close to going into hysterics that Katya has to grip my wrist with her nails in order to keep me serious. “I forgot. Makes sense, what with the strawberry shortcake protein bars.”

“He’s an airhead, ignore him,” my partner says, but in a way that can be perceived as almost affectionate by an outside viewer who has no idea what our actual relationship is like. It works. Giselle looks between us, amused.

“And what about Bryan? What’s his?”

I’m opening my mouth to answer when Katya does it for me. “Mint chocolate chip.”

What the hell?

Giselle wrinkles her nose. “Really? I’ve always thought it tastes like toothpaste.”

Okay, I’m back to not liking her. “It doesnottaste like toothpaste.”

“Oh, it absolutely does,” Katya remarks, and I elbow her before I can remember not to.

“Well, you clearly know each other pretty well. Do you think that your friendship off the ice translates just as well on it? Does being close help your skating?”

“Yes,” we both say, and Katya hides a laugh behind a hand.

Giselle smiles. “My, you two are just too much. It’s adorable.”

Uh oh. Katya’s smile drops, and we both sit up straight, inching away from each other. Lian’s words from months ago echo in my mind.What people really like is the will-they, won’t-they.

I sneak a glance at my partner, who’s messing with the end of her braid, and pretend like I don’t see Giselle watch me do it with a knowing smile on her face.

You don’t know anything!I want to yell.She hates my guts, and the feeling is very much mutual!

“Alright, well, I think we have what we need,” she says, shutting her laptop and standing up, dropping it into her case and looking back at us. “The camera crew should be done setting up by now, so you two can come with me.”

Kill me now.

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