Page 103 of Oh, Flutz!

He shakes his head again. “I don’t know, Katya. I still don’t think it’s right for you.”

“Well, it’s not like I had a choice. I’mleftovers, right? So do me a favor and keep your opinions to yourself.” I let out a mean laugh. “Anyway, who are you to judge me? You have an Olympic gold and you’re here lecturing me on low expectations for myself when you’re just an assistant.”

The hurt is clear on his face. “What the hell?”

I sigh sharply, rubbing at my hairline. “Just leave us alone, Misha. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Us? There’s an ‘us’now?” He laughs bitterly. “Wow. Inever thought you’d get attached. I guess there really is a first time for everything.”

Suddenly, I’m back on the diving board again. I’m back at the walk home after Thanksgiving.

A feeling splits down my spine, freezing, unmistakable, because I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve felt it.

Fear.

Chapter Thirty-Two

BRYAN

LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK

“It’s on!” Nina yells,and we all dive for the couch, scrambling for a seat.

We got back from the city just in time for the replay of our last skate, because CSN barely airs skating on cable anymore, so now we’re all holed up in Lian’s living room so we can watch it together before we leave tomorrow for our holiday show in New York City.

Everyone’s chattering, adrenaline running high. Then Taylor Davis opens his mouth, and we all scream “Shut up!” at once.

“Welcome to the live CSN Sports coverage of this year’s Nordic Prix, the last event before the Final in Paris.

“Andreyeva and Young are definitely the team with the most eyes on them right now. This is only their fifth or sixth competition since pairing up in January, but their story is really something—Ekaterina Andreyeva was skating in singles for Russia right up until they swapped her over to Team USA, in what was probably the fastest athlete transfer I’ve ever seen. And Bryan, well, quite frankly, it’s a miracle he’s lasted this long on the circuit. He was a superstar in his junior days, but he hasn’t been a big name in years, which is why it’s so shocking that he of all people was picked to skate with Andreyeva.”

“You’re right, Taylor. Katya was number one, number two in the world under the watchful eye of Russian coach Tatyana Zhukova, who’s well known for her aggressive methods, and for producing probably some of the biggest talent in this sport. She had a nasty fall at the Prix Final last year, but the decision came basically out of the blue. There’s rumors she was forced out of the Russian skating federation.”

I glance over at Katya, expecting her to react to that last part, but she doesn’t seem to.

“This free program is classic, elegant, dramatic—it takes what’s become a pretty repetitive musical choice and turns it into something new. It highlights what both of them are good at, Ekaterina’s ferocious technique and Bryan’s charisma and musicality. It’s still a little rough around the edges, which is to be expected; they’ve been struggling with some of their Ultra-C elements, like their quad twists and throws, and he’s been stumbling on some of the bigger side-by-sides. That reminds me, the standard of technical advancement they’ve been pushing has been amazing to watch. I’ve never seen a pairs team with more than one quad element, let alone multiple per program.”

“That’s true, Naomi. That reminds me, we’ve talked about how hot-and-cold their skates can be. From one competition to the next they’ll go from beautiful to rough-and-tumble. We’ve been hearing rumors about problems off the ice. Katya’s got a reputation for being a bit of a—uh, hard person to work with.”

Juliet laughs, and I choke on my drink. Nina has to smack my back a couple times.

“True, but again, we’ve got a team that’s barely a year into training together; barely a year into pairs itself. Both of them were singles skaters prior to this season. It’s normal for these kinds of problems with a new pair; I’m actually shocked at how good they’re doing.”

“I agree, Taylor; Bryan Young’s turnaround especially has been mind-blowing. Just last year he was slipping and sliding around the ice, averaging at the bottom end of the ladder and falling multiple times per event. This is a guy who barely had a triple axel in him, and now he’s pulling out quads he was never able to do on his own in singles.”

“Liar!” Ollie bellows, and everyone shushes him.

Naomi continues, adding as if she’s heard him, “Back when he was a junior and on the fast track to Olympic gold, though, I do remember him having one, maybe two?”

“And speaking of which, one thing’s for sure; quads in men’s skating come a dime a dozen. In pairs, they’re far from it. Dare I say, gold material?”

“This after the guy cusses me out on live TV saying I should retire?” I ask incredulously, and everyone shushes me.

“I have two words for you—network kiss-ass,” Lian mutters under her breath, and I grin. Pretty sure that’s three words, but I’m not about to risk the wrath.

Taylor laughs just then in response to whatever Naomi said.“We’ll see about that tonight after the free, Naomi; but I’m excited to see it. Three quad elements, ladies and gentlemen. It’s gonna be a good one.”

Lian clicks it off.

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