Page 129 of Oh, Flutz!

“Oh my god, and you were running around shirtless trying to escape the girls before they pounced—”

“They did pounce, if I recall correctly,” Nina corrects, a wicked gleam in her eye.

“Isaiddon’t remind me,” I groan, planting my face in my hands, and my best friends continue to jeer at my expense as we approach the door.

I barge in, already laughing my ass off. “So, Lee, what did the new lady do to piss you off this—"

I stop short.

A head of ashy red hair turns in my usual seat.

“Hi, guys,” Katya says.

Chapter Forty-Four

KATYA

Ifind my voice.And then I wait.

Oliver picks his jaw up off the ground, then blinks a few times. “Um, I’m not hallucinating, right?” he whispers to Nina, who smacks him surreptitiously.

But I can’t take my eyes off of him. Him. He’s right there. He’s rightthere, he’s less than five feet away from me, I could take just a few steps and reach out to touch him. I could touch him, my god, I could hold him and maybe, finally, sink into his shoulder and let out the horrible scream that I’ve been holding in for weeks—

And then he flinches.

“What is she doing here?” he says through gritted teeth, punctuating every word like it’s a separate sentence.

I can feel the dread seep into my face, my mouth half open, nothing coming out.Nice to see you too, I would say, if I weren’t getting the urge to cry. It’s what I would’ve said any other time. It’s what I would’ve said before.

Luckily, Lian senses that my brain is completely frozen, or maybe she’s just tired of our bullshit, because she speaks for me. “Sheis your partner, Bryan, and—”

“Not. Anymore.”

The words hit me like a punch to the stomach, and my breath hitches.

Before I can try and formulate something despite the look of absolute fury on a boy’s face that just two seconds ago was lit up and laughing—up until he saw me—Lian interrupts. “Yes, anymore, Bryan. She’s back. She’s your partner. You’re skating together, and that’s that.”

“You’re kidding.” He scoffs. “Are youkidding?She abandons us, and you’re just letting her back in? Are you crazy?”

“Maybe, but I’m also your coach,” Lian replies coolly. “I make the decisions here, and so does the AFSC. The show’s back on.”

“Show? This is mylife!” Bryan shouts, and I can physically feel my heart stuttering in my chest.

“Bryan—”

“I don’t want to fucking hear it, Katya. Lian, I’m not doing it.”

“You are.”

“You—”

“Youare. Or do you not remember the reason why we’re here in the first place? You put yourself in this position. You don’t go to the Olympics without her. You don’t go anywhere without her. Are you really willing to give all of it up?”

I shouldn’t be here.The realization is dizzying.Oh, god, I shouldn’t be here.

He looks at me.

If I thought that night was the worst thing I could see on his face, I was dead wrong.

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