Page 48 of Oh, Flutz!

Lian makes a face. “Oh, I remember that. I wanted to smack her all over again.”

“That’s…extremely messed up.”

I shrug. “It is what it is.”

Lian grimaces. “She’s right. At least people call it out more now.” She shakes her head. “Anyway, onto less depressing topics. The choreographer is five minutes away.”

“Why did we even bring in a new choreographer, anyway? Why aren’t we using Stefan?”

“Because this is different, Bry. AFSC is cracking out the big guns for you two. They want the best for their new sweethearts, meaning I get more budget. Plus, by the time Anne’s done, you and Katya will have winning programs.”

The sound of a door opening makes Lian look up. “Oh, would you look at that, I summoned her. Anne!” she calls out, and me and Bryan both notice at the same time the small woman walking to us.

“Katya, Bryan, this is Anne Simard,” Lian says, and the woman smiles.

“It’s a pleasure. Lian’s told me much about you two, it should be very interesting to work together.”

“Oh, it’ll be interesting, I promise you that,” Bryan says, a big smile on his face. He turns to me. “Isn’t that right, Ekaterina?”

I ignore him. Although he did pronounce it right this time.

Lian looks pointedly at us. “Anne has come all the way from Montreal, so you guys are going to be on your best behavior. Right?”

“Of course,” I say sweetly, moving my arm to look like I’m hugging Bryan, although in reality I’m just getting close enough so I can pinch his elbow as hard as I can.

He suppresses a grunt, smiling down at me and laughing, although he’s not nearly as convincing. “Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t we be?” He snakes an arm around my waist, pulling me tight against his side. I try to edge away, but he’s strong enough to toss me in the air, meaning his grip is definitely too much for me to go anywhere as he reaches with his other arm and pinches me right back, making me yelp.

Everyone turns to stare at me. “Sorry,” I mumble, face burning, and when Lian and Anne turn back around, skating off to discuss whatever it is they’re talking about, I look to see Bryan just barely holding in laughter, and I promptly elbow him in the ribs, making him stifle anotheroomph.When he straightens, he narrows his pretty blue eyes at me, and I stare back, raising my brows, a dare in my eyes.Game on, krasavets.

Before he can crash-tackle me, though, Lian’s voice calling from center ice bursts our tense staring contest. “Get over here, guys!”

“So, you forfeiting?” he whispers as we skate over, and I scoff.

“In your dreams.”

“Believe me when I tell you I have better things to dream about.”

“We’ll start with music,” Lian announces, before I can reply. “Do we have any suggestions?”

Bryan raises a hand. “Could we do something from a soundtrack? Like a musical or a movie?”

I snort, and he glares at me. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just so very in character for you to pick something so stupid.”

“Okay, and what were you planning on suggesting? Mozart?Tchaikovsky?”

“What’s wrong with Tchaikovsky?” I ask, a little defensively.

My mother never got time off, but every Christmas until I moved to Moscow, she’d scrounge up a sick day in order to take me to the Nutcracker at the Marinsky Theatre. She’d pool her savings for half-decent seats, and afterwards we’d drink hot chocolate and watch the lights in the snow. She’d twirl me around, pretending we were the Snowflakes from the ballet.

Bryan’s eye roll brings me back to reality. “Only that it’s probably the most overdone thing in the world. You’d think the Russians would be sick of skating to it by now.”

I clear my throat, shoving aside the memories. “He’s more talented than you’ll ever be, and he’s dead.”

I turn to Anne, who’s looking between us, clearly confused. I presume she was expecting professional athletes who were, well, professional.

“Apologies for my partner,” I tell her. “I was thinking we could do something traditional, a classic that the audience will recognize and the judges will appreciate.”

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