Page 129 of Unsteady

“I’ve never got to do this before,” Liam says, kicking his feet back and forth in the seat next to me. My mom sits on his other side, only because Oliver opted to sit between my father and I.

“What?”

“He means see Sadie skate,” Oliver says, eyes scanning the far boards as he searches for his sister. I’m doing the same, but neither of us have spotted her yet. “We never get to. Not like this.”

Another lump forms in my throat, and my mom clearly picks up on it as she jumps in with, “Well, then this will be a first for all of us. And we have to cheer really loud for her, okay?”

Liam howls, and elbows me in the side. “I’m gonna be the loudest one so Sissy knows it’s me.”

The competition is slow as they move through their groups. But about an hour in, Sadie appears in the warm-up skate with her blocked group.

She’s wearing a Waterfell zip-up over her dress, so I can only see a bit of black fabric beneath it, her legs in mesh black instead of the tan of her competitors. Her hair is braided tight against her head, back into an equally tight and shiny bun, not a strand out of place.

She isn’t smiling, none of them are as they take the ice and skate a bit. She throws a few jumps, spins a bit, but I can tell by the lines of her tight-clad legs, she’s waiting. She’s holding it all back right now.

I spot Victoria skating around as well, just as focused and determined. I see their coach as well, arms crossed as he stands at the boards and watches. I watch him for a few minutes and realize he’sonlywatching Sadie.

Judging by the jackets circling, half his team is out there, and yet he’s focused solely on her. Correcting her, calling her over repeatedly.

Still, I wait. And still, he never does it for another skater.

Luc’s words haunt me again.Kelley’s not normal. And if you don’t know what’s going on in that fucking rink...

I cross my arms, heat licking the back of my neck as Coach Kelley speaks harshly to her. I see Sadie roll her eyes, and it almost makes me smile, until I see him grip the sleeve of her jacket and twist it until it works like a leash.

What the fuck?

Standing before I can think twice about it, I excuse myself for the bathroom and instead head straight to the other side entrance where the teams are. I wait for someone to stop me, but then realize wearing my Waterfell athletics issued jacket is working in my favor.

Sadie spots me before I make it to the boards, her eyes shooting wide as she jerks back from Kelley and skates briskly towards the exit.

There’s a mix of apprehension and excitement across her face, like she might want to smack me, but that she also can’t believe I’m here.

Because no one ever has been before.

I wait for her coach to kick me out once he spots me, but another one of his skaters is too busy arguing with him at the gate—or maybe they’re just talking, but he’s the one spitting his words.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asks, but her cheeks are flush as she pulls me along into a back spot against the wall, away from the clamoring of skaters and the smell of fresh ice and hairspray. “Where are my brothers?”

I smile, and put my hands on her shoulders, spinning her so I can point to the group of us on the far right.

“They wanted to see theirsissyskate.” I pause, dipping my head into her neck to breathe in her perfume against her skin. “And so did I.”

“You’ve seen me skate a thousand times,” she murmurs, but softens under my hands, relaxing lightly.

“Not like this.”

“You never know. I might suck,” she retorts, turning to gaze up at me, eyes somehow more intense with the darkened shadow and glitter. Lips still the same signature dark cherry color, more matte and fierce now against her very pale skin.

My hand raises almost subconsciously, finding my favorite little patch of freckles beneath her eye, letting my palm graze her face just slightly.

“You’ll be the best one out there,” I whisper. “Okay?”

“You’re not allowed to be back here,” her coach hisses as he approaches from behind, standing so close that if Sadie stepped back, she'd barrel into his chest. “You’re third, my terror.”

He hisses the name, and fury—white-hot and terrifying—crawls my spine at the sound of it. At the implication. His hand wraps up around her neck, before coasting her spine and pressing his fist into the center until she straightens, shoulders back.

She tries to hide it, but I see the wince—my eyes shooting to her coach’s with a threat pooling in my mouth. But before I can say a word, just as I pull Sadie into my arms, he storms off. A legion of skaters are exiting behind him, the warm-up likely over.

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