Page 119 of Ice Bet

Skate for you, Riley.

I moved backward, creating little divots in the ice as my pink wispy tutu flew up beside my hips. After taking center ice and shoving away the jumbling in my belly, I inhaled and dug down to the part of myself that I was happy to show off.

“Let’s go, Riley!”

I glanced up to the top of the arena and smiled. Ford, Berkley, Efrain, and even broody Emory were standing with their shirts pulled up, showing off their muscular bodies that were painted with the letters R-I-L-EY.

They were one person short.

Where is Aasher?

Ford pointed, and I scanned the arena before landing on him. He was still wearing the same clothes from last night but somehow still looked put together. My dad walked up behind him, and I froze. I put one skate forward, but Aasher raised an eyebrow and shook his head.“Skate for you,”he mouthed, keeping me level.

I exhaled and took my position.

I would skate for myself, but afterward, I would fight for him.

39

AASHER

My heart galloped like a horse.

I put my knuckle up to my teeth and bit down when the familiar song played. Riley looked more beautiful than ever as she commanded the ice. The arena was silent. I wasn’t breathing, and although I knew her dad wanted to lay me flat on my ass, he stood beside me, unblinking as his daughter swayed with the music and made leaps and bounds against the frosty floor. Riley’s mom had snuck in the moment the song started and sat with the guys in the top seats, probably wanting to stay out of Riley’s sight so she didn’t make her nervous.

“Amazing,” I whispered, watching her back arch with a spin that would make anyone double over and throw up—especiallysomeone who had been roofied the night prior. It didn’t matter if she only had a couple of sips, I knew she wasn’t one hundred percent.

But still, she was unstoppable.

“She is,” Coach agreed from beside me, gripping the same edge of the wall that I was. Our hands were nearly touching, both of us white-knuckling it. “I’ve never seen her so at ease.”

I nodded.

“This is the routine she did when she fell.”

I turned toward him. “What?”

He nodded. She’d been perfecting her spins and leaps for the last couple of weeks, but never once did she tell me that they were a part of the routine that shethoughthadended her career.

Riley’s pink skirt brushed against her hips as her skating slowed. She swayed back and forth, making her rounds against the ice before meeting at center ice again. My pulse was hammering behind my neck, and I sucked in a deep breath.

Skate for you, baby.

“She’s got this,” I whispered, hearing the creaking in my voice.

Coach briefly looked over at me before we both stood paralyzed as she did one turn, then another, and then the one that was easily the most difficult. When she landed and pulled her shoulders straight, showing off her relaxed and smooth expression, I slapped my hands together and had forgotten all about her dad standing a foot away from me.

“You do love her, don’t you?” he finally said.

His voice was overcome by emotion.

I nodded. “I meant what I said. Kick me off the team, rip away my future. It wouldn’t be the first time someone did that to me.” The music began to reach its end, so I turned toward my coach and told him the truth, right to his face. “I’d work a nine-to-five every day for the rest of my life and be fine as long as she was mine. Do what you want, Coach Lennon. But my future is with her even if you kick me out of this school.”

Coach smiled.

Then he laughed.

I heard applauding for Riley, so I brought my hands together and clapped, but I didn’t look away. Why was he laughing? Did he think I was kidding?

---