Page 119 of Wilder

Mik muttered in Russian about how all their training time would have been wasted if they ended up third. Since they were at an event with mostly English-speaking skaters, it was unlikely any of them understood what he was saying. But still, Lexi responded—also in Russian—telling him to shut up.

Russian was a strong second language for Lexi. Since very young, she’d been surrounded by people who spoke the language. Mikhail’s parents both spoke it, which was why he did. Then to have coaches who were also Russian, it had just been inevitable that she’d pick up the language.

“Just settle. It’s not done yet.”She continued to speak in Russian, keeping her expression placid so the others in the area didn’t have even a clue to what she was saying to Mik.

“But we needed to win.”

“We’ll be fine.”

He kept muttering in Russian, but Lexi tuned him out. Rather than space out to thoughts of Wilder and how much she missed the man, she watched the first-place team as they skated.

Inwardly, she winced as she watched them struggle. It wasn’t that she wanted them to skate perfectly, but it was never easy to watch someone falter, knowing it could happen to her and Mik.

She knew the moment when Mik realized what was going on. His body went taut beside her, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw him focused on the monitor.

When the program ended, the pair skated dejectedly to the center to acknowledge the crowd.

“I think we have a chance.”

Lexi agreed, but she didn’t say anything. All they could do now was wait for the scores and hope that they’d done enough to end up with silver.

“If we don’t get at least silver, they’re biased against us.”

All she could do was nod, because Lexi agreed. That performance should drop the pair down to at least third. But politics could still come into play. As much as they’d tried to make the sport objective over the years, it still had a subjective component to it.

A roar went up from the crowd, containing a mix of cheers and boos. Lexi’s breath froze in her lungs for a moment as the realization sunk in that they’d managed to do it. They’d won silver.

That position was honestly more than she had allowed herself to hope for. It wasn’t that she thought they hadn’t skated well enough to earn it. She’d just been uncertain that people would actually give them a fair shot, considering her past.

The pair who ended up in first jumped to their feet, screaming and hugging. Lexi stood when Mik did and exchanged a hug with him, though they didn’t react as vocally as the other team.

It was a relief to have this first competition over, and she could only hope that they’d done enough to get them a pass onto the Olympic team. If they were given a spot, they’d have about a month to prepare.

Once the medal ceremony was over, they gathered up their things and left the arena to return to the hotel where they were staying. They went to Irina and Lev’s room to discuss the competition. Or rather, the other three talked, and Lexi listened.

“If they put you on the Olympic team, we need to move back to Maine,” Irina said, pinning Lexi with her gaze. “You don’t need to stay in Serenity anymore. You’re not working.”

Lexi crossed her arms. “Alexander Remington is sponsoring me. I need to be on his property.”

Plus, she really didn’t want to leave Serenity. She had a feeling that Alexander probably wouldn’t care if she moved back to Maine. But for some reason, she didn’t want to leave the area.

It had offered her a soft place to land when she’d needed to find some direction in her life. And she knew that even though she had asked him to back off, if she needed something—anything—Wilder would be there for her. She wouldn’t have that in Maine. She’d be alone with people who had let her down when she’d needed them the most.

“And you need to reconsider Worlds if we make it to the Olympics.” Lev crossed his arms over his barrel chest. “Move back to Maine.”

Though Irina had been pressuring her, Lev ramped it up. He was used to calling all the shots. However, Lexi did have a backbone. One that had only grown stronger after they’d abandoned her when she’d needed them. She didn’t feel like she had to cave to his demands anymore.

“I’m not moving to Maine.” Lexi got to her feet. “So if that’s a deal-breaker, feel free to call Amberlyn and ask her to partner with Mik again.”

“You’d give up the opportunity to go to the Olympics over moving back to Maine?” Irina demanded.

Lexi put her hands on her hips. “You’d give up a chance to go back to the Olympics with a top performing team over a move back to Maine?”

It was a showdown, but Lexi wasn’t going to back down. She’d come to realize that going to the Olympics for the second time wasn’t the be-all and end-all. The result of this competition had been validating. She could still skate at a high level of performance.

But did she need a second Olympic medal?

Not if it meant leaving a place she’d come to think of as home. Maine had nothing to offer her but memories that ended in hurt and loss. She didn’t want that.

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