Page 128 of Wilder

She sat there for a moment, taking deep breaths. It wasn’t the first time she’d experienced such a fall, but it had been awhile since it had last happened. With an inward groan, she got to her feet, refusing to allow Mik or Irina to see how much it had jarred her. She was going to have some bruises after this practice.

When their training time finally came to an end, Lexi couldn’t have been happier.

“Same time tomorrow,” Irina said, as if Lexi would forget.

Or maybe she was making sure that Lexi didn’t change her mind about Worlds.

“I’m retiring after Worlds, Irina. You and Mik need to understand that.”

Irina gave a single nod of her head, then sailed out of the arena, wrapped in her precious fur coat. Mik wasn’t far behind her.

Lexi let out a long breath, her cheeks puffing with the effort. Since the rink was still quiet, she slumped down on the bench but didn’t remove her skates right away.

She was exhausted. Between the training, the flights, jetlag, and competing, her body had taken a beating. Previously, she hadn’t had as hard a time dealing with all of that, but this time, it was a struggle.

Was it because her body and her mind weren’t in sync? Before, she’d been totally focused on training and competing. Her mind had been committed, and so had her body.

This time around, however, her mind wasn’t one hundred percent on board with the training and competitions. While she’d been at the Olympics, she’d been thinking a lot about her mom, about Wilder and Serenity, about the life she wanted to build outside of competitive skating.

She missed her mom and the hugs she always gave her. She missed coaching the girls. She missed seeing Wilder walk through the door of the rink, his eyes twinkling as he smiled.

She hadn’t wanted to be so far away from everyone. Now she was back in Serenity, and it still wasn’t enough. She hadn’t seenWilder since her return, and she wondered when she might. It was possible it wouldn’t be until she went to church.

They’d shared a few messages, which had been nice, but it wasn’t the same as talking to him face to face. But it was her own fault that wasn’t happening. She’d pushed him away.

Training had been a convenient excuse. In reality, there had still been time for her to spend with him and the others if she’d allowed herself to.

“Everything okay?”

Lexi straightened and looked up to see Talya standing beside the bench.

“Yep.” Lexi gave her a smile. “How’ve things been here?”

“We’ve had some busy days, but not like we had over the holidays.”

“That’s good.”

“Congrats on winning gold at the Olympics. It was a beautiful free skate.”

Lexi had to force her smile. Her competitions were still a touchy subject, given the argument she and Mik had just had.

“Thanks.”

“Are you going to Worlds?”

“That’s the plan.”

“I hope you get gold again.”

“We’re certainly going to try for it.” Lexi leaned over and unlaced her skates. “But one never knows how it’s going to go.”

Thankfully, Luke arrived then and distracted Talya from their conversation. Lexi finished taking off her skates, then got up and went to the office to get her boots and jacket. She plannedto head home and take a long hot bath before falling into bed for a nap.

Somehow, she needed to get her mind and body back on the same track. Hopefully, pampering her body a bit might help.

The ringing of her phone woke Lexi later that night. Though she’d had a nap, she had still gone to bed at her normal time, knowing that she needed all the rest she could get. But apparently, someone was determined to keep her from sleeping undisturbed.

Blinking, she squinted at the phone, then frowned when she saw Irina’s name on the screen.

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