Page 72 of Wilder

Mik sighed. “I know, but I really need you.”

In the months immediately after being dropped by everyone, those words would have been a lifeline that she would have grabbed onto with both hands. Now, however…

“What about Amberlyn?” she asked.

“We’ve dissolved the partnership.”

“Already? You aren’t even going to try for the Olympics with her?”

“No. It’s been a disaster from day one. We just don’t mesh, and it shows on the ice.”

That was very true. Lexi had seen that herself. She also had a feeling that the way Mik, Lev, and Irina operated was too much for the girl. Because they’d all been together so long, Lexi had never had a problem with the coaches’ straightforward, often forceful, way of training.

“You need to come back,” Mik said. “We could take gold again, I’m sure of it. I’m prepared to do the work, and I know you are too.”

Lexi sighed. “You think they’re just going to let us waltz in and take a place on the Olympic team?”

“If they think we’re going to bring home a medal, they certainly will.”

She didn’t share his confidence. “Why are you so determined to do this? I’m sure you could find another partner.”

“I need this medal. I can’t have everything fizzle out because I don’t have the right partner. Who is going to want me to coach their kid if I have such dismal results on the ice?”

Of course. It made sense that he was looking to the future. His future. He hadn’t cared at all about helping her achieve her future when he’d dumped her. Why should she help him?

Except, maybe it would help her too. She could come out of it with prospects for coaching, too. Leaving competitive skating on a high note rather than the devastatingly low note previously might be a big help for her future.

They could have selfish personal goals while working toward a joint one. Maybe?

When they’d been together before, their personal goals were identical in the same way their professional ones were. It had made things easier.

“I have commitments,” she said. “I can’t just up and leave where I am.”

In that moment, Lexi acknowledged to herself how important it was to her to carry through with the commitments she’d made there in Serenity. There was no way she wanted to disappoint Wilder or any of the others. They were relying on her, and she wasn’t going to let them down.

Not even for an Olympic medal.

That realization shook her up a bit. When had the connections she’d made in Serenity risen so high in her priorities?

“Are you near a rink?” he asked. “We’ll come to you.”

“Do Lev and Irina know you’re talking to me about this?”

“Yes. We had a conversation about it, and we decided we had to at least try to convince you to partner again.”

“And if I say no?”

“You won’t.”

She hated that he knew her well enough to be able to say that. “I have a job that we’ll have to work around. Plus, I’m involved with a Christmas skating program that I can’t abandon. I won’t have the same number of hours available to train.”

“We’ll make it work,” he said. “It might take a bit to get you back up to speed, but I think we’ll be successful.”

“I don’t need to get back up to speed. I’m still capable of doing all my jumps and spins. We’ll just need to spend some time on the pairs’ elements.” She paused, then said, “One more thing. I’m not willing to do the program we were working on. We’ll have to do an old one.”

“An old program for the Olympics?” he demanded.

“I don’t have the time to learn a new one, and I have no desire to skate to the one we had planned,” she said, keeping her tone firm. “Also, I’ll want a new costume for whatever program we choose.”

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