Page 27 of Pivot Point

“Your parents weren’t in the criminal life, were they?” I said. “You always wanted to keep them away from that stuff.”

Rafael’s expression darkened again. “They worry less not knowing. I made the choices I made—my parents shouldn’t carry any burden from them.”

He shoveled another bite of his dinner into his mouth with a firmness that suggested the topic was closed. I eyed him for a moment, wondering at his sudden clamming up after he’d gotten more talkative earlier.

Was there something about his early career that he didn’t wantmeknowing? Or could it be that he was afraid of how the other guys with their much less questionable pasts would see things?

This wasn’t the time to push him about it. Maybe when we no longer had the looming threats of both my stalker and my mom, plus the impending competition, hanging over our heads.

The waitress returned a few minutes later and beamed at us. “Look at all these clean plates. That’s the perfect compliment to the chef. Is anyone ready for dessert?”

Niko elbowed Jasper lightly. “This one is always game for something sweet.”

“Hey!” Jasper protested before his mouth slanted into a self-deprecating smile. “Okay, he’s right. Rafael, should we put our trust in you again?”

My bodyguard appeared to relax a little more as he rubbed his jaw. “I think I can be worthy of that faith.”

We ended the night with a coffee and a sweet each. Jasper and I both spooned rice pudding into our mouths while Rafael and Niko both powered through miniature caramel flan.

The taste of cinnamon filled my nose as I relished every bite. I set the spoon down and was about to comment on how obscenely full I was when a phone alert pealed out from Niko’s side of the table.

All of us stiffened, my heart skipping a beat. Niko yanked his phone out of his pocket. Then he glanced around at the rest of us with a rough chuckle.

“It’s just a text—from Emi, complaining that she couldn’t get back to sleep. We haven’t even set up the motion detector yet.”

A giggle tickled up my throat. No, we hadn’t, but that was exactly what I’d been thinking of.

As the giggle tumbled out of me, the tension broke with the guys joining my laughter. Jasper rubbed his temple. “I can’t believe I nearly jumped out of my skin over that.”

“I guess we’re all a little on edge,” I said, still smiling, but inside my stomach had knotted.

Tonight had been a good distraction, but we were going to have to face the psycho harassing me sooner or later. I just hoped that finally confronting this prick would be the end of it. I’d never asked for any of this.

All I wanted was a normal life, and it seemed like the universe was determined to block me at every turn.

ELEVEN

Jasper

There wasnothing like having the rink to ourselves after the shared time slots we’d had for some of our practices. Lou and I swept across the ice in sync, my legs pumping at exactly the same beat as hers.

I glanced at her to check that she was still ready to try the adjusted lift that Niko had suggested we switch to for our short routine, switching to a one-handed hold to make it more impressive. She smiled at me with a barely perceptible nod and reached out her hand.

I swept her up, pushing her slender form into the air as I whipped us around. Her body balanced in my hands, stretched out as if she were literally flying.

My arms tensed slightly as I let go with one hand to stretch it out into the air as well. But I managed to stop myself from stiffening up too much, and Lou stayed poised above me like she was never meant to be anywhere else.

I swung backwards as I lowered her, watching her skates touch down without a single wobble. She grinned at me, her eyes alight with the exhilaration that took her from pretty to absolutely fucking gorgeous. My heart skipped a beat as I grinned back.

We went through the rest of the routine just to feel how it all came together, my spirits buoyed by the initial victory. When we locked into our final pose and then glided over to the boards to meet Niko, he clapped his hands in approval.

“That looked fantastic,” he crowed. “Here, take a look.”

He held out his phone to show us the recording he’d taken. Watching Lou and me soar across the rink was almost as amazing as experiencing it.

“I need to keep my elbow a little higher there,” I noted with a momentary frown.

“And I need to keep that foot totally pointed,” Lou put in. “But it’s so close to perfect! We should be able to have it down by competition time.”

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