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"Thank God we can at least agree on one thing," she says, forcing out a laugh. “I hope you got whatever it was out of your system.” Her jaw is set and there's a coldness that rolls off of her, filling the space between us. Abruptly, she gets up from her seat and grabs her purse. "I'm tired, I’m going home. Enjoy the rest of your night, Leo."
Guilt floods me. I can't let her walk away like this.
She has my mind completely fucked up.
"Aria, wait," I call out to her, unable to stop myself. There's an underlying plea in my tone.
She glances over her shoulder and there's a touch of sadness in her irises as she shakes her head. "I'll see you in the morning."
My lips part, but I don't say anything else. She turns back around and continues moving in the opposite direction of me.
I let her walk away as I repeat my own words to myself in my head.
It's for the best.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ARIA
Leo's hand grips mine, my muscles stretching and lengthening in my arm as he holds himself in place with the toe pick of his skate and continues to spin me in a circle around him. My body is so close to the ice, I'm parallel with the surface. Cold radiates from below, enveloping my body as my hair trails behind me.
Every move we do together requires an insane amount of trust. The death spiral doesn't require anything less. Leo has to be able to keep his body stable and in place as he leans back, creating torque to propel me around the rink. He has to have the ability to hold on to me and not let go as he spins me.
I have to keep my body stable, strong, and in the proper placement as I hold on to him with a fierce grip. I've never had someone let me go before. I don't think Leo will be the one to do it, but the thought alone scares the shit out of me. I get the same thoughts and feelings with jumps and the throw lifts.
The spin starts to slow down and Leo begins to straighten his body as he lifts his hand that is holding on to mine. I let him guide me, while also using my own strength to be back in an upright position. The music continues to play and we don't miss a beat as we move forward in our routine.
We go through the same moves we've been working on for weeks now. The same routine we did at our last competition. Even though we won gold there, we haven't gotten to the competition that secures our position on the Olympic team. The world championship. It's one of the biggest competitions that we work toward as figure skaters. I made it before and won with Preston, but this time it's different.
The odds are stacked against us. It's never been heard of for a pair to just start skating together this far into the competition season and then to go on and win Worlds and qualify for the Olympics. I want it even more than I did before because of that.
I want to be able to say that Leo and I did that.
We finish our routine before we both begin to skate separately around the arena to let our bodies begin to cool down. Leo glances over at me and it feels like the first time he's really paid attention to me since Austin tried to set us up last week. Since that night, we've fallen into a weird silent working partnership. I was still annoyed with both of them for that. Leo hasn't tried to talk to me unless it's something pertaining to our routine and even then, I keep it as brief as possible.
I'm not wasting my time with him any more than I have to.
Hell, I've already wasted enough time either with him or thinking about him.
"I want to ask you something."
I look over at Leo as we begin to slow down. I shouldn't entertain him, but I'm also curious to hear what it is he might need to ask me. "Okay."
He's silent for three heartbeats and it feels like the time stretches to an eternity. Tension fills the air and anticipation mixes in my bloodstream. I need him to spit the damn words out already. We reach the break in the boards where the door is hanging open from the other skaters who exited earlier.
"What are your thoughts about changing the routine up a bit?"
Leo's question isn't what I was anticipating. I don't know what I actually thought he was going to say, but I thought it would be a little more invasive than a question about our performance. A sigh leaves me and I’m flooded with relief. There’s a touch of disappointment that lingers beneath it all.
"Do you think there's something wrong with it the way it is?"
Leo shrugs, motioning for me to walk ahead of him as we exit the rink. He walks behind me until we walk into the locker room. I sit down on the bench, smelling the stench of hockey with the smell of the cooling system. It doesn't smell as bad as it did before my brother's company replaced it. The chemicals must be ingrained in the fibers of this building now.
"Kincaid and Eva both pointed out last night that they think we need to increase the emotional pull."
I pull off my skates and clean the snow from the blades, making sure they're dry before I slide my microfiber protectors over the sharp edges. "What did you have in mind?"
Leo turns to face me on the bench as he straddles it. "I was hoping maybe you had an idea or two."
