Tracey
“Did you sign up for the Winter Fest Show? You should do it as soon as possible. There’s only a few slots for solo performances. Almost everyone performs in pairs,” Alex explains to me as we sit on the benches tightening our skates.
I’m looking forward to practice with the team today. Spending so much time unpacking and organizing my research notes, I hadn’t even thought about my new routines and skating performances.
“No, not yet,” I reply. “Where do I sign up?”
“Oh, yeah…about that.” Alex scans the rink through narrowed eyes. “You need to talk to Bri. Sabrina. She should be here any minute.” He lowers his voice and gives me an intense look like he’s about to tell me a state secret. “She’s a senior and captain of the collegiate and club team.”
“Oookaay. And?”
“Bri is…she’s…well, remember those skaters we said had to be bitchy to be good?” Alex whispers through clenched teeth. I nod, not liking where this is going. “Um… Bri is very, very good. Sooo…” Alex shrugs. “She’s probably the best skater on the team and she’s helped us become Collegiate National Champions several times. But you don’t want to get on her bad side. If she likes you, she’s all sweetness and light, if not…” He does the same shoulder thing Nikki did the other day at the bar when she was talking about mean skater girls.
Christ on a cracker. I thought I had gotten away from this shit when I left UDel.
“Don’t worry about it.” Alex perks up. “I’m sure she’ll like you. Bri respects good skating. When she sees your skills, she’s going to love you.”
As we glide onto the ice, Alex introduces me to some of the other skaters already warming up. Everyone is semi-friendly. Figure skating is a sport pretending to be a team sport. Oh sure, every skater can accrue points for the team depending on where he or she places, and everyone wants their team to win gold. In reality, however, everyone is pretty much skating for themselves. A gold, silver, or bronze medal is what everyone strives for. As the new kid on the ice, the rest of the team isn’t quite sure what level of new competitor they’re facing. I can feel the eyes following me around as I warm up. I feel comfortable on the ice today; more like my old self, no out of control nerves taking over. My maneuvers are flawless and my jumps soar and land on clean edges.
When the graceful blonde with long, lean legs and hair pulled back in a perfect ponytail takes to the ice, I know immediately it must be Sabrina aka Bri. Everyone is skating around her and gushing their greetings. She takes a few warm-up rounds on the ice and I can tell already she’s a strong skater. I keep doing my thing, practicing my jumps, spins, and moves in the field. In my peripheral vision, I notice when Bri stops to watch me.
I feel good when the session ends, more like my old confident self. The hockey players are beginning to make their way onto the ice when Bri skates over to me to introduce herself.
“Hi. You must be Tracey. I saw your name on the roster and was looking forward to meeting you.” She extends her hand and gives me a tentative smile, one that doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s like she’s trying to decide what she thinks of me. “I’m Sabrina Davis. My friends call me Bri.”
“Hey, Br…Sabrina.” Not being sure what qualifies as a friend, I figure I better stick to her full name. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you too. I’ve heard so much about you.” Her eyes narrow and her grip tightens when I shake her hand. “I mean I’ve heard about your incredible skating skills,” I clarify and her facial muscles and grip relax.
“You’ve got some pretty good skills there yourself. You transferred from the UDel team, right?” Her tone is more amused than friendly.
“Yup. I’m a graduate student. I did my undergraduate studies there.”
“Uh huh. I know some people on that team. I’m familiar with your record.” She flips her ponytail back over her shoulder.
Oh shit. Does she know all about my stupid past?
“Oh. Yeah. Well then you know our team had outstanding results the last few seasons. But I’m sure the Bernard team will be able to take the championship away from them this year,” I’m quick to add, not wanting it to sound like I’m suggesting the UDel team is better than Bernard’s.
“I’m sure,” she states in a flat tone, like it goes without saying. “Too bad you won’t be able to join us for the collegiate competitions.” She doesn’t sound like she thinks it’s too bad at all. “But there’s some club comps and shows you can participate in.”
Wow. This girl is as cold as the ice she’s standing on. I hope I get to see the sweetness and light side Alex was referring to earlier.
“About that. I understand I need to talk to you to sign up for the Winter Fest show.”
“Uh huh. What were you planning on doing, a solo or pair routine?”
As I begin to explain the solo routine I think would be perfect, I’m alarmed by a hand slipping around my waist and spinning me around. It’s weird, but just like on the steps of Carson Hall, when I see who the hand belongs to, my anxiety diminishes.
“Hey, Bambi. Ready to rock some of our research work tonight?” Dak gives me a dreamy grin.
Yes fine. You’re a cocky jackass, but after the dream I had I would love to do some research…of the Masters and Johnson type.
“Hey, Dak,” Sabrina interrupts. Oh. There’s the sweetness and light Alex told me about. Her tone is dripping with sugary adoration. “You know our new teammate already?” she drawls and cocks her head to one side. It’s a question, but she’s smirking like she already knows the answer.
“Oh. Hey, Bri.” He must qualify as a friend. Dak drops his hand from my waist and greets Sabrina like he just noticed she was standing there. “Sure. I know Bam…Trace. We’re old friends.” He winks at me and I can feel my tights moisten between my legs.
Crap. What is it about this guy?
At least he didn’t call me Bambi again.
“Old friends? Really? I thought she was a new graduate student,” Sabrina sneers. “With other interests.”
Uh oh. What the hell does that mean?
She knows.
I should have known gossip travels like wildfire in the skating community and I’m definitely sensing some over-the-top animosity. Is there history between her and Dak? My stomach clenches, but I’m not sure if it’s because of the possibility of her knowing about my UDel experience or the prospect of her having history with Dak.
“What do you mean other interests? We’re lab partners in our graduate Marine Bio class. We’ll be doing all kinds of interesting research together.” Even though he’s talking to Sabrina, he never takes his eyes off me.
“Umm…” I clear my throat and try to put a coherent thought together, “no. I don’t have time for research tonight.” Dak furrows his brow and I could swear the expression sweeping over his face is disappointment. “So, about the Winter Fest.” I turn back to Sabrina to finish our discussion. “I have two solo routines I think would—”
“No.” In the harsh glare of the fluorescent lighting I think I see her facial muscles tighten and she may be gritting her teeth.
“Excuse me?”
“There aren’t any more solo spots open. We limit them due to time restraints. There’s only time for a pair routine, but since everyone who isn’t doing a solo is already paired with someone else you won’t be able to find a partner.”
She stands there staring at me, blinking a little too fast. It’s the same expression I would give my parents when I was five years old and telling a fib. “Sorry,” she bites out as an afterthought a few seconds later. By the way her hands are clenching into fists at her sides, I don’t think she’s sorry at all.
“I’ll do a pair routine with you.” I almost forgot he was standing there until Dak dropped that bombshell statement.
Sabrina lets out a snort-like chuckle until she realizes Dak isn’t laughing. “Are you serious?”
“As a coronary. I think it would be awesome to take part in the show. What do you think, Trace? You want to do a sweet pas de deux with me?”
“I…I…” Pas de deux? He doesn’t strike me as the ballet type.
“You can’t,” Sabrina cuts in. “You’re not on the skating team,” she states, placing her hand on her hip in a defiant stance.
“Not on the figure skating team.” Dak smirks. “But I am on the hockey skating team. So if I want to participate in the Winter Fest I can.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Sabrina argues. “I’ve never even heard of a hockey player wanting to be in the Winter Fest.”
“Well you have now.” This time when he shares his cocky half grin with Bri, I think I fall in love with the jackass a little bit. “What do you say, Trace?”
I’m not sure how this is going to work. He may be the most skilled player on the hockey team, but it doesn’t mean he can figure skate, let alone pairs figure skate. It’s a whole different dynamic and even I haven’t done a pair routine since I was sixteen. But there’s no way I’m letting this bit…girl treat me the way the girls on my last team did after what I refer to as The Incident, either talking about me or snickering behind my back when they knew I could hear them, mistreating me on the ice, or completely ignoring me altogether when it came to team activities. I came here for a fresh start. I want things to be the way they were pre-Sean.
Sure, it’s possible the best way to achieve the new start isn’t to get chummy with another smoking hot athlete. Not to mention it’s obvious Sabrina is pissed because Dak is showing me some attention.
Huh. Could be my theory of only being attracted to gay men is the fantasy my therapist said it was after all, or maybe Dak swings both ways, like I assumed when I saw him flirting with Alex. He’s definitely hot enough for the whole world to want to get in his pants. Whatever he is, right now he’s my only alternative to being left out of the Winter Fest and I’m not about to let that happen.
“Sure. I’d love to do a routine with you, Dak. It’ll be fun choreographing a pairs number. Haven’t done it in a while.” I quirk a brow at Sabrina, who’s starting to resemble a volcano getting ready to erupt. “I guess you can put me down for a pair’s routine.”
“Whatever. It’s going to be your guys’ humiliating funeral,” she hisses and skates off to exit the ice.
“Wow.” I blow out a big breath. “She’s a sweet thing, isn’t she?”
“She can be when she wants to be.” He arches a brow.
Okay. He’s also into women. This guy is all kinds of sex on legs.
“But what the hell?” His comment reminds me how annoying he is. “How are you going to do a figure skating routine? You know it’s nothing like hockey, right? And as charming as you are,” I add sarcastically, “it’s going to take more than a sexy smile to pull this off.”
“First of all, Bambi, you’re welcome for getting you a spot in the show. Second of all, I use to do figure skating competitions and play hockey before I got into college on a hockey scholarship. Third of all, you finally admit you think I’m charming and you’re into my sexy smile. I knew it.”
“Oh, for crying out loud. I’m not into…okay. Thanks for getting me a spot in the show if you think we can pull it off.”
“On one condition, Bambi.”
“Condition?”
“Yup. I have a heavy schedule this semester: fulltime undergraduate classes, hockey, and this graduate class. I’ve got to keep my grades up or I’ll be put on probation and won’t be able to play hockey.”
“Oh, poor baby and your first world problems. What’s it got to do with me?”
“I know you must be pretty smart to get accepted into Bernard’s graduate program without being in their undergraduate program. They don’t bring in too many graduate students from other schools. And since you’re my research partner, it makes you the perfect person to help me out with extra study sessions for some of my science classes, especially Marine Bio. It all works.” He flutters his impossibly long lashes at me a few times.
“Oh, it does, does it?”
“Yup.” He pops the P. “You get me for a skating partner and I get you for a study partner. What do you say?”
“My schedule is completely full too. There’s no extra time for—”
“Uh, uh, uh, Bambi. I’m going to be taking time for this skating show too. We’ll need practice sessions, which means adding the sessions to my schedule. If I can do that, the least you can do is help me out with some extra study time.”
“I don’t—”
“I mean, if you really want to be in the Winter Fest.” He gives me a sly grin.
I exhale and shrug. “Okay. I suppose I can work out some time for…”
He doesn’t even wait for me to finish.
As he skates away he calls back to me, “We’ll talk later and figure out a schedule for research, studying, and skating practice.”
He’s so freaking irritating and frustrating and…hot.
It’s apparent to me that instead of avoiding Dak Andersen, I’m going to be spending way too much time with him, while having to fight off my misplaced lust.