“We have to go to a cocktail party first.” Aubrey smoothed an invisible wrinkle on her purple dress. “We’ll join you after we hang out with the stuffy crowd.”
One of the federation’s biggest sponsors was hosting the soiree. As Olympians, we were expected to hobnob with the upper crust of the sport. Aubrey and I had made a pact to escape after we did the required mingling.
We entered the ballroom and snaked through the party-goers, accepting congratulations and accolades along the way. Two older Hall of Fame skaters engaged us in a lengthy chat, and we listened to them relive their Olympic glory and offer words of advice for our upcoming experience at the Games. The more people congratulated me on making the team, the more the accomplishment began to sink in. My feet itched to get to the closing party and dance in jubilation with my friends.
Sergei arrived while I moved between conversations, and we simply exchanged smiles as we passed each other. I stopped at the bar and fell into a daydream, imagining us one day attending parties as a couple, freely able to share an affectionate touch or glance in front of everyone.
“Hello, Emily.” Viktor shook me from my fantasy and back to unpleasant reality.
“Hello.” I moved left and he copied me.
“Nice dress.” His eyes shifted downward just long enough to make me want to scrub my skin. “Very. . . appropriate.”
Down the bar, I caught Sergei watching us. He took a step forward, his knuckles white around his drink. Low at my side where Viktor couldn’t see, I put up a stop sign with my hand to keep Sergei at bay.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said and went on the hunt for Aubrey. I found her entertaining a couple of former champions. She gracefully bowed out of the conversation and asked, “Ready for the real party?”
Viktor eyed us from across the room. I grabbed Aubrey’s elbow and steered her to the door. “Never readier.”
****
After a couple of hours of high-energy dancing at the party, my friends and I gathered in Trevor’s room for more celebration. I downed multiple cocktails and found myself waltzing around the room with Aubrey, who’d enjoyed just as many drinks as I had.
“Lady Marmalade” came on the clock radio, and Aubrey boosted the volume, bounded onto the bed, and pulled me up with her. We sang loud and off-key, belting out Christina Aguilera’s high notes with screechy enthusiasm. Chris and Nick sat on the edge of the bed, doubled over with laughter.
In the middle of the chorus, Aubrey gripped my arms. “We’re going to the Olympics!”
She jumped up and down, and I joined her, creating a trampoline effect on the bed. The bouncing started to make me dizzy, so I let my legs crumple beneath me. I bumped into Nick and shook him.
“We’re going to the Olympics!”
He signaled for a high five. “Team Cape Cod!”
I smacked his hand and fell against the pillows. As I stared at the ceiling, I thought of the person who I most wanted to celebrate with. The blood coursed through my veins at a rapid rate and filled me with a powerful sensation. I had to see him.
I rose from the bed and almost toppled over. Halfway to the door, I realized my feet were bare.
Marley saw me searching the floor. “What are you looking for?”
“My shoes.”
She crouched next to the desk and pointed to a pair of peep-toe heels. “Are those yours?”
I hugged her and she let out a tinkly laugh. “Thank you, my love.”
With deliberate steps, I made my way to the elevator and two floors up to my destination. Sergei opened his door and stuck his head out into the hallway with a nervous glance.
“What are you doing here?”
I stumbled past him. “I thought it should be a tradition that I bust into your hotel room at Nationals.”
The bedside lamp shed faint light on the room. An open newspaper lay on the bed, and a pillow was propped up against the headboard. Without the television on, the room was silent, a stark difference from the scene I’d just left.
I pivoted to face Sergei and lost my balance. He grabbed me before I crashed into the doors of the TV armoire.
“You are so drunk.”
“I’m not that drunk. I just feel really, really good.” I circled my arms around his waist.
“You’re feeling good, alright.”
He still had on the white dress shirt he’d worn with his suit earlier, but he’d untucked it and removed his tie. I tightened my hold around him. Through the thin material of his shirt, the heat of his body brought mine alive with passion. I needed to be even closer to him. I wished I could crawl inside him.
“No one knows I’m here. And I won’t tell if you don’t tell,” I whispered.
He caressed my hair. “I think you should get some sleep.”
“No, let me stay.” I pouted. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
His face relaxed into a little smile. “Somehow I doubt that.”
“You won’t regret it. I promise,” I said, low and smoky.
I covered his lips with mine. At first, he didn’t respond, but before long he returned my kiss with equal fervor. I moaned softly into his mouth and brought my hands up to his chest, where I unbuttoned his shirt.
Sergei broke from our kiss. “Em.”
I continued to fumble with the buttons. “I don’t wanna stop anymore,” I said breathlessly.
He gently grasped my wrists. “You’re drunk, and you don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know what I want.” I reached up to kiss him.
He stepped back, still holding my wrists. “Em, we can’t do this. You’d regret it, and you’d hate me for letting it happen.”
I jostled my hands away from him and spoke with a shaky slur, “You say you want me, but now you’re pushing me away.”
“You know how I feel about you.” He cradled my face, his thumbs brushing my cheeks. “Sometimes I think I might lose my mind I want you so much. But not like this.”
The love in his eyes only made me desire him more. I slid my arms around him. “I just wanna be close to you.”
His shoulder made an inviting pillow for my spinning head. We stood quietly as Sergei rubbed my lower back, his strong hands so tender. I couldn’t ignore the heat stirring within me.
Lifting my head slowly, I touched my lips to Sergei’s jaw and trailed a line of supple kisses down his neck to his chest. Resting against his smooth skin was the pendant I’d given him. I ran my fingers over it and slipped my hand inside his opened shirt.
“Em, we can’t do this.” Sergei’s voice held much less conviction.
My palm skimmed across his chest, his heart pounding under my touch. I was dizzy with emotions I didn’t know how to control. The vodka had washed out the connection between my brain and my body like a flooded road in a storm.
Sergei buried his face in my hair, whispers of my name on his lips. I lowered my caress to the tight muscles of his abdomen and felt the unmistakable response of his body. The burning flame of desire in my stomach exploded into a raging wildfire.
Without warning, Sergei pulled away and showed his back to me. “You need to go.”
The sound of our heavy breathing filled the quiet room. Sergei stood with one hand on the back of his neck, and his shoulders rose and fell with each breath. I waited, hoping he would turn around and tell me everything was okay.
Receiving no such reaction, I walked on unsteady legs to the door. I hesitated in the doorway, but with still no movement from Sergei, I continued forward.
The warmth of the hallway suffocated me. I rode the elevator down to the lobby with the goal of fresh air. A group of people streamed out of the bar, but their faces were a blur. I ducked my head and weaved toward the double glass doors of the hotel’s front entrance.
The chilly night air slapped my face. I steadied myself against the stone wall and ambled down the sidewalk away from the lights of the entrance. The concrete base of a large planter looked like a good place to sit. I collapsed onto it and
bent over. The spinning in my head slowed to a lazy whirl, and my senses regained some of their clarity.
A siren wailed in the distance, the only sound to hit my ears until footsteps shuffled on the pavement. A figure stopped in front of me, and I raised my head.
Viktor’s eyes pierced through the darkness. “You don’t look so good, Emily.”
I massaged my temples and groaned, “Why are you always around?”
“I saw you in the lobby and thought you could use some help.” His sinister tone told me I wouldn’t like the kind of help he was offering.
“Please leave me alone.” I stood up and swayed, and Viktor put his arm around me. I pushed him with my forearm, but he didn’t budge. “I told you not to touch me!”
“Why is that?” He backed me against the wall. “Because you’re spoken for?”
“Because I’m not interested,” I said through gritted teeth.
He gave me a lecherous and intimidating glare that chilled my spine. “I’m curious. How did Sergei do it? How did he get you into his bed?”
Shivers overtook my body. I clamped my hands around my arms to stop the shaking.
“I’m not sleeping with him,” I said with a quiet insistence.
“Don’t try to deny it. I went to your house before the Final to talk to you about the trip, and you and Sergei were outside in each other’s arms. I saw you from the street, so I turned around and left. Figured I shouldn’t interrupt your little moment together,” he snickered.
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you think you saw, but you’re wrong.”
I tried to wiggle away from him, but he blockaded me to the wall with his arms. “I don’t think I am. And if you want me to keep your secret, you need to make it worth my while.” He pressed himself against me, and I stiffened with fear. “Why should Sergei have all the fun?”
“Leave me alone!” I twisted my shoulders in an attempt to wrench myself free.
Viktor started to pull me around the dark edge of the building. I struggled to release my arms, but all the twisting and turning had made me dizzy again. Terror shot through me as I realized I was losing the battle. We were about to round the corner when a voice broke through the night.
“Get off of her!”
Sergei reached us in a flash and pushed Viktor away from me. His eyes darted across my face as he put his hands on my shoulders. “Are you okay?” When I nodded, he barked at Viktor, “What are you doing?”
Viktor straightened his suit jacket and said coolly, “I was just having a chat with Emily.”
“This didn’t look like a chat,” Sergei said.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve accusing me of something when you’re the one sleeping with your student.”
Sergei’s body became one large, clenched muscle as he moved toward Viktor. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you. All that time you spend together . . .” Viktor leered at me. “I’d be all over her, too.”
Sergei reared back his fist and struck Viktor in the jaw. I gasped and covered my mouth as Viktor staggered from the blow. Sergei didn’t give him a chance to recover before he slammed his back against the wall.
“Don’t ever talk about her that way again,” Sergei seethed, his face inches from Viktor’s. “Don’t look at her, don’t speak to her, don’t touch her. Am I clear?”
Viktor shoved Sergei’s chest. “I’m sure a lot of people will be interested to know the very personal attention you’re giving Emily.”
I clutched Sergei’s forearm, holding back another punch. “And I’m sure everyone would like to know what a creep you are and how you harassed me.”
Viktor rubbed his jaw. “All I did was try to help a girl who’d had too much to drink. You misunderstood. And if you try to start trouble, then I have my own story to tell about you and your boyfriend here.”
“You don’t have proof of anything,” Sergei said.
“I don’t need proof to get people to start asking questions.”
Sergei got back into Viktor’s face. “What is it you want? Why are you doing this?”
“I want to see you squirm,” Viktor sneered. “You’ve had it too easy. The first pair you touch turns to gold. You need to sweat a little.”
“You don’t like me, fine. But Em and Chris don’t deserve to be hurt by your pathetic jealousy. They’ve put in all the work to get to this point.”
“I’m not jealous of you. Although, you do have a pretty nice deal going.” Viktor gave me another smirk that prickled my skin. “Do you coach Emily in the bedroom, too?”
“Son of a . . .” Sergei lurched forward, but I threw my arms around him.
“Don’t,” I pleaded. As much as Viktor deserved it, beating him senseless wouldn’t help the situation.
Pure evil lined Viktor’s laugh. “You’d better listen to her. I’m not going to charge you with assault because there are much more interesting ways I can ruin you.” He walked backwards toward the entrance. “You just won’t know if or when I’m going to make my move.”
I gulped and began to shiver again. Sergei’s brow knotted, and he ran his hands over the goose bumps on my arms. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. Everything around me was still a little hazy but clear enough to sense the trouble left in Viktor’s wake.
“How did you know I was out here?” I asked.
“I called your room to make sure you got there okay, and Aubrey said she hadn’t seen you. I figured you couldn’t have gone far.”
“I wanted to get some air, and Viktor followed me. I tried to fight him off, but everything was spinning . . .” A sob stuck in my throat, and I put my hands over my face.
Sergei hugged his arm around me. “Let’s go around to the back entrance.”
He guided me around the building and through the rear of the lobby to the elevators. In my room, Aubrey had passed out on her bed still in her dress. Sergei and I stood just inside the door, holding each other in silence.
“I’m so sorry about earlier when I told you to leave,” he said. “I wasn’t angry with you. I just couldn’t let you stay another minute because . . . something was going to happen.”
“You’re apologizing?” I picked my head up, too fast, and blinked a few times to focus. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I tell you I’m not going to sleep with you, and then I throw myself at you.”
“You weren’t yourself. I should’ve walked you back here before it got to that.” He brushed my hair away from my face.
“A lot of guys wouldn’t have stopped it from happening.” I hugged his neck and mumbled into his collar, “So, thank you.”
“If I just would’ve walked you to your room, then you wouldn’t have seen Viktor.”
“I really messed up,” I cried.
“No, this isn’t your fault. He was planning to get at us before tonight.”
Tears dripped from my eyes. Why was this happening? We’d overcome so many obstacles and were on the brink of seeing all our dreams come true. We should be having the time of our lives, planning for the Olympics. Instead, we had to hold our breath and hope Viktor wouldn’t wield his vengeful dagger.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Back home from Nationals, I practiced every day with a persistent knot in my stomach, worried what Viktor might do next. Sergei attempted to ease my anxiety, saying Viktor was all talk and trying to distract us from our Olympic preparations. After a week passed with no incident, I felt more hopeful he was right.
The weekend marked our one-year anniversary as a couple, so Sergei and I planned a night of good distraction to celebrate the occasion. I offered to make dinner at my house since Aubrey would be spending the evening with her parents. After I finished grocery shopping, I pulled into my parking lot and found Sergei’s car already there. The clock on my dashboard told me he was an hour early.
Sergei opened the door as I balanced the large brown paper bag on my hip.
“Did I tell you the wrong time?” I asked.
He took the groceries from my arms and gave me a kiss. “I just couldn’t wait to see you. Aubrey let me in before she left.”
I grinned and placed a delicate kiss at the corner of his mouth. “You are so sweet. Do you mind waiting for me to change before I start dinner?”
“Not at all. I can chop, slice, peel, whatever you need me to do.” He peeked into the bag.
In the kitchen, I set him up with the zucchini, yellow squash, and a cutting board. He started slicing while I put the shrimp, the other ingredient for my linguine dish, in the fridge. I gave him one more kiss before I dashed upstairs.
Once I’d changed my look from afternoon-errand-running Emily into evening-date-ready Emily, I emerged from my room, straightening the cropped jacket over my silky top. A surprising cold breeze hit me, and I noticed the sliding door to the terrace was ajar. I stepped through the doorway, and my hand went to my mouth at the sight before me.
Petite candles lined the terrace railing, creating a dreamy glow on the snow-covered patio. A path of red rose petals directed me from the door to the table, where four larger candles burned the scent of lavender. Centered between the candles was the Lyrics book.
I smiled and picked up the book. A silver heart-shaped bookmark stood between two pages and pointed to the song “When We Dance,” where red curvy brackets surrounded two particular lines.
As I read the lyrics, my head whirled, and I leaned against the table for support. I stared at the words, reading them again and again until the door shut behind me, snapping me out of my daze. I turned, and Sergei moved toward me in slow motion.
He gently pried the book from my hands and laid it on the table, his eyes not leaving mine. As he grasped my left hand in his, he placed one knee on the icy wooden floor boards.
I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me. My short and quick breaths showed in the frosty air. Sergei gazed up at me with hope, love, and a touch of nervousness. The candlelight shimmered in his eyes like sunlight on the ocean.
Sergei squeezed my hand and took a deep breath. “When you walked into my life, I felt an immediate connection to you. I thought it meant we were destined to work together, but it was more, so much more than I ever expected. One minute you were a friend, and then the next, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to be with you every minute of every day. I wanted to know everything about you. I wanted to hold you in my arms and look into your beautiful blue eyes and tell you how you’d stolen my heart.”
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