“It’s what I’ve always been expected to do, so…”
“But if there are other things you’d rather pursue—”
“I should get going. I have to meet Steph.” He stepped back and moved toward the door. “Let me know if you want to practice again. Anytime.”
He gave me a smile and was gone before I could even reply. I stood looking at the door with what must’ve been a befuddled expression because the first thing Meredith said when she came outside was, “What’s that face all about? Did it not go well?”
“No, it was fine. He…” My body recalled the sensation of being held in Josh’s strong arms, and a tiny shiver shook me. “He gives good tango.”
“Oh, really?” She flashed a knowing grin. “So, he’s hot and a great dancer. That’s a pretty sweet combination.”
“And one that I will not be getting all mixed up with.” I held up both my hands.
“Why not? Because you compete against him? I watched you for a minute when you were dancing, and I saw a little somethin’ somethin’ between you.”
I’d felt a little somethin’ somethin’, but it was a moot point. “There’s a long list of reasons why nothing will be happening between Josh and me, and yes, him being a competitor is one of them. Not that there’s interest from either of us in going there.”
“You know if he was a regular guy you met here in town you’d be all over it. From what you’ve told me, he is so your type.”
Meredith was right. Whenever she and I went to the movies, I always fawned over the quiet, not-so-suave heroes while she went for the cocky, smooth-talking ones. I had to think of Josh like a character in a movie — completely unattainable.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s my type because we’re just acquaintances.”
“Hmm…” Meredith put her arm around me and steered me toward the door. “That’s a shame because you’d be awfully cute together.”
I shook my head at her, but I couldn’t help conjure up the image of Josh and me hand-in-hand as a couple. My head leaning against his shoulder and his crinkly-eyed smile beaming at me. Damn, we would be cute together.
Now I mentally shook my head at myself. Why did I always have to crush on the wrong guys?
Chapter Six
With my leg stretched across the bleachers, I shifted the ice pack on my knee and winced at the bite of cold on my skin. I’d somehow managed to land on my knee during a nasty fall on a triple toe loop, and Sergei had made me call it quits for the day. Mark continued to practice our jumps without me, but he wasn’t my focus as I watched the action on the ice.
Em was working with Josh and Stephanie on their long program, and Josh was helping create much of the choreography. Usually Em took charge of designing our programs, but I noticed her taking many of Josh’s suggestions. The ballet music of Daphnis and Chloe was perfect for Josh and Stephanie’s gorgeous lines, and they were planning to show them off with lots of spirals and other beautiful positions I wished I looked half as good doing.
“Hey, Kid.”
I hadn’t even seen Em’s former partner Chris enter the rink, and there he was standing at the bottom of the bleachers.
“Long time no see.” I started to get up to hug him, but he stopped me.
“I’ll come to you.” He climbed up and wrapped me in a bear hug. “Looks like you had a fun morning.”
“Slipped off my toe and had an awkward splat. It should be okay Monday, I think.”
“Want me to take a look at it?” he asked.
Chris was studying to be a sports trainer, and he liked to diagnose all our aches and pains when he visited, but I didn’t think this was anything worse than a bad bruise.
“That’s okay. It’s already feeling better with the ice.” I patted the pack of cubes. “Are you and Aubrey down for the weekend?”
“Yeah, we’re both taking a full class load in summer school, so we can only make it here on weekends. I think everyone else in Boston had the same plan with the traffic we were in this morning.”
“How are the wedding plans going? I think a New Year’s Eve wedding is uber romantic, by the way.”
“Well, it was the night we had our first kiss, so as Mr. Romance I had to insist we get married then.” He smiled, showing off his matching dimples.
“I’m glad you did. I’m going to need a party around that time to take my mind off the biggest competition of my life.”
“You and Mark are gonna kill it at nationals. Em’s told me how hard you’re working.”
I was glad to hear Em recognized the added intensity in our training. “Our programs are really coming together. It took a while for us to get comfortable with the tango for our short, but I feel so much better about it now.”
I hadn’t mentioned to anyone why I felt more comfortable with it. In the three weeks that had passed since my lesson with Josh, I’d continued to watch videos online, but the experience of doing the dance with him had made it much easier to grasp. It had also given me the memory of being close to him, feeling his strong hands guiding me. A memory that had been hard to shake.
“Just keep pounding it,” Chris said, bringing my attention back to the rink. “Day after day until it feels like you were born to do the programs. Then when it’s time for nationals, it’ll happen just like you practice every day.”
“I thought we were in position to do that four years ago, and we fell apart. I wanted it so bad that I completely locked up. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how I was so close to reaching the dream I’d had all my life.”
“I had that same feeling the first time Em and I were trying to make the Olympic team. It was like I was so tight I couldn’t breathe. But I just kept reminding myself that I could do the program in my sleep, and all I had to do was stop fighting myself. And we nailed it.” He grinned.
I looked up at the huge blue banner with Em and Chris’s names that hung above the rink. It was only one of a few banners bearing their names and accomplishments, but it was the biggest. The one with the Olympic rings emblazoned on it.
“Was being at the Olympics as amazing as you thought it would be?” I asked. “I mean, I know winning the gold medal had to be super amazing, but what about just the experience of being there? Em doesn’t talk to us about it much because she wants us to focus more on the process of getting there.”
He glanced at Em working on the ice and scooted closer to me. “You can’t tell her I told you this.”
I made a cross over my heart and mimed zipping my lips.
“Top three experiences of my life,” he said quietly. “Number one — falling in love with Aubrey.”
“Aww.”
“Number two — winning gold in Torino. And number three — walking in the Opening Ceremony at our first Olympics. It felt like… like I had the power to do anything in that moment. I know it sounds cliché, but I really was on top of the world.” His voice relayed the awe he’d experienced. “Trust me when I say it’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of and more.”
My throat tightened, and my eyes went back to the banner. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
****
My bruised knee had me hobbling that night at the restaurant, and I was still walking gingerly on Saturday. I was relieved when the usual dinner crowd trickled in slowly. Josh showed up as one of the early arrivals and perched on what had become his barstool. He’d been arriving earlier and earlier when he came to the restaurant, which was a couple times a week, and he’d also been staying later and later. I enjoyed talking to him, but it wasn’t helping my crush situation. Especially when he came in looking all sexy-but-not-knowing-it like tonight. He had on a black blazer, sleeves pushed up, over a white Beatles T-shirt. Dark jeans and Converse rounded out his outfit. Any guy who wore Converse scored extra points in my book.
I wiped my hands on my apron and carried the water pitcher over to Josh to refill his glass. He thanked me and peered over the bar.
“How’s your knee?” he asked.
“I
t’s still a little sore, but I’ll be back on the ice Monday. It sucked sitting out yesterday when we were having a really good practice before I fell.”
“You’ve been looking great on the tango.”
I smiled. “Thanks to my awesome teacher.”
His cheeks reddened, and he returned my smile. “I just got you started. You’ve done all the rest.”
Meredith breezed by with an order for a vodka sour, so I grabbed the cocktail shaker and scooped some ice. After filling it with vodka, sugar syrup, and lemon juice, I went back to Josh as I shook the mixture.
“I saw you yesterday working with Em on your choreography,” I said over the clacking of the shaker. “Have you always helped design your programs?”
“Just the last few years. Our old coach was pretty territorial and didn’t want to give up control, but she finally gave in when I wouldn’t stop bugging her with ideas.”
“From what I saw, you have some great ones.”
“Thanks. Emily’s awesome to work with. She makes us think about each movement in a way I hadn’t before. It’s giving me all kinds of new creative inspiration.”
“You sound really passionate about it.” I hesitated bringing up his career path after the way he’d reacted the last time I’d mentioned it, but I was hoping he’d open up more. “I know you said you’ve always been expected to be a lawyer, but if you have other talents…”
He took a long drink of water and slowly set down the glass. “My dad would probably disown me if I said I wasn’t going to law school. It’s a done deal anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve already been accepted at UCLA. They deferred my enrollment until next fall so I could come here.”
I didn’t like to think about Josh moving back to L.A. even though I knew it was going to happen. It was just one of the many reasons I should be trying harder to kill my attraction to him. How did a girl go about doing that, anyway?
I poured the cocktail into a glass and placed it on the edge of the bar for Meredith. A couple of customers required my attention, so it was a few minutes before I returned to Josh with another question.
“Have you ever told your dad how you feel about—”
“You know anyone who can play the piano?” my boss Ronnie boomed at me as he came out of the kitchen. “Barry’s sick.”
“Uhh…”
Josh slowly raised his hand. “I know how to play.”
Ronnie stared hard at him. “You any good?”
“I’ve… I’ve been playing since I was a kid.”
Ronnie gave him another long look. “Well, you’re the only option I got. We’ll take care of your dinner, and you can keep all your tips.”
“I can pay for dinner.”
“Nonsense. You give me a couple hours work, I give you a free meal.”
“Sounds fair to me,” I piped in.
Josh nodded. “I can start in a few minutes.”
“Barry’s sheet music is in the piano bench,” Ronnie said. “If you know any other popular songs, feel free to get creative. Just keep in mind who your audience is.”
Josh and I smiled at each other, knowing very well the crowd’s demographic. Ronnie moved from behind the bar to greet two regulars, and I turned to Josh with my arms folded and my head cocked to the side.
“So, you’re an athlete, a dancer and a musician? If you tell me you’re a skilled artist, I’m gonna have to hate you.”
He laughed. “I can barely draw a stick figure.”
“Whew.” I swiped my hand across my forehead.
“Even if I was the next Picasso, though, I wouldn’t have told you.” He paused and held my gaze. “I don’t like the idea of you hating me.”
My stomach fluttered. Josh didn’t often make extended eye contact, but whenever he locked those sinfully blue eyes on mine, I became a mesmerized puddle of swoon.
“I um… I could never really hate you.” I broke away from his gaze as my heart beat in double time, and I scrambled to laugh off the whole thing. “You’re too good a tipper.”
I zoomed away and kept myself busy with the other bar patrons, not returning to Josh’s spot until he’d departed for the piano. I picked up his empty plate and found underneath it my tip and a beverage napkin containing a doodle. Looking closer, I saw it was a stick figure person playing a very lopsided piano. Written below it was — Any requests?
I grinned and slipped the napkin into the pocket of my apron. After clearing the dishes, I plucked a dollar bill from my purse and went over to the piano.
“There shall be no judgment passed on my request.” I dropped the money into the empty glass on the piano. “I’d like to hear ‘Over the Rainbow.’”
His eyebrows rose with amusement. “Wizard of Oz fan?”
“I was obsessed with it as a child. I drew a yellow brick chalk road down the sidewalk by my house. There was also a very unhealthy attachment to a stuffed dog named Toto, but I digress…”
Josh chuckled, and I continued, “I know the sheet music for the song should be here because I’ve heard Barry play it.”
He cracked his knuckles. “I don’t think I’ll need it.”
He set his fingers lightly on the keys and rattled off the first few bars before looking up at me with a smile. I rested my elbows on the shiny black lid of the piano and leaned forward.
“You really know that song by heart?”
“If I tell you something, you promise not to hate me?”
Dude, if you only knew how far I was from hating you.
“You’re some kind of musical savant, aren’t you?” I asked.
“I have this thing where I can learn music by ear and never forget it.”
“And I ask you again — why are you going to be a lawyer?”
“Courtney!” one of the waiters called to me from the bar.
“Oops, I gotta go. I’ll be waiting for my song!”
I scrambled back to my post and hurriedly filled the drink order waiting for me. Josh looked very serious as he flipped through the song book. Soon the sounds of dinner chatter and clinking utensils were joined by the melodic tinkling of the piano, and I immediately recognized the song as “I Could’ve Danced All Night.”
Mrs. Cassar, one of our weekend regulars, slid onto a barstool and spun it so she faced the piano. “I’ve seen that boy here before.”
She was a brassy lady who always cracked me up, a widow who wanted to spend all her husband’s money in as many creative ways as possible.
“His name is Josh. He actually skates at my rink.”
“He’s simply adorable.” She ogled him shamelessly. “I could put him on a cracker.”
I giggled and poured Mrs. Cassar’s customary glass of merlot. She took the glass in hand, but her eyes never left Josh.
“If he skates as well as he plays piano, he must be marvelous,” she said between sips.
“He does. He and his sister are a really beautiful pair.”
“He skates with his sister? Isn’t pairs skating supposed to be romantic?” She breathed out the last word, which made it sound rather comical.
I snorted. “Mark and I have never been romantic. We’ve tried and failed to pull that off on the ice.”
“You should team up with him.” She pointed at Josh. “If I was fifty years younger, I’d strap on a pair of skates and grab him myself.”
“It’s a little too late for us to change partners,” I said, still laughing. “The Olympics are in seven months.”
As I went down the line, checking on my customers, I thought about Mrs. Cassar’s idea of Josh and me skating together. I knew what dancing with him felt like. Skating with him might send me into sensory shock.
When I heard the opening notes of “Over the Rainbow,” I turned to the piano and Josh sent me a bright-eyed smile across the room. I felt my own face lighting up, and I couldn’t stop grinning as I filled the sudden barrage of drink orders.
Mrs. Cassar went over to talk to Josh between songs, and I not
iced he had the attention of many of the other women in the room. His tip glass was already overstuffed. Barry didn’t get that much love in an entire night.
As Josh resumed playing, Mrs. Cassar returned to her barstool and smoothed her wrinkled hand over her fiery red hair.
“He’s a very polite young man,” she said. “Turns out we’re almost neighbors in Hyannisport. I told him to call me if he ever needs anything.”
“Like a cup of sugar?” I joked.
“Or some other kind of sugar.” Her penciled eyebrows danced.
I burst into laughter and could only shake my head. I roared even harder when she stopped by the piano later on her way out and patted Josh’s cheek. The redness on his face was visible from across the room. I was itching to tease him about it when he met me at the bar at closing time.
“I heard you got a phone number tonight.” I giggled. “Mrs. Cassar is quite a fan.”
He turned pink again as he laughed. “She’s an interesting character.”
Ronnie walked up and slapped Josh on the shoulder. “Great job tonight. Plenty people asked if you’d be back.”
“Sure. If you ever need me to fill in, I’d be glad to.”
“How about playing on Thursday nights? Same deal — I’ll pay for your dinner.”
Josh thought about it for only a few seconds. “Yeah, I can do that. There’ll be some weeks where I have skating stuff, but I can give you my schedule.”
Even more time I’d be spending with him. Common sense fought the giddy feeling bubbling inside me, but it was losing badly.
Ronnie bid us goodnight, and I slung my purse over my shoulder. “Look at you, scoring a regular gig.”
“Maybe I can slowly work in some cooler music… make Thursdays the most happening night of the week here.”
“Is Stephanie going to wonder why your dinners last hours?”
He shrugged. “She knows I like to get out of the house.”
I was pretty sure he hadn’t told her he’d been hanging out at my place of employment multiple times a week. If he had, she would’ve been giving me even dirtier looks than her usual glares, and she probably would’ve treated me to another lecture about how I wasn’t good enough for her brother.
Crossing the Ice Page 6