Page 116 of My Last Dance

Kappy leaned overmymic and his deep chuckle filled the air. “And that’s it for today. Thanks, guys! To all my hockey fans out there, make sure you tune in to cheer us on.” He winked at the camera.

Grabbing my hand, he practically yanked me out of my chair before I could say another word.

He continued at a breakneck pace until we were out of the ballroom.

“Okay, slow down,” I said, struggling to keep up with him in my pumps.

“You really needed the NHL’s media training, you know that?” He blew out a sigh. “They scared us within an inch of our lives not to say anything too…” he trailed off.

My eyebrows drew down. “Anything too…?”

“Sassy,” Patrick finished for him. “Good save.” He clapped Kappy on the back, then pointed a finger at me. “You’re a liability.”

Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest. Now that the shaky anger was leaving my body and I could actually think straight, I regretted my words.

“She was trying to rattle you,” Kappy said.

Shedidrattle me.

I let out a groan. “Was it bad?” I worried my bottom lip. Why couldn’t I control my stupid emotions? I was trying, damnit, I really was.

“Relax,” Kappy said with a laugh, breaking my mental spiral. “I stopped you before you got to the bad part.” He pulled me in front of him and massaged my shoulders. “You didn’t fling any drinks, so I’d say you’re improving, babe.”

“Ah, so she threw a drink at you, too,” Patrick muttered while typing away on his phone.

My shoulders fell. “That’s a pretty low bar.”

Kappy’s body rumbled with a chuckle. “What’s next?” he asked Patrick.

Patrick tucked his phone in his back pocket. “Let’s get the health check-in over with. C’mon.” He started walking down the hall, but Kappy’s body locked up.

Noticing that we hadn’t moved, Patrick turned back around. “They make all athletes complete a blood and pee test just in case they win and are chosen to represent the US in the Olympics. They want to avoid any potential snags. C’mon,” he said again.

Kappy pulled a face. “Do we have to?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I said, looking up at him in question.

“I hate needles,” he whispered down to me. “This blows.”

My heart melted a bit. “It’ll be over quick. I’ll even hold your hand.”

He dropped a chaste kiss on my lips. “Okay, let’s get it over with, I guess.”

__________

The next afternoon, we clinched second place with our ‘70’s Mamma Mia themed Rhythm Dance.

The high from our amazing skate left me with too much energy, and I couldn’t sleep.

Kappy, who was again sleeping in my hotel room, was sprawled out on his side of the bed, lightly snoring. I suspected his love language was physical touch, because even though he was a furnace in his sleep, he still had to be touching me in some small way. Tonight, his feet were tangled with mine. Each time I tried todetangle us, he woke back up, so I eventually left it alone.

Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I pulled up our program from earlier so I could listen to the broadcasters and the crowd. I wanted to soak it all in one more time.

“I’ve never seen this kind of skating from Piper,” Sasha, the former figure skating champ turned broadcaster said into her mic. “Who would’ve thought a hockey player would help her level up? Who would’ve thought a hockey player would even be able to do a single twizzle, let alone nail a whole ice dance program?” She let out an incredulous laugh.

“I think you’re forgetting he’s a professional athlete,” Charlie, her co-host said. “He’s got all the athletic prowess in the world, and he’s been on the ice since he could walk, too.”

“True. She just floats into these lifts like they’re the easiest thing in the world for him. It’s amazing to watch.”

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