Page 31 of Desperate Pucker
“Madeline, this is the least you could do for your fans. You were beloved by them for years. You still are. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil what could be a rewarding experience.”
Anger and frustration collide inside of me. He just doesn’t get it. But how could he? He wasn’t there for the worst of it. He watched me skate at the Olympics. That night, he stopped by my hotel room for a couple of minutes, said I did a good job overall, then jetted off.
He didn’t ask how I felt. He didn’t ask what I was going through.
He wasn’t by my side at those events, hearing the awful things people said to my face. And when I told him about it, he just brushed it off. He said, “Don’t let a bunch of strangers get you down,” then changed the subject. Like he was uninterested in my pain. Like he didn’t even care.
He has no idea how broken I was—I still am.
I look at him, swallowing back the urge to cry. “You don’t understand what I went through, Dad. You didn’t even bother to ask how I was doing after my breakdown.”
His eyes widen, like it’s just now occurring to him to ask me that.
“I just wasn’t sure how to handle it, Madeline. You were really upset.” His brow wrinkles like he’s thinking hard about what he’s trying to say. “If you want to talk about it now…”
“Forget it.”
I walk out of my office and down the hall toward the stairwell. I run down the stairs to the parking lot, tears burning in my eyes the whole time.
Chapter 13
Ryker
“You’re not accelerating as quickly as you need to be,” Maddy says sternly as she watches me skate across the ice.
I pump my legs faster to speed up.
She frowns and shakes her head. “You’re using your edges on your glide leg. Quit doing that. It creates a drag and slows you down.”
“It’s kinda hard to get used to,” I mutter.
“I don’t care how hard it is. You need to do it.”
I correct my technique and try again. Her disappointed frown doesn’t budge.
“Use your edges on your push leg, Ryker.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re not,” she says, impatience dripping from her tone. “You’re still using your edges on your glide leg. And your glide leg needs to be straighter.”
I wipe the sweat from my brow and try again.
“Keep your glide leg straight,” she hollers.
My muscles ache as I straighten out my leg. I mutter a curse under my breath.
This is my second skating lesson with Maddy, and she’s been riding me from the second I stepped on the ice. She’s been in a hell of a mood today. Not even a hello when I skated up to her. Just dived right into drills, which have been kicking my ass for the last forty-five minutes
Not that I was expecting her to greet me with a smile and a high-five or anything like that. But the last time I saw her was at Spanky’s a couple of weeks ago when we stood at the bar and had our first conversation that wasn’t an argument. It was actually pleasant. Even though we talked about her shitty ex, I saw a different side of her. A softer, more vulnerable side. I even got her to like Coke. It felt like things between us were different. Better.
But judging by how relentless she’s been with me today, that was a one-off. Maddy isn’t interested in being soft right now, just a hardass.
“Ryker, your form is sloppy.”
I ignore her and keep skating.
“Keep that leg straight.”
