Page 23 of Thrown for a Loop
“Well, fuck.”
Her eyes flash with humor. “I might have said that a few times myself.”
He takes another piece of pizza and eyes her thoughtfully. “So what happened?”
“The short story is that I fell.” She takes another bite.
“What’s the long story?”
She finishes her pizza and takes a sip of water. “The longer versionis that I was impulsive. I added a triple axel to my program right before nationals. Five million people watched me fall on that skill on TV, during the first thirty seconds of my free skate. And it kind of broke me. Like I couldn’t remember hownotto fall, so I did it twice more before it was over.”
His heart constricts, but only for a second. Zoe is too good an athlete to want his pity. “That sucks, Ice Princess. So what are you going to do about it?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” She leans back in her chair and folds her long arms behind her head. “Part of me wants to pack it in, especially when I read the comments on the internet. But fuck those guys. I still think I can win.”
“Zoe,” he says quietly. “When I watch you skate, I don’t get the feeling you’re finished. It looks to me like you’re just getting started.”
Her brown gaze finds his and holds it. “I think so, too,” she whispers. “Maybe it’s just ego, but I think I have a real shot. If I can shut out all the voices. All the armchair quarterbacks. And justskate.”
He leans back in his chair, and nobody says anything for a minute. But it’s the nice kind of silence—the comfortable kind. “I gotta say—I can’t imagine training for something that only happens every four years. I don’t envy you that. Five minutes and it’s, like, your whole career.”
“Four minutes,” she says with a slow smile. “The men have to go on for four and a half.”
“Hey—four and a half minutes isn’t very long for a guy.” He winks, and she groans.
Then she opens the pizza box and plucks out an olive, popping it into her mouth. “God, I couldmarrythis pizza. Thank you for this.”
“You’re welcome,” he says, his voice deepening. Her gratitudepuffs him up with some kind of weird caveman energy. As if he’d hunted this pizza down on the wild plains, pierced it in the neck, and dragged it back to the cave for his woman.
“What else did your mother use to say?” she asks quietly. “If you don’t mind me asking. She sounds more fun than my coach. I mean… you’ve met her.”
“Shewasfun,” he says immediately. “Even before competitions, she’d be cracking jokes and making everybody smile.”
“Did you really compete?” she asks, her eyes darting back to take him in. “I’m having trouble picturing it. What music did you use for your free skate?”
“Well, Zoe, I had impeccable taste, even as a child. My first routine was set to theGhostbusterstheme.”
He catches her mid-bite, and she narrowly avoids choking. “Wow.”
“In my defense, I was eight.” He waves his arms around. “Who ya gonna call…”
She smiles again, and it feels like winning the Super Lotto.
“My greatest hits also included aStar Warstheme, as well as thePirates of the Caribbean. But come on, now. You must have used something stupid at some point.”
“Oh, I wanted to,” she admits, grabbing her water for a swig. “But I got shot down. I gave everyone the silent treatment for a week when they wouldn’t let me use a Justin Timberlake song.”
“Uh-oh.” He cringes dramatically. “Which one? I need to know how bad an idea this really was.”
“‘My Love,’” she says with a nervous little smile. “I was twelve. At the time, I thought it was the highest expression of me as a person. Or maybe I just wanted to twerk on the ice and look cool.”
“Like you weren’t already the coolest girl at the party?Please.”
She gives him the side-eye. “I’m not sure you understand how cool works. I’m only cool when I’m skating, and sometimes noteven then. And forget parties. I was always getting up for six a.m. ice time, or driving to a competition.”
“Yeah, I know something about that,” he agrees, because the hockey practice schedule is pretty grueling, too. “That’s why the party has to be up here.” He taps his temple. “After a long day, you order a pizza for a pretty girl, you play some tunes. I can have fun wherever I am. And if I break a few rules? Even better.”
The compliment lands, and she blushes a rosy shade of pink. “Thank you for the pizza. I can pay you back.”
