Because technology was great, but it wasn’t the same as seeing your best friend in person. Hugging him. Smelling his cologne—a fresh, ocean/rosemary scent that Bree bought for him every Christmas because she loved the smell. They joked that even once they retired, she’d still send him a bottle or else he’d go back to the drug store Adidas scent he used to wear.
The one she gave him was Armani. Not super expensive but still nice. When my mom made rosemary mashed potatoes last year at Thanksgiving, I kept thinking about hugging Etienne.
“Sam?”
I realized Alice had stopped and was staring at me. I said, “Uh-huh?”
“This way.” She motioned to a long, glass-enclosed walkway strung with golden fairy lights, red bows and holly dangling from timber beams overhead. It was a little cooler in the walkway, but it was still heated.
“Wow,” I said as we continued. The floor by the conference room had been carpeted, but this glass connection to the arena was the same marble as the lobby. My Timberland boots squeaked. “Mopping must be someone’s full-time job.”
She smirked. “Yep.”
I could see lit cabins in the distance behind the hotel complex, and Alice explained that the resort had a hotel in the main building with the lobby as well as self-contained cabins in different sections on the property.
Inside the arena, Alice talked to a guy in a suit, and before long I was seated in the back row. There were only ten rows of seats and no boards around the ice, so it felt quite small. Not in a bad way, though. It was… What was the right word? Intimate.
The seats were padded and actually comfortable, which was a minor miracle. I unzipped my puffy jacket, giving the old woman beside me an apologetic smile as I fidgeted. Most people must have come through the glass walkway since they weren’t wearing coats. The seats were comfy, but there still wasn’t a lot of elbow room. I was on the aisle at least, and a free ticket to see Etienne was an awesome Christmas present.
The lights dimmed, and the opening bells of “All I Want for Christmas is You” chimed. As the song kicked into gear, a skater wearing tight red pants and a painted-on green tee burst out of the curtained access tunnel with a wide grin. I blinked in surprise to see Theo Sullivan, my brother’s nemesis. I didn’t think this show had any big headliners.
Not that Etienne and Bree weren’t awesome, but they weren’t at the Stars on Ice tour level like Henry and Theo. Theo reeled off a triple Lutz-triple toe combo like it was nothing. Which I guess it was since he normally did quads.
His jumps were amazing—not that I’d ever say that in Henry’s earshot—and it was fun watching him play to the audience. Theo didn’t have the deep edges and flow that Henry did, but he could put on a show.
After Theo’s solo, the rest of the skaters took the ice for a group number to “Jingle Bell Rock.” There was Etienne, gliding out holding Bree’s hand. The male skaters all wore the same outfit as Theo while the women were in white-trimmed Santa dresses. I cheered for Etienne and Bree as they were announced, putting my fingers in my mouth and whistling.
The lady beside me gave me a strange look, but whatever. I was making sure my best friend got the applause he deserved. I watched Etienne and Bree in the corner of the rink performing their rotational helicopter lift, Bree sitting on his shoulder with her long legs extended forward and back as he spun.
The skaters met at one end of the ice, skating together down the rink in a choreographed sequence. Etienne was smiling and didn’t miss a step, but I could see that he was tense and thinking through it. They’d only learned the routine a few days ago.
I didn’t know how Etienne could breathe in that costume, let alone skate and shake his ass. The red pants did make his ass look great, though. Not that I was really looking or anything. I was used to him looking like a model in anything he wore.
The performance was seventy-five minutes with no intermission, which was perfect. It was a fun holiday show, and Etienne and Bree’s solo number to “Hallelujah” seemed to go over well with the crowd. It had been their exhibition routine last season and fit in well enough with the Christmas theme. All the skaters had their own routines to bring to a show so whoever was choreographing just had to do the group numbers and maybe a couple of others.
I noticed they’d modified one of their spins so that Bree was upright instead of bent with her head low by her foot. I hoped she wasn’t feeling dizzy again. Etienne had said she was doing better this week, but it was so up and down.