Then Esmeralda meowed so forcefully from behind the closed bathroom door that we startled. Theo burst out laughing, but I knew he wasn’t laughing at me. This wasn’t like my first time. He wasn’t like—
No. I refused to think about it. That belonged in the past. Theo was here with me now. I’d enjoyed the things we’d done together. That wasn’t a powerful enough word. It was more than mere “enjoyment.” Delight. Gratification. Euphoria.
Connection. Trust.
Tangled together in my bed with Theo’s warm laughter filling the air, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Too soon, we’d be leaving for Nationals and training every moment before Calgary. Even if the peace would be fleeting, tonight it was ours.
Theo grinned. “She probably thinks I murdered you. Can I give her treats?”
“In a minute.” Right now I needed to kiss him again.
Chapter Fourteen
Henry
“Theo? Your mom called my mom.” Ga-young held out a cell phone.
I could only watch as Theo muttered under his breath and took the phone, breathing deeply before he said, “Hi, Mom! Oh, did you? Sorry, I’ve been too busy. Janice and the camera crew are here.”
Mrs. Sullivan was extremely aware of this fact. She’d bombarded Theo’s phone with texts and calls since dawn. The nerve of her to bother Ga-young’s mother was astounding to me, but I’d witnessed it all from skating parents over the years.
“Aren’t you glad your folks leave the skating to you?” Bill murmured.
I nodded. My parents had spent tens of thousands on my lessons, costumes, and ice time when I was young and had attended many competitions to cheer me on, but they’d always said I could quit anytime.
In some ways, I think they’d have preferred it if I had, but they never pressured me either way. I made a mental note to thank them explicitly for that as I watched Theo pacing at the side of the ice in his guards.
He was saying, “Yes. Uh-huh. Yes, Mom. I know. Okay.”
“I wish he’d tell her to leave him alone,” I said quietly, hating the tension in Theo’s shoulders and the way he hunched as soon as he heard her voice.
Bill looked at me for so long that I shifted uncomfortably. I raised a quizzical brow.
He shrugged, but it was forced. “Just never thought I’d see the day you cared about Theo beyond resenting him for whatever new quad combo he’d mastered.”
I didn’t answer, forcing myself to look away. The camera crew from the American network were setting up to film footage of us practicing before the reporter interviewed Theo. I’d be doing my own interviews for the Canadian network soon.
In the two weeks since Christmas, he had all but moved into my condo. We trained hard every day before cooking healthy meals and treating all our aches and pains together. Theo often propped his twinging knee over my lap as we watched TV on my love seat. My freezer was full of our ice packs and portioned lunches.
A flare of desire twisted through me as I remembered waking him several hours ago in the darkness with sleepy kisses that quickly progressed to sucking him until he was shooting in my mouth and wide awake.
It was still surreal, to say the least. I’d never had a relationship. I’d never woken with another person in my arms or drooling on my chest or spooned behind me, warm and sometimes trapping my arm under us until I had pins and needles.
That it was Theodore Sullivan in my bed was almost beyond comprehension. My family hadn’t pressed for details—aside from Sam, who teased me daily—but it was clear to them Theo and I were more than training mates and competitors. That we were…
What, exactly? The Olympics were in weeks. We were keeping the elephants sequestered, and there was no room for discussing labels or the future. We’d agreed to indulge in whatever this was until we left for Calgary. Then we would compete against each other.
After that, the world might as well have been flat and ended in a sheer drop. Right now, there was nothing but the time we had left and the Games. I couldn’t allow myself to ponder any other future beyond.
Theo was still on the phone with his mother when the crew asked me to work on my jumps. As the cameras rolled, we took our positions, a crew member holding a boom mic over Bill and Manon where they stood by the side of the ice.
I gathered speed and performed my quad toe combo cleanly, returning to them so they could critique before I jumped again. We went on until Theo joined us, the cameraman focusing on him now.
He raced down the ice and reeled off a perfect quad Lutz—then turned and tacked on a triple Axel out of nowhere.
Everyone in the arena gasped and applauded. Even if the attention wasn’t on me anymore, I focused in on my quad Lutz, though I was only able to add a double toe on the end. My consistency had improved greatly, though.