Matthieu pushed up his glasses, blowing out a long breath. “Well, yes. That’s true. I suppose I could give you some notes.”
“Really? That would be incredible. I’d owe you big time.”
Head high, Matthieu made a little flicking motion with his fingers. “You’re not getting paid more for doing extra routines, though.”
“Of course not,” Theo agreed. “You’re doing me a favor.”
Matthieu turned his attention back to Bree and me, his lips flattening. “I suppose you can do the group numbers alone, Etienne. I don’t like not having an ice dance solo routine, but Theo’s much more popular. So it’s fine for today. Get better, Brianna.”
With that order, he turned on the heel of his shiny leather shoes and strode off. Theo rolled his eyes, and the rest of the skaters gaped. Crouching in front of Bree, Theo gave her a smile, his cute dimples pitting his freshly shaved cheeks. He was gay, and if it wasn’t for Sam…
How ridiculous was that? Sam was my best friend! Not into guys! Not into me! Maybe I should try it with Theo.
“Don’t worry,” Theo said to Bree, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’ll handle that jerk. Rest up.”
A tear spilled down her cheek. “Thank you.”
Another skater said, “Wow. I was afraid he’d end up firing all three of you.”
Theo scoffed. “I’m the reigning world champion. He’s not firing me. And he needs an ice dance team. I wouldn’t let him fire you even if he did try,” he said to me and Bree. “My agent knows the billionaire who owns this place. Don’t worry, okay?” He stood. “Now I just need to come up with a new show program. Suggestions?”
“You don’t actually have one?” I asked, my voice rising and adrenaline spiking.
He shrugged. “I’ll do a few back flips and shake my ass. Want to help me come up with something?”
As the cast put our heads together and tried to find a short song that would fit in with the show, Tim came to walk Bree back and put her to bed. I told myself it was a good thing Sam was off having fun with a pretty girl since I’d be way too busy in between shows helping Theo polish the new routine. Yep. It was a good thing.
Now I just had to believe it.
Chapter Five
Sam
I paced the hotel lobby under the gigantic Christmas tree. If there was an earthquake, that thing would be deadly. Not that there would likely be an earthquake. Why was I worrying about earthquakes?
Why was I worrying about anything? I was all tied up in knots for no good reason. Etienne had texted that Bree was doing better, and Tim had confirmed. Etienne had also said the shows went well, and now I was waiting for him so we could get dinner.
I’d told him to change into nice clothes even though I felt under-dressed in my jeans, Timberlands, and black sweater. The sweater was doing the heavy lifting, but Alice had assured me I looked fine for the hotel lounge. I’d checked my coat, and it was a little chilly every time people came and went through the wide revolving glass door.
I still felt weird taking the vouchers from her and using them on Etienne. But she’d insisted she was sick of the hotel’s food and needed to get up early for work. She’d also mentioned that I’d talked about Etienne all day and clearly needed some “quality time” with him.
Which, yeah, I did. It was the whole point of this trip. She’d winked when she’d said it, so I guessed it was funny? I felt like my brother, who struggled sometimes to understand other people’s humor. Maybe it was a Quebec thing.
Honestly, I was still pissed at Etienne. Snowboarding had been fun, and it had worked out since Etienne had been busy with the shows, but the way he’d been so eager to get rid of me that morning had bugged me.
Then Etienne was striding toward me in dark skinny jeans, leather boots, and a gray pea coat with red scarf knotted in a way I could never get to look good. He smiled—a real one, not a skating smile.
“Where’s your coat?” he asked.
“Checked it. We’re doing the lounge for dinner.”
His eyebrows rose. “It’s pricey, eh?”
“I’ve got an in with Alice. Don’t worry.”
“Ah, right.” He smiled again, this one more of a grimace. “Where is she?” He gazed around as if expecting her to appear.
“Oh, she gave me vouchers for the lounge. She’s at her place in the village.”
His face weirdly blank, Etienne asked, “Did you go there?”
“The lounge? Not yet. It’s just around the corner though.”
“Alice’s place.”
“Oh. No, it wasn’t like that. Snowboarding was dope, though. Guess if you want to get rid of me again, I can give it another try. Lift tickets are wild, but my parents would probably cover it.”