“You’re not helping me,” I told him, and I rubbed the talismans on the bottom of my skate even harder.
“You two are up,” one of the production assistants called.
“Let’s do this,” Ty told me. He put an arm around my waist as we headed to the curtained staging area.
“Thirty seconds,” the assistant whispered to us.
“You ready?” Ty murmured in my ear. It sent shivers through my body. He raised his fist, and I gave him a fist-bump back, and then we did the motions of his lucky handshake.
I smiled at him. “Juju is now in place.”
“We are going to kick ass,” he told me. Then he took my hand, and we skated out onto the center of the ice.
Our beginning ‘pose’ started with the two of us together. I stood in front of Ty, and his arms were wrapped around mine. As soon as the music began, we began to skate, the low notes soft and deceivingly smooth. No one was making a sound as we danced and skated our way around the ice, preparing for the first lift.
Then it began. The familiar, haunting chorus of Jaws with the ominous notes. As soon as it started, Ty raised me into the first lift, and I moved over him, my body flat, one of my legs raising into the air. The lights in the stadium had gone dim, and a spotlight shone on our lift.
The flaps in my pants were now undone, and when I raised my leg into the air, I did so slowly, even as Ty lifted me higher. With the gray of my costume and skate cover, and the surge of our movements, it mimicked the rising of a dorsal fin into the air.
There were ripples of shock and laughter in the audience, and then cheers.
The routine continued on. Ty gracefully let me down onto the ice and we clasped hands, moving to the music in a fluid motion that we’d practiced hard to make look so incredibly easy. Then, the crescendo rose again, and we did another “dorsal fin lift.” This time, there were wild cheers from the audience.
I tilted my leg forward, and did a slow flip down Ty’s front, landing on my skates as we began to dance once more. The hardest parts of the routine were done, and now we just needed to finish well. I’d added a spin for myself at the end, and Ty raised an arm over my head as I started to spin around like a top. I curved my leg in, whirling faster and faster as Ty continued to skate a wider circle around me. The swing of my specially-made pants flared outward; the dual colors making the spin more visually stunning than it really was.
The last few notes of our routine hit. I slammed to a stop and dropped into a dramatic dip. As we’d practiced, Ty was there to catch me inches before I smacked onto the ice, his hand behind my shoulders. We froze, waiting for the audience reaction.
There was a roar of applause.
Breathing hard, I grinned up at Ty, and we both got to our feet. I put my hand in his, and we waved at the audience. They were standing up. A giddy wave of excitement shot through me, and I gave Ty a triumphant look. See? We didn’t suck after all.
Once the audience calmed down, Chip skated over to us.
Ty looped a casual arm around my shoulder, leaning in over my shoulder as I moved in next to the host.
“Well, that was original,” Chip said with a laugh. “It’s a big change from last week.”
“We decided to take things into our own hands a bit more,” I said with a smile, glancing over at Ty. “Show off our personalities.”
“And Jaws does that?” Chip held the microphone out to us, waiting for a response.
Ty leaned in closer to me, his breath on my neck. “It’s because I like to bite.”
And he gave my ear a friendly, playful nip.
My eyes went wide, even as the crowd roared their appreciation. Catcalls filled the air. I hadn’t expected his bite…or their reaction. Immediately, I blushed hard.
Thank god Chip didn’t see my reaction. He turned away, facing the panel of judges. “Let’s see what our panel thought of Ty and Zara’s interpretation of Jaws!”
Penelope’s mouth was thin, her arms crossed. She swiveled in her chair for a moment, and then picked up a score card. “Better than last week, but I’m still waiting to be wowed.”
It was a four.
I exchanged glances with Ty. Figure skating was full of all kinds of bullshit scoring, but this was getting ridiculous.
“Well, I loved it,” Irina said. “I thought it was playful and fun and very creative. We should see more routines like that.”
And she gave us an eight.
“I agree,” Raul said. “That was exciting and different. I’m impressed.”
He also gave us an eight.
I squeezed Ty’s hand excitedly. Our scores didn’t suck this time. It didn’t matter if we were in the middle of the pack as long as we weren’t last and we didn’t hose the popular vote.
We retreated backstage to the Crash Room. I sat down next to Ty on our bench and resisted the urge to rub my ear. It still tingled from his nip, and I was pretty sure my entire body was vibrating with intensity.
“That went well,” I said breathlessly. “I think they liked it. The audience, that is. Not the judges. They never like us. Well, at least not Penelope. But the other two gave us good marks,” I babbled.
He swiped at his face with a towel, and then nodded. “Yeah, it wasn’t bad.” He seemed so casual, as if it were every day that a guy just reached over and bit his partner’s ear on national television.
“You surprised me,” I blurted after a moment, unable to stand it any longer.
“Huh? Oh.” Ty chuckled. “Yeah. I figured it’d be good to get the audience on our side as much as possible, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Sorry if I freaked you out. I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“You didn’t…I wasn’t—”
But now he was looking at me curiously. “You do know I’d never hurt you, right, Zara? That shit with me…” He rubbed his chin. “That was just heat of the moment in the cage. It’s not really me.”
I knew about that sort of thing. So I nodded. “No, I get it. Don’t you worry about me.”
Just for show. Nibbling on my ear, purely for show. Was I impressed with how clever my partner was? Or incredibly disappointed that it wasn’t more personal?
~~ * ~~
The next night, we were the second couple marked as safe.
“I knew it!” I said to Ty triumphantly as we skated off the ice and into the production area. An assistant was there, holding our blade guards, and we popped them on quickly. “We’re here another week. That’s awesome. I’m so excited!”
Ty grinned at me. He wasn’t bubbling over with enthusiasm like I was, but he did seem pleased at our success. “We deserved it. You kicked ass.”
“You weren’t so bad yourself,” I said loftily. We headed to the changing area, and Ty put his hand on the small of my back to guide me through the sea of people moving around us, still moving frantically since the show was still on. At least our part was done. “I think that ear thing was inspired.”
“So was Jaws,” he told me. “We should go out and celebrate, you know.”
I felt a flutter of excitement at the thought. “Oh?”
“Yeah. Grab a bite to eat, get away from the whole gig for a few hours. Celebrate our awesomeness for a bit.” He grinned at me, so boyish and gorgeous that I couldn’t help but fall under his spell. “I think we could use some downtime.”
“You two are up,” one of the production assistants called.
“Let’s do this,” Ty told me. He put an arm around my waist as we headed to the curtained staging area.
“Thirty seconds,” the assistant whispered to us.
“You ready?” Ty murmured in my ear. It sent shivers through my body. He raised his fist, and I gave him a fist-bump back, and then we did the motions of his lucky handshake.
I smiled at him. “Juju is now in place.”
“We are going to kick ass,” he told me. Then he took my hand, and we skated out onto the center of the ice.
Our beginning ‘pose’ started with the two of us together. I stood in front of Ty, and his arms were wrapped around mine. As soon as the music began, we began to skate, the low notes soft and deceivingly smooth. No one was making a sound as we danced and skated our way around the ice, preparing for the first lift.
Then it began. The familiar, haunting chorus of Jaws with the ominous notes. As soon as it started, Ty raised me into the first lift, and I moved over him, my body flat, one of my legs raising into the air. The lights in the stadium had gone dim, and a spotlight shone on our lift.
The flaps in my pants were now undone, and when I raised my leg into the air, I did so slowly, even as Ty lifted me higher. With the gray of my costume and skate cover, and the surge of our movements, it mimicked the rising of a dorsal fin into the air.
There were ripples of shock and laughter in the audience, and then cheers.
The routine continued on. Ty gracefully let me down onto the ice and we clasped hands, moving to the music in a fluid motion that we’d practiced hard to make look so incredibly easy. Then, the crescendo rose again, and we did another “dorsal fin lift.” This time, there were wild cheers from the audience.
I tilted my leg forward, and did a slow flip down Ty’s front, landing on my skates as we began to dance once more. The hardest parts of the routine were done, and now we just needed to finish well. I’d added a spin for myself at the end, and Ty raised an arm over my head as I started to spin around like a top. I curved my leg in, whirling faster and faster as Ty continued to skate a wider circle around me. The swing of my specially-made pants flared outward; the dual colors making the spin more visually stunning than it really was.
The last few notes of our routine hit. I slammed to a stop and dropped into a dramatic dip. As we’d practiced, Ty was there to catch me inches before I smacked onto the ice, his hand behind my shoulders. We froze, waiting for the audience reaction.
There was a roar of applause.
Breathing hard, I grinned up at Ty, and we both got to our feet. I put my hand in his, and we waved at the audience. They were standing up. A giddy wave of excitement shot through me, and I gave Ty a triumphant look. See? We didn’t suck after all.
Once the audience calmed down, Chip skated over to us.
Ty looped a casual arm around my shoulder, leaning in over my shoulder as I moved in next to the host.
“Well, that was original,” Chip said with a laugh. “It’s a big change from last week.”
“We decided to take things into our own hands a bit more,” I said with a smile, glancing over at Ty. “Show off our personalities.”
“And Jaws does that?” Chip held the microphone out to us, waiting for a response.
Ty leaned in closer to me, his breath on my neck. “It’s because I like to bite.”
And he gave my ear a friendly, playful nip.
My eyes went wide, even as the crowd roared their appreciation. Catcalls filled the air. I hadn’t expected his bite…or their reaction. Immediately, I blushed hard.
Thank god Chip didn’t see my reaction. He turned away, facing the panel of judges. “Let’s see what our panel thought of Ty and Zara’s interpretation of Jaws!”
Penelope’s mouth was thin, her arms crossed. She swiveled in her chair for a moment, and then picked up a score card. “Better than last week, but I’m still waiting to be wowed.”
It was a four.
I exchanged glances with Ty. Figure skating was full of all kinds of bullshit scoring, but this was getting ridiculous.
“Well, I loved it,” Irina said. “I thought it was playful and fun and very creative. We should see more routines like that.”
And she gave us an eight.
“I agree,” Raul said. “That was exciting and different. I’m impressed.”
He also gave us an eight.
I squeezed Ty’s hand excitedly. Our scores didn’t suck this time. It didn’t matter if we were in the middle of the pack as long as we weren’t last and we didn’t hose the popular vote.
We retreated backstage to the Crash Room. I sat down next to Ty on our bench and resisted the urge to rub my ear. It still tingled from his nip, and I was pretty sure my entire body was vibrating with intensity.
“That went well,” I said breathlessly. “I think they liked it. The audience, that is. Not the judges. They never like us. Well, at least not Penelope. But the other two gave us good marks,” I babbled.
He swiped at his face with a towel, and then nodded. “Yeah, it wasn’t bad.” He seemed so casual, as if it were every day that a guy just reached over and bit his partner’s ear on national television.
“You surprised me,” I blurted after a moment, unable to stand it any longer.
“Huh? Oh.” Ty chuckled. “Yeah. I figured it’d be good to get the audience on our side as much as possible, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Sorry if I freaked you out. I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“You didn’t…I wasn’t—”
But now he was looking at me curiously. “You do know I’d never hurt you, right, Zara? That shit with me…” He rubbed his chin. “That was just heat of the moment in the cage. It’s not really me.”
I knew about that sort of thing. So I nodded. “No, I get it. Don’t you worry about me.”
Just for show. Nibbling on my ear, purely for show. Was I impressed with how clever my partner was? Or incredibly disappointed that it wasn’t more personal?
~~ * ~~
The next night, we were the second couple marked as safe.
“I knew it!” I said to Ty triumphantly as we skated off the ice and into the production area. An assistant was there, holding our blade guards, and we popped them on quickly. “We’re here another week. That’s awesome. I’m so excited!”
Ty grinned at me. He wasn’t bubbling over with enthusiasm like I was, but he did seem pleased at our success. “We deserved it. You kicked ass.”
“You weren’t so bad yourself,” I said loftily. We headed to the changing area, and Ty put his hand on the small of my back to guide me through the sea of people moving around us, still moving frantically since the show was still on. At least our part was done. “I think that ear thing was inspired.”
“So was Jaws,” he told me. “We should go out and celebrate, you know.”
I felt a flutter of excitement at the thought. “Oh?”
“Yeah. Grab a bite to eat, get away from the whole gig for a few hours. Celebrate our awesomeness for a bit.” He grinned at me, so boyish and gorgeous that I couldn’t help but fall under his spell. “I think we could use some downtime.”
