“Sounds good,” I said automatically, even though it didn’t. I was fighting the very real, very strong urge to run away. So Ty had been paired up with Annemarie? I knew she’d been voted off after us. The finale was Emma and Louie Earl versus young starlet Victoria Kiss and her partner, Toby. The two most likable teams left. It made sense, of course. Still, for a flashing moment, I’d have rather had Annemarie in the finale instead of Victoria Kiss, just so she wouldn’t have been hanging on Ty.
Not that I had any reason to be possessive. We’d had nothing but no-strings-attached sex, right?
A half hour later, I was fitted into my costume and all the adjustments had been quickly made by the seamstresses, and I re-approached the ice, where the others were still practicing. I knelt and kissed it as tradition, thinking of the handshake I’d done with Ty in the past. That was over.
Then, I skated in.
The others didn’t greet me with enthusiasm. Instead, they cast a few sullen looks my way. That was fine. I wasn’t here for them. I was here because I had to be. I skated over to Ty and gave him my most cheerful smile. “Long time no see, stranger.”
He gave me a narrow-eyed look. “You’re finally here.”
That… wasn’t a friendly tone. “Yeah. I am. Shall we go over the routine?”
“Why not,” he said in a brusque voice, gesturing for me to move into position.
I did so, fighting an uncomfortable mixture of irritation and guilt. Ty was mad at me. I wanted to say something, but the lights went down and the others skated off so we could practice our routine. So I swallowed my words and got ready for the music.
Our routine started out the same as the routine in the movie. In the classic scene, Baby puts her arm on Johnny’s neck and he runs his hand down her arm. It’s an incredibly tender, touching scene in the movie.
It was nothing like doing it in person. Shockwaves skittered through my body as I felt Ty’s bigger form press against me, and I put my hand to his neck. His fingers trailed down my arm, and my nipples got hard, my panties getting wet as I thought about the last time we’d been together.
You have such soft, sweet little ears that it makes me want to suck on them.
I guarantee you won’t be thinking about much when my mouth is on your pussy and you’re coming.
I shivered, full of wild, wanton thoughts, remembering when we’d been together in bed.
Then his hand took mine and the music started, a quick-stepping routine that involved lots of footwork and turns. To my surprise, Ty executed it flawlessly, his movements sharp and on the beat.
We quickly paced through the routine, doing a dual spin in the chorus. The ending was a lift similar to the one in the movie, except I didn’t have to get a running start. This had been the part that I knew we’d need the most practice on as a couple, but I’d been stubborn and insisted on staying out in Ohio until dress rehearsals.
When I launched into the air, Ty grabbed me, planting his hand at my waist and lifting me overhead. But as soon as I felt his hands on me, I lost my concentration. My form got loose, and it caused his hold to break. I crashed into him, knocking us both to the ground.
So embarrassing. I landed, sprawled, atop of Ty. Once I caught my breath, I gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. I just got…startled.”
He gave me another slit-eyed look. “Whatever. We can take the lift out, if it bugs you.”
I blinked at him, wide-eyed, and got to my feet. “We don’t have to take it out. I just need to practice it again. I’m sure I can get it.”
He gave me a wintry look. “So now you’re ready to practice? What about for the last two weeks when I was here busting my ass and you ran home?”
He was really mad at me. “I told them to have you practice with Svetlana. She’s the real ice skater on the show, remember? I’m just the seat filler.”
“Svetlana’s not my partner,” he hissed at me. “Mine fucking ran away.” He started to skate away.
I skated after him, ignoring the others that were staring at us. “Why are you mad at me?”
“Why shouldn’t I be mad at you? You ditched our team. At least if I had to be stuck here, I was here with you. I’ve been alone for the last two weeks.”
“Really?” I snapped back at him. “Because Annamarie sure looks like she was getting cozy with you.”
“She was my practice partner this last week. You know, that thing we’ve been contracted to do? That thing you were supposed to do with me but ran away from instead? But I guess I wasn’t important enough for a piece of Zara Pritchard’s time. I’m just a big, dumb fighter, right? Not important enough to keep in the loop for this piss-ant shit.”
Wow. He was really mad. “What the hell, Ty?” I followed him off the ice, snapping on my blade guards. He didn’t even bother; he just sat down and started unlacing his skates. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here, but I had important stuff to take care of.”
“Important stuff.” He looked up and sneered. “Nothing more important than avoiding me, right? Can’t be seen with Ty the MMA Biter. Heaven forbid.”
My brow wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
He ripped at his laces, and then stood up, one skate halfway off. “Quit acting like this, Zara. We both know.”
“Actually, I don’t know,” I told him. “So why don’t you go ahead and share with me?”
“You snuck out of my bed that night. I didn’t hurt you. We didn’t fight. So the only thing I can think is that you’re embarrassed by the fact that you let a guy like me into your pants.”
My jaw dropped.
“Yeah. I’ve heard it all before. Gee, I like you, Ty, but you’re one of those guys. I can’t be seen with them. Gee, Ty, not right now. Gee, Ty, can you go stand over there on the red carpet?”
“Are you kidding me? You think I’m dissing you?”
He gave me a fake smile and spread his arms wide. “You tell me. You’re the one that ran away and refused to come here even though you knew I was here, all alone and without a partner. I must really embarrass the shit out of you. Why else would you nail and bail?”
“That’s not it at all,” I choked out, horrified.
“Then maybe you tell me what it is,” he said caustically, and he bent to rip at the laces on his other skate.
Nail and bail? I’d tried to make things easier on him. The last thing a guy needed was an emotional virgin falling all over the dude that took her virginity. And Ty had said he didn’t want more than a casual relationship. How could I possibly assume anything else? I left because I was in love with you, I wanted to say. And you didn’t want that, so I thought I’d spare us both.
But the words stuck in my throat.
“Got nothing to say?” Ty glanced up at me and yanked at a knot on his skates, and then cursed.
“You want to hear the truth?”
“I think I deserve it, don’t you?”
The truth is that I fell for you, Ty Randall. That’s right. I fell hard. The stupid, naïve virgin fell for the big, sexy jock. Her partner. Stupid, huh? That’s rule number one that you don’t break in skating—you don’t fall for your partner. It was more than just sex to me, and so that’s why I snuck out and I left. All because of your stupid ‘no-strings-attached’ concept. Me being a virgin just made it ten times worse. So I left, because that’s not fair to you and what you want.
Not that I had any reason to be possessive. We’d had nothing but no-strings-attached sex, right?
A half hour later, I was fitted into my costume and all the adjustments had been quickly made by the seamstresses, and I re-approached the ice, where the others were still practicing. I knelt and kissed it as tradition, thinking of the handshake I’d done with Ty in the past. That was over.
Then, I skated in.
The others didn’t greet me with enthusiasm. Instead, they cast a few sullen looks my way. That was fine. I wasn’t here for them. I was here because I had to be. I skated over to Ty and gave him my most cheerful smile. “Long time no see, stranger.”
He gave me a narrow-eyed look. “You’re finally here.”
That… wasn’t a friendly tone. “Yeah. I am. Shall we go over the routine?”
“Why not,” he said in a brusque voice, gesturing for me to move into position.
I did so, fighting an uncomfortable mixture of irritation and guilt. Ty was mad at me. I wanted to say something, but the lights went down and the others skated off so we could practice our routine. So I swallowed my words and got ready for the music.
Our routine started out the same as the routine in the movie. In the classic scene, Baby puts her arm on Johnny’s neck and he runs his hand down her arm. It’s an incredibly tender, touching scene in the movie.
It was nothing like doing it in person. Shockwaves skittered through my body as I felt Ty’s bigger form press against me, and I put my hand to his neck. His fingers trailed down my arm, and my nipples got hard, my panties getting wet as I thought about the last time we’d been together.
You have such soft, sweet little ears that it makes me want to suck on them.
I guarantee you won’t be thinking about much when my mouth is on your pussy and you’re coming.
I shivered, full of wild, wanton thoughts, remembering when we’d been together in bed.
Then his hand took mine and the music started, a quick-stepping routine that involved lots of footwork and turns. To my surprise, Ty executed it flawlessly, his movements sharp and on the beat.
We quickly paced through the routine, doing a dual spin in the chorus. The ending was a lift similar to the one in the movie, except I didn’t have to get a running start. This had been the part that I knew we’d need the most practice on as a couple, but I’d been stubborn and insisted on staying out in Ohio until dress rehearsals.
When I launched into the air, Ty grabbed me, planting his hand at my waist and lifting me overhead. But as soon as I felt his hands on me, I lost my concentration. My form got loose, and it caused his hold to break. I crashed into him, knocking us both to the ground.
So embarrassing. I landed, sprawled, atop of Ty. Once I caught my breath, I gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. I just got…startled.”
He gave me another slit-eyed look. “Whatever. We can take the lift out, if it bugs you.”
I blinked at him, wide-eyed, and got to my feet. “We don’t have to take it out. I just need to practice it again. I’m sure I can get it.”
He gave me a wintry look. “So now you’re ready to practice? What about for the last two weeks when I was here busting my ass and you ran home?”
He was really mad at me. “I told them to have you practice with Svetlana. She’s the real ice skater on the show, remember? I’m just the seat filler.”
“Svetlana’s not my partner,” he hissed at me. “Mine fucking ran away.” He started to skate away.
I skated after him, ignoring the others that were staring at us. “Why are you mad at me?”
“Why shouldn’t I be mad at you? You ditched our team. At least if I had to be stuck here, I was here with you. I’ve been alone for the last two weeks.”
“Really?” I snapped back at him. “Because Annamarie sure looks like she was getting cozy with you.”
“She was my practice partner this last week. You know, that thing we’ve been contracted to do? That thing you were supposed to do with me but ran away from instead? But I guess I wasn’t important enough for a piece of Zara Pritchard’s time. I’m just a big, dumb fighter, right? Not important enough to keep in the loop for this piss-ant shit.”
Wow. He was really mad. “What the hell, Ty?” I followed him off the ice, snapping on my blade guards. He didn’t even bother; he just sat down and started unlacing his skates. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be here, but I had important stuff to take care of.”
“Important stuff.” He looked up and sneered. “Nothing more important than avoiding me, right? Can’t be seen with Ty the MMA Biter. Heaven forbid.”
My brow wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
He ripped at his laces, and then stood up, one skate halfway off. “Quit acting like this, Zara. We both know.”
“Actually, I don’t know,” I told him. “So why don’t you go ahead and share with me?”
“You snuck out of my bed that night. I didn’t hurt you. We didn’t fight. So the only thing I can think is that you’re embarrassed by the fact that you let a guy like me into your pants.”
My jaw dropped.
“Yeah. I’ve heard it all before. Gee, I like you, Ty, but you’re one of those guys. I can’t be seen with them. Gee, Ty, not right now. Gee, Ty, can you go stand over there on the red carpet?”
“Are you kidding me? You think I’m dissing you?”
He gave me a fake smile and spread his arms wide. “You tell me. You’re the one that ran away and refused to come here even though you knew I was here, all alone and without a partner. I must really embarrass the shit out of you. Why else would you nail and bail?”
“That’s not it at all,” I choked out, horrified.
“Then maybe you tell me what it is,” he said caustically, and he bent to rip at the laces on his other skate.
Nail and bail? I’d tried to make things easier on him. The last thing a guy needed was an emotional virgin falling all over the dude that took her virginity. And Ty had said he didn’t want more than a casual relationship. How could I possibly assume anything else? I left because I was in love with you, I wanted to say. And you didn’t want that, so I thought I’d spare us both.
But the words stuck in my throat.
“Got nothing to say?” Ty glanced up at me and yanked at a knot on his skates, and then cursed.
“You want to hear the truth?”
“I think I deserve it, don’t you?”
The truth is that I fell for you, Ty Randall. That’s right. I fell hard. The stupid, naïve virgin fell for the big, sexy jock. Her partner. Stupid, huh? That’s rule number one that you don’t break in skating—you don’t fall for your partner. It was more than just sex to me, and so that’s why I snuck out and I left. All because of your stupid ‘no-strings-attached’ concept. Me being a virgin just made it ten times worse. So I left, because that’s not fair to you and what you want.
