7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

J uly has finally arrived, and Saturday is officially my favorite day of the week. I wave goodbye to the kids, and they enthusiastically wave back. The song Set It All Free by Scarlett Johansson plays in the background. It has become one of the kids' favorites to skate to. I've officially started teaching an ice-skating class at the local rink. As the last child leaves, the mom gives me a nod and walks through the door. I look around the rink and realize that the children helped clean up more than I expected. The clock on the wall reads six-fifteen, which means I've got some time to play if I want. Should I get some skating time in? With how busy everyone's been preparing for the season, I haven't had many chances lately.

Maybe it will help with the stress of someone leaving me random notes. Every day there is a new note waiting for me, but the one I found the day after hanging out with the guys was the most disturbing.

As a shiver runs down my spine, I look around the rink but find that I'm alone. At least, I think I'm alone. Trying to shake off the feel of invisible eyes, I glide across the ice and reach over the edge to grab my wireless headphones. I disconnect my phone from the rink's Bluetooth speaker, so I can connect it to my headphones. Scrolling through my playlist, I find my favorite song from my favorite anime; Yuri on ICE by Taro Umebayashi . The piano makes my heart race each time I listen to it. My favorite scene in the show is when he skates to this song.

I wait till I'm in the center of the ice to tap play. It may have taken some time, but I've been back on the ice practicing these last ten years. Re-learning what felt natural to my body. The first two years were hell, but I never stopped, never gave up. I remember Yuri's routine to this song, each jump and spin. I remember practicing when I was younger. How badly I wanted to imitate Yuri.

Landing jumps still gives me trouble, but I wouldn't let that stop me from trying. I spin to press my toe pick into the ice for a quadruple toe loop, double toe loop combo. I have to remind myself to use my right foot with jumps but always land on my left. It still feels odd to do things backward, but I can't land on my right leg anymore. Not since the doctors repaired my ankle.

I wobble a bit as I land, but I did land it. With a smile, I continue moving through the choreographed steps I've practiced so often. My chest feels lighter with each move I make. My smile grows as I feel true freedom, flying across the ice. I've felt like a bird with a broken wing for too long. I've felt the sun's rays, and the wind on my face, but it's not the same as flight.

The quadruple salchow is next and, surprisingly, I land that as well. My breathing comes quicker as this is the longest I've skate on my ankle since that disastrous day. I feel the slight twinge, but I can't stop. After a triple flip, I stick my landing and spread my arms wide just as the music slows. My face is turned toward the ceiling as if looking up to the sky.

Everyone tells me I have nothing to prove. But I do. I have everything to prove! I have to prove it to that sixteen-year-old girl who lost all hope. I need to prove to that girl that just because I was injured doesn't mean her love for skating will ever die.

To prove that—though her dreams of making the Olympics may be dead—the ability to skate will never die. All the years she struggled to get through physical therapy were worth it! The pain of re-learning how to walk on that leg was worth it!

My eyes begin to burn as I scream at my sixteen-year-old self. It's worth every broken step! It will be worth it all to get to this moment! I need to prove that what the female medic said was true. Dreams are fluid things. They change, adapt, and grow with you.

It's coming… the triple axel. I could hardly land it in practice after my injury, no matter how much I tried, but I need to try now. For her. For me. A bubble of laughter slips through my lips as I land it. Not perfectly by any means, but I landed it. As I seamlessly move into the quadruple toe loop, I can feel the ache in my ankle. I know I'm overdoing it, but I can't quit. Not now.

It's getting harder to control my breathing, but even with the burn in my chest, I refuse to quit. Triple axel, then move into a single-toe loop. Now triple salchow. My left ankle almost gives out on me, but I manage to keep going.

I can feel tears streaming down my face as I continue. The pain in my ankle has turned into a pulsing throb. Don't stop now! You can't stop! Prove to little Lizzy that Emmitt didn't break you. He didn't shatter your dreams! Prove it to her!

Burying the toe pick into the ice, I do the triple lutz, then move into the triple toe loop. I'll prove it! I'll prove it to them all!

I don't mean to, but a scream bursts out of me as I attempt the quadruple flip and land it. A sob bubbles out, but I continue the routine. My chest is heaving when I pause in the final position. I… I did it. I fucking did it!

My ankles finally give, and I fall to the ground. I twist on the ice and lie spread eagle as I pant heavily. My eyes blur with the tears dripping down my face. The song switches to Never Enough by Kelly Clarkson, and my body jerks in surprise when I hear another pair of skates cut across the ice. I look up to find Oli racing toward me.

"Liz! You, okay?" The look of concern on his face makes me smile. He never looks that worried.

My head falls back to the ice. "I'm fine, Oli."

"You fell so quickly. Are you sure you are alright?"

I lift my head off the ice again as my brows furrow. "How long have you been here?"

His cheeks flush pink as he stutters, "Um… well… you see. I… shit! I didn't mean to watch, but when you started skating, you looked so beautiful. I had to watch."

I smirk. "Is that so?"

"I came by to look at the hockey lessons sign-up sheet. You happened to be here, and I may or may not have seen you teaching the kids. I stuck around for a bit and was planning to leave, but then you started skating, and I couldn't look away." He huffs out a sigh and ruffles his hair. "I had no idea you could skate like that, Roe Roe."

I hold out a hand to him. "Can you help me up?"

He nods, reaching out a hand for me to grab. "Yeah, of course."

He lifts me easily, and I wobble a bit on my tired legs, so he scoops me back up into his arms bridal style. I let out a squeak of protest. "You don't have to carry me, Oli."

He shakes his head. "You did something to your ankle. Let's not make it worse."

I can't stop the blush that heats my cheeks as the song ends and switches to Can I Have This Dance by Joshua Bassett and Sofia Wylie. Trying to cover my embarrassment, I huff out a sigh. "You're probably right. I shouldn't have skated like that; I'll need some ice."

He nods before yelling, "Lewi! Get some ice!"

My head jerks up, and I look around. There he is. Standing at the edge of the rink, staring wide-eyed and mouth agape. I groan and cover my face with my hand. "Please tell me he wasn't watching too."

"If I did, I would be lying, Liz."

A shiver races down my spine at hearing his deep voice say my name. It's odd, but I like it when they call me by name. The nickname makes me feel like I am part of the team, but him using my name makes it feel like we are friends. When he said my name, it sent a flutter of delight through me.

"Thank you, Mac," I whisper.

His cheeks pinken, and he gives me a nod. "No problem."

He sets me down on the bench and begins to unlace my skates. I should have worn a brace on my bad ankle, but then there would have been no freedom of movement in my skates. I was too constricted in my brace for skating. Oli's eyes meet mine as he holds onto my left skate. "May I?" he asks softly.

I nod.

He gently removes the skate and sets it aside before removing my sock, so he can get a better look at my ankle. He presses softly on the now-puffy skin, looking up at me to gauge my reaction. With a soft smile, I say, "It doesn't hurt too badly."

He hums. "It's a little swollen but shouldn't be too bad. You should probably put some ice on it just in case." He moves onto my other ankle and gingerly pulls off that skate too.

When he removes it, I can't help but hiss out a curse. Shit. This isn't going to be good. He's gentle as he removes my sock, and I watch his face when he takes in my foot first. I definitely overdid it. My foot is already swollen and bruised. With his thumb, he softly caresses the swelling as he turns my ankle to the left. His eyes widen when he turns it to the right, taking in everything. He slowly rolls the edge of my leggings to mid-calf before meeting my gaze again.

His dark eyes meet mine with an unspoken question. "Liz?"

As I'm about to answer him, Lewi races up with a bag of ice. He holds it out to Oli, but then his eyes widen as he takes my ankle. "Fucking hell, Roe! What happened to your ankle?"

I huff out a sigh; I suppose they will eventually find out anyway. The scars aren't extremely noticeable, but I usually wear pants, so they are always covered. The scars healed well, considering how badly I'd broken my ankle. The amount of work they had to do to fix it… yeah, I was lucky. I'm lucky to be out on the ice at all now. But to a new pair of eyes, the scars look a bit extreme. On either side of my ankle, there's a scar that runs from the bottom of my ankle bone up to mid-calf.

"So, this is the old ankle injury I was talking about."

"You said it was nothing crazy," Oli points out, clearly disagreeing with my definition of crazy.

True. I did say that. Damnit. "I... I was in an accident when I was a teenager."

Lewi squats down next to Oli and gently runs a finger over one of the scars. "What type of accident?" he asks quietly.

My eyes shift to the ice before meeting Oli's soft gaze. "I used to be a figure skater."

Lewi snorts. "Used to be? You looked fucking amazing out there."

I smile softly. "I'll never be able to skate professionally, though."

"Why not?" Lewi asks.

Oli interrupts before I can answer. "She no longer has the flexibility to do so. She no doubt looked amazing out there, but she's not using the foot she's meant to land on."

I smirk. "Impressive; you could tell all that?"

He lays the bag of ice on my ankle as he says, "You are right-leg dominant. I can tell you often overcompensate when you walk and regularly lean to your left side." He looks out at the ice before looking back up at me. "You had to re-learn how to skate. You had to ignore what felt natural."

I nod. "I've been working at it the last few years. It hurt too much to be on the ice after it happened."

Oli stares at my ankle for a moment before his eyes narrow. "This type of damage wouldn't have happened if you had been a single skater. A solo skater knows their body well enough to avoid landing in a compromising position that can break an ankle this badly."

Always so fucking observant. "You would be correct. I wasn't a single skater. I had a partner."

His eyes narrow as they meet mine. "What happened to your partner?"

I shrug, trying to ignore the pang of hurt that still lingers long after Emmitt's betrayal. "Not sure. Probably a big-shot skater by now, I'm sure."

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait"—Lewi pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to understand—"you were a paired skater, and your partner could be a big-time skater, but you're not sure. How do you not know?"

Oli doesn't hesitate to say, "Because he's the one who did this to her."

Lewi turns to Oli with a brow raised. "Why the hell would someone do that to Lizzy?"

I grin at Lewi calling me by my other nickname. He doesn't do it often, but when he does, you know he's taking something personally on my behalf. "He said his father made him do it. Not really sure if that was true or not, but it didn't change the outcome." I wiggle my toes, letting out a hiss of pain.

Lewi's eyes widen. "He broke your ankle on purpose?"

Leaning back against the wall, I shrug. "Physically? No. He didn't come up to me and break my ankle. He botched a throw, and I landed wrong."

"Throw?" Oli asks.

Humming, I reply, "In pair skating, there are certain requirements. One of them is a throw jump. Your partner lifts, twists, then throws you. The move involves a lot of practice and trust."

Lewi arches a brow. "So your partner literally throws you across the ice?"

I snort. "I mean… they don't throw you that far. It's more like a toss."

"Seems dangerous," Lewi grunts.

I giggle. "Says the man who enjoys getting slammed into the glass and hit with sticks."

He shrugs. "The devil you know and all that."

I huff out a sigh and wave a dismissive hand. "Anyways. Enough about that. I pushed myself more than I probably should have today. I will regret it in the morning."

"What do you miss about it?" Oli asks as he gently massages my foot.

The question catches me off guard. It takes me a moment to gather my thoughts together. "What do you mean?"

He gestures with his head toward the ice. "The pair skating. What do you miss about it?"

"The lifts," I answer with zero hesitation.

He arches a brow. "The lifts?"

I let out a wistful sigh as I nod. "They were my favorite. It felt like I was flying." The two share a look, and something passes between them that makes me wonder what they are up to. They both nod before turning back to me.

"I've got to look at the sign-up sheet really quick. I'll be right back." Oli shifts, so Lewi can take my ankle and hold the ice in place.

"You two seriously don't have to stay. I can get myself home."

Lewi shakes his head. "I rode with Oli. I can drive you home. You need to keep the ice on it, so your ankle isn't worse tomorrow morning for work."

Arguing with these two would be pointless, so I shrug, closing my eyes as I lean against the wall. I peek through my lashes when I feel soft fingers massage my foot. Lewi is looking down at my leg with a frown.

I barely hear him whisper, "Fucking idiot… didn't deserve you anyways."