Chapter Fifty-Four

brYAN

FEbrUARY

WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES—HELSINKI, FINLAND

“ O kay, before you get out there, just listen a sec,” Lian begins, about two seconds before they call our names out over the loudspeaker, beckoning us to our first skate on Olympic ice.

I raise an eyebrow, because that’s not ominous at all. “Okay…”

“You guys have done a lot to get here. You’ve come a long way from last year, and I know you know that. But what you might not realize is that this isn’t your one and only shot.” She eyes us. “I’ve been in your shoes. I know the Olympics always feel like it’s do-or-die, but you’re young. This is only your first try, and you’re going up against people on their last.” Lian sighs. “So, please try not to get overwhelmed. Just focus, do your best, and try to have fun. It’s okay if you fall. Just get back up and keep smiling. You always have the next cycle. No one is expecting you to win right now.”

I turn to Katya, and we both turn back to stare at her.

“Wow,” Katya says dryly, and I fail to suppress my grin.

“I think that was the worst motivational speech I’ve ever heard in my life,” I tell Lian, handing her my guards over and gasping for air as I start laughing hysterically. “No one is expecting us to win right now, Andreyeva, did you hear?”

Katya shakes her head in pretend disappointment, but she’s grinning too, passing our coach her own guards. “I think we should just quit now, Young, since we have no chance.”

Lian huffs, rolling her eyes and putting our guards away before shooing us forward onto the ice. “Get your asses out there. Clearly I don’t need to be worried if you’re cracking jokes.”

“Love you too, Lee. Aren’t you gonna wish us luck?”

She looks right at me. “You don’t need it.”

“Now on the ice, skating for the United States of America, Ekaterina Andreyeva and Bryan Young!”

The audience starts clapping and cheering, and I turn to my partner. “You ready, sunshine?”

Katya gives me a smirk. “Let’s do this.”

I t was almost a home run. We were so close. I was a little antsy going into the throw, so my “limp noodle arms” actually were limp and noodle-like, so Katya was on the verge of completely falling down out of it before (thankfully) she caught herself. Our artistic scores could have been higher, too, which is why we’re stuck in second behind the Russian pair.

“We’ll just have to kill it on Thursday,” I tell her for the millionth time as we’re heading down to the arena for our practice session, and she sighs sharply.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Like I said, the pressure’s on. As if on cue, Lian rubs at her temples. “This is going to be the death of me, I can feel it. I’m hearing the Russians might have a quad twist, too.” She sighs. “I need coffee in a goddamn IV.”

I turn to look at Katya, who suddenly looks ten shades whiter than normal.

“Katya?” I reach out and touch her shoulder. “Are you good?”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she blurts, before rushing out.

“ K atya!” I jog after her down the hall towards the bathroom, catching the door as it swings shut behind her.

She’s pacing back and forth, digging her hands through her hair. “We can’t do this. There’s no way. We can’t win this.”

“Katya, it’s going to be fine.” Honestly, at this point, it would’ve been more worrying if one of us hadn’t started freaking out by now.

“No, I can’t do this. I can’t. We’ll have to pull out.”

“Pull out?” I repeat, incredulous. “Are you insane?” The shock turns into plain old confusion. “I don’t understand. This is the Olympics, Katya. This is your dream. Our dream.” Is she worried about me messing up again?

“I know. And I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.” She laughs bleakly, leaning forward against the countertop. “It isn’t you I’m worried about. I don’t want to let you down. Let everyone down, all over again.”

Oh. I soften, reaching my hand across the counter to cover her own. “Hey. Hey . It’s going to be fine. You won’t fall.”

She chokes out another laugh, looking at me with her eyes red and lashes gloopy with mascara tears. “How can you say that? You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“We’ve been training for this. We know our shit.”

“Nationals may have been perfect, but this is the Olympics , Yasha. Everyone’s going to expect us to be even better now. And if I screw it up, they’re just going to hate me even more.” Katya flops against the tampon dispenser thing on the wall, face crumpling.

“That’s not true.” I frown. “And besides, half of those people out there are your fans. They all love you.”

“That just makes it worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because—” She drags her hand over her face. “I don’t know. If they love me, it won’t be for long. Not if I mess up. I can’t disappoint everyone again. I can’t .” Katya takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, and I should probably do something to comfort her, but I’m just…not exactly smiling, because that would be weird and sadistic of me, but in awe. Because, wow. We really are exactly the same.

I take her by the shoulders, maneuvering so I can sit against the counter and face her. “Look at me,” I say gently, tilting her chin up with a finger, and she does, worry lines etched deep, grey eyes cloudy.

Then I reach into my back pocket, pulling out one of those disgusting protein bars of hers she’s been talking about all year, and I watch as the anxiety melts into shocked delight.

“Where the hell did you get that?”

I can’t help but grin. “I have my ways.” Actually, I’ve been trying to get my hands on a box ever since she first mentioned missing them, but even I couldn’t figure it out. It’s extremely convenient that we’re only a couple of hours away from the Russian border right now. I may or may not have ordered a delivery before we even made it out of the airport.

“God, I love you,” she says, laughing slightly, then snatches it from me, unwrapping it and taking a big bite, looking exactly like a crying toddler given a lollipop.

“That make you feel better?’

She nods, chewing, leaning forward and resting her head on my chest. “Yes.”

I take a deep breath, taking her hands. “We’ll do it together. Alright? I promise. I’ll make this happen for you. You’ll have the skate of your life, sunshine. We both will.”

Katya smiles up at me, raising her brows. “Oh, we will?”

I squeeze her hands. Determination’s flooding through me, and I know it. I know we can do this. For once in my life, I have no doubt about my capabilities. As long as she’s there with me, I know I can do anything—and together, we’ll be unstoppable.

So there’s no doubt in my mind when I say it. “Hell yes we will.”