Chapter 29

Chapter 29

K atarina.

Heath was the only one who ever called me that, besides journalists and commentators. In the past, when he’d used my full name, he pronounced it like he was taking pleasure in every syllable, like it was his favorite word in the whole world.

Now he hurled it like an insult.

“Congrats on the world title,” Heath said, and he made that sound taunting too.

It had been three years, almost to the day, since he’d run from me in the freezing rain in Nagano, and he looked like a different person. His posture was straighter, shoulders back like a ballet dancer. His features were almost gaunt—all softness carved away, leaving a face that was angular to the point of severity. That lush forest of curls razed to the roots. A small white scar cut across his left cheekbone, emphasizing the flintiness of his stare.

But he was still so beautiful to me. That might have been the worst part.

I could tell he was cataloging the ways I’d changed too. During our time apart, I’d done my best to tame every unruly thing about myself into submission: bleaching and blowing out my hair, submitting to whitening and waxing and whatever other beauty treatments Bella and her mother recommended, even losing weight so my body looked less womanly.

My new look had made me feel professional, put together, like a real elite skater who deserved to stand next to golden boy Garrett Lin. But under Heath’s hard gaze, I felt ridiculous, a little girl in an ill-fitting costume.

He saw through all of it, down to my core. He always could.

I had so many questions for him— where have you been, why did you leave me, how could you be so cruel —but the only one I managed was, “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited,” he said.

“By who?”

The lobby door burst open, and Bella ran into the rink, Garrett right behind her.

They’d both dressed in a hurry. Bella’s hair was up in a sloppy bun rather than her usual crown of braids, and she hadn’t even applied lip balm.

They must have woken up and realized I’d gone to the rink early. Realized what I would find when I got there, and rushed to interceptme.

The threads started to weave together in my mind. Heath showing up in Moscow. Bella’s uncharacteristic calm about Zack’s departure. The frantic, guilty look in her eyes as she glanced from me to Heath and back again.

She didn’t need a new partner, because she’d already found one.

Heath hadn’t come back for me. He’d come back for her.

“Look,” Bella said. “This isn’t how I wanted you to find out. But we all know Zack’s not going to be competition-ready for a long time, if he ever is again, and—”

“And you’re Bella Lin ! You could have any partner you want!”

“You know it’s not that simple.”

“Bullshit. Get your mother to pull a few strings, ship some poor guy over from—”

“It’s too late for that. The Olympics are in less than a year.”

There wasn’t sufficient time to clear the citizenship hurdles required to partner with a skater from another federation. But even limiting the pool to American citizens, even with how she’d tumbled in the rankings during her seasons with Zack, Bella had options.

Heath stood off to the side, watching our argument play out as if it were an exhibition program performed solely for his pleasure.

“Bella never thought you were good enough for me,” I said to him. “Now suddenly you’re good enough for her?”

Heath’s only response was a smile—but it was nothing like how he used to smile at me. It was the way he used to smile at my brother, when he was trying to get a rise out of him.

“Kat.” Garrett put his hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t we all take a deep breath and—”

I whirled around, shirking his grip. “Did you know about this?”

“Not until this morning.”

“If you’d known, would you have told me?”

Garrett hesitated, eyes cutting toward his sister. There was my answer. And obviously Sheila was well aware. I recalled Bella’s words, that night by the pool: I find it best to assume my mother knows everything. For all I knew, the entire thing was Sheila’s idea.

At the time, I told myself I was only angry because they hadn’t been honest with me. Now I can admit that wasn’t true. There was no circumstance in which I could have accepted Heath and Bella skating together.

Her betrayal stung, but his was worse. Because Heath hadn’t simply improved since leaving me—he’d transformed. He wasn’t the same skater he’d been when we were together. He was the skater I’d always dreamed of him becoming.

His love for me hadn’t been motivation enough to reach his full potential. His hatred, though? That made him capable of anything.