My heart galloped like a horse.
I put my knuckle up to my teeth and bit down when the familiar song played. Riley looked more beautiful than ever as she commanded the ice. The arena was silent. I wasn’t breathing, and although I knew her dad wanted to lay me flat on my ass, he stood beside me, unblinking as his daughter swayed with the music and made leaps and bounds against the frosty floor. Riley’s mom had snuck in the moment the song started and sat with the guys in the top seats, probably wanting to stay out of Riley’s sight so she didn’t make her nervous.
“Amazing,” I whispered, watching her back arch with a spin that would make anyone double over and throw up—especially someone who had been roofied the night prior. It didn’t matter if she only had a couple of sips, I knew she wasn’t one hundred percent.
But still, she was unstoppable.
“She is,” Coach agreed from beside me, gripping the same edge of the wall that I was. Our hands were nearly touching, both of us white-knuckling it. “I’ve never seen her so at ease.”
I nodded.
“This is the routine she did when she fell.”
I turned toward him. “What?”
He nodded. She’d been perfecting her spins and leaps for the last couple of weeks, but never once did she tell me that they were a part of the routine that she thought had ended her career.
Riley’s pink skirt brushed against her hips as her skating slowed. She swayed back and forth, making her rounds against the ice before meeting at center ice again. My pulse was hammering behind my neck, and I sucked in a deep breath.
Skate for you, baby.
“She’s got this,” I whispered, hearing the creaking in my voice.
Coach briefly looked over at me before we both stood paralyzed as she did one turn, then another, and then the one that was easily the most difficult. When she landed and pulled her shoulders straight, showing off her relaxed and smooth expression, I slapped my hands together and had forgotten all about her dad standing a foot away from me.
“You do love her, don’t you?” he finally said.
His voice was overcome by emotion.
I nodded. “I meant what I said. Kick me off the team, rip away my future. It wouldn’t be the first time someone did that to me.” The music began to reach its end, so I turned toward my coach and told him the truth, right to his face. “I’d work a nine-to-five every day for the rest of my life and be fine as long as she was mine. Do what you want, Coach Lennon. But my future is with her even if you kick me out of this school.”
Coach smiled.
Then he laughed.
I heard applauding for Riley, so I brought my hands together and clapped, but I didn’t look away. Why was he laughing? Did he think I was kidding?
“If you would have waited three more seconds before ripping open my office door, you could have saved yourself some turmoil.”
“What?” I snapped, becoming impatient. “Listen, if you want to punch my lights out, can you hurry and do it so I can regain consciousness before she gets over here?”
“The only person’s lights who are getting punched out are Graham Sullivan’s.”
I stopped breathing.
“You think I didn’t know that you were in love with my daughter until today?”
“Wait.” I took a step back. “You knew?”
He sighed. “I knew.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“And the only reason I’m allowing you to continue on with my daughter is because you were just willing to give up everything for her. You should have told me about the bet. I know why you didn’t, thanks to Theo explaining your thought process behind that.” I watched his expression change. “But listen…if you ever shove Riley into a closet again, I’ll kill you.”
I put my hands up. “I didn’t shove her into a closet.”
I did, however, shove her into a locker.
He glared at me, but we both turned at the sound of Riley skating up to the side. “Dad. Please, listen. Aasher did nothing wrong. He—”
“Loves you,” I finished for her.
I leaned forward and put my hands around her waist, hauling her up and over the side wall.
Surprise took away whatever else she was going to say.
“And we’re so proud of you,” I whispered, staring down into her baby blues.
Is she really mine?
Riley slowly glanced up at her dad. She didn’t move away from me, though. Instead, she moved closer. Coach Lennon didn’t make a move to pull her away. He put his hands in his pockets, and his eyes glossed over. “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy, sweetheart.”
Riley blinked a few times as she bounced her attention back and forth between us. She was just as stunned as I was.
Relieved too.
“Coach,” I said, seeing something out of the corner of my eye. “Can I do the honor?”
“If you’re already asking for her hand in marriage, I will kick you off the team.”
“I’ll save that for later.” I winked at my girl and then dropped the good-guy act real fast to ask his permission to lay Graham Sullivan out.
“Will you kick me off the team if you find out I’ve punched one of my teammates?”
Coach pulled Riley into his side and placed a kiss on her temple. “Graham is no longer on our team.”
A devious smile curved onto my mouth, and when Sully saw me coming, he panicked. “Coach!”
“I’m not your coach!” he shouted. Then he took his daughter, and they disappeared, leaving me alone with my fist and Sully’s face.
