Page 12 of The Fall

“Why haven’t you skated yet?” I blurt out, unable to keep my thoughts inside my head. Sometimes that’s a real problem for me.

Logan’s brows furrow. “What?”

“I haven’t seen you skate once since you’ve been with us. Why is that?”

He shrugs and looks away from me. “Maybe I’m taking a break.”

Yeah, I don’t buy that one bit. Especially since he’s avoiding eye contact with me. I put my skate guards down next to him. “You know, it’s going to be hard to build trust when you’re lying to us.”

I don’t give him a chance to respond as I take a step out onto the ice. The next time I look back, he’s watching me with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed over his chest. He knows I’m right.

We skate for what feels like hours. Logan, unfortunately, spends a lot of one-on-one time with us since the other kids he coaches come in after school. While we work, he takes videos and then makes us watch to see where we can improve. I’ll admit that he is finding little things to tweak that we’ve never noticed before. It is semi-helpful, I guess, but I’ll never admit that out loud.

“You guys break for lunch. You’ve got dance class this afternoon,” Logan tells us after almost two hours of skating. My legs feel like actual Jell-O.

“We’re going out to grab lunch. Wanna come with us?” Max asks Logan as we step off the ice. I send a glare in his direction because what the fuck? Max and I had talked about going down the street to one of our favorite little cafes. We most certainly did not discuss asking our coach to tag along.

Logan’s surprised expression moves in my direction. He wants my approval to accept this invitation, and I really don’t want to give it. But Max elbows me, and I drag my eyes to Logan, who is waiting for my response to Max’s extension of this lunch invite.

“Yeah, fine,” I grit out. “You can come.”

Logan chuckles because he knows I don’t want him to come, but instead of putting me out of my misery, he accepts.

“Sounds good. Go put your skates up, and I’ll meet you guys by the door. I’ll drive.”

I watch him with my mouth open as he heads toward the door. He’s really coming to lunch with us. What the fuck.

“Come on, Sav. Can’t keep Coach waiting.”

“You’ve lost your mind, Max. Like, I’m actually concerned for your sanity.” Why on Earth would he think this is a good idea?

He laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me toward the locker room. “Come on. I think you just need to spend more time with him.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to help.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But let’s just try it. If today doesn’t go well, then I’ll never invite him again.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

I sigh and head to the women’s locker room to grab my sneakers and purse. This might end up being the longest lunch of my life.

We follow Logan to his car, and, of course, he heads to the fancy Audi parked all the way in the back of the lot. I guess this is the kind of car an Olympic gold medalist would drive.

God, I’m being so judgmental. I’m not usually this bad. I swear it’s Logan pulling it out of me involuntarily.

Logan heads to the passenger side of the car and opens the door. Then, his eyes look up and meet mine.

Is he opening the door for me? Surely not.

I look around like someone else is standing behind me who might be joining us, but no, it’s just me and Max.

Max nudges me, and I come out of my surprised trance and go toward the open door. “Thank you,” I grumble as I slide onto the leather seat.

Logan shuts the door. I notice he does not open the door for Max before he climbs into the driver’s seat next to me with Max in the back.

Alright, that was strange, but in an attempt to keep the peace, I keep my mouth shut.