Page 14 of The Fall

“I skate,” I state the obvious.

He’s not rattled by my attitude, which kinda pisses me off. “What else?”

“I mean, I just graduated college last semester, so between that and skating, I didn’t have much time for anything else.”

“What’s your degree in?”

“What is this? Twenty fucking questions?” I ask.

Logan chuckles. “Just trying to get to know you.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t,” I say, stabbing my fork into my salad.

“Are you going to spend the next two years hating me? Because I’m not going anywhere. I’m fully committed to getting you two to the Olympics.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Are you going to keep pretending like you didn’t ruin our chances at the last Olympics?”

Max sucks in a breath next to me. Logan leans back in his chair and sighs. “I’m not pretending anything, Savannah.” God, I hate the way he says my name. “I had received some bad news the night before that competition. I was not in the right headspace to be skating, but I felt like I owed it to my partner and my coach to be there. I know it’s no excuse. I didn’t—I didn’t even realize what happened until last week when Tati told me to look it up. No one said anything to me after the competition. I vaguely remember hearing about a couple pulling out of the competition, but my mind was elsewhere.”

“I don’t forgive you,” I say, even though I know he didn’t even apologize. Max squeezes my leg under the table, but I don’t look at him. I keep my eyes glued on Logan. “Do you know how hard it was to come back from that injury?”

“I can’t imagine. And I’m not asking you to forgive me. I’m asking you to give me a chance to help you make your dream come true.”

“I’m. Trying,” I grit out.

“I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

I grab my fork and take a huge bite of my salad, ending this conversation.

“Well,” Logan continues. “I do have some exciting news for you. We’re signed up to compete in the New York International Championship at the end of July.”

My jaw drops, full of food and everything. “What?”

“That’s in like six weeks,” Max says. I’m glad I’m not the only one concerned this time.

“I know,” Logan says calmly. “So we better get to work.”

SIX

LOGAN

If he drops her one more time, I swear to god…

Right as I think it, she falls out of his arms and onto the mat.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself down. They’re still learning this routine. It’s going to take time. But at this rate, her entire body is going to be bruised before the end of the week. At least she’s not fighting the ice baths anymore. One small victory for me, I suppose.

We met with the choreographer for the last two days, and they’ve been working with the lift coach all morning, but he had to go work with another couple, so it’s just me and them.

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” Max says as he lifts his shirt to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He’s been at this for over an hour, and I imagine his arms have had about all they can take at this point.

“I think your hand might be in the wrong place when she twists around your neck.”

He throws his arms up in defeat. “I don’t know where else to put my damn hand.”

“Alright, take a breather. Let me see if I can figure it out.”

I walk over to the mat. The lift is difficult, but with their strength and flexibility, it shouldn’t be impossible. “Savannah, do you mind if I try the lift with you?”