Page 80 of The Fall

“You are pretty lucky, huh?” She smirks at me through the mirror.

“That I am.” I playfully smack her ass before I grab her bag from her bed. “Come on. We gotta go or we’re gonna be late.”

“Ok. Ok.”

The rink is not busy today. It took a lot of coordination to make sure of that, too. We couldn’t completely close it down, but we did manage to get an hour of private ice time, which should be enough to get the shoot done.

Max arrives a few minutes after we do. His attendance has been less than stellar recently. I swear he’s showing up later and later, even for practices. If it gets any worse, I’m going to have to talk to him. Not only does it mess up their very regimented schedule, but it’s stressing Savannah out. She’s trying to be understanding about it because he’s working another job, but she’s not very good at hiding how she really feels.

Max is outfitted in black pants and a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up. Savannah is in a dark green leotard with just enough sequins and a matching flowy skirt. They look great together. Which, for some reason, irritates me.

I haven’t felt much sadness since I decided to retire. It was the right decision for me at the time. But seeing Max and Savannah today getting photographed together makes me wish it were me beside her instead of him.

It’s stupid because I know if I hadn’t retired and moved to Colorado, I never would’ve met Savannah, and she would’ve gone on hating me. It’s not like I would’ve ever been her partner. Everything worked out exactly the way it should’ve.

But when the photographer puts them in a position where their lips are only inches from each other and Max is holding Savannah in an intimate embrace, my fists squeeze together in jealousy. Even after everything the three of us did together, it’s not easy to watch another man almost kiss the woman I love. And now the entire skating community is going to see this. No one knows that Savannah is with me yet.

That’s what bothers me the most. No one knows what happened in that hotel room except for us, but the world will get to see the chemistry between Savannah and Max and make assumptions.

I’m trying to avoid calling her “mine” because I know she’s her own person and that it would probably scare her off. But she is mine just as much as I’m hers. And damn it, I want everyone to know!

I watch as the photographer takes picture after picture of them. They’re great pictures. But the way they look at each other just pisses me off more with each flash of the camera. I try to control my mood. My mental thoughts are not other people’s problems. But when Savannah leaves the ice to change for the interview portion, I follow her.

No one sees me as I go into the locker room behind her, including Savannah. She’s shocked when I grab her arm and pull her toward the shower stalls.

“What are you doing in here?” she whispers, looking around to make sure no one else is in here.

I pull the curtain closed and turn to face her. “I just needed to be close to you for a minute and didn’t want a stray camera to catch it.”

“Oh.” Her brows furrow as she studies my face. “Are you ok?”

“Yes.” I sigh. “No. I don’t know. Just having a moment, I guess.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Nothing. I just… I just wish people knew that we’re together because these pictures are going to make it look like…”

She nods as she understands what I’m saying. “I see.” She takes a step forward and puts her finger on my chest. “So the world-famous Logan Sokolov is jealous?”

“Yes.” No point in denying it.

“Well, what should we do about it?” She’s goading me.

“I’ve got a few ideas,” I say, running my fingers down her cheek.

“Well, you’d better make quick work of those ideas. We don’t have much time in here.”

I grab her wrist, turn her around so she’s facing the wall, and unzip her outfit.

“Sounds like someone wants me to fuck them,” I whisper into her ear.

“Someone wants to make sure her boyfriend knows that she’s his and only his.”

God, this woman knows exactly what I need to hear. I pull her costume down and off, along with her tights, and hang them on the hook in the bathroom.

I trail my finger down her bare back and over her ass until I’m right at her opening. I lean in and whisper, “You’ve got to be quiet, ok? We don’t want to get caught.”

She nods, and I slide my finger inside her already wet pussy. She moans, so I stop and cover her mouth with my other hand. “I said quiet, baby.”