Page 88 of The Fall

“Yeah. You too.”

He turns and leaves me standing alone. I’m stunned. I don’t know what to do. How do I find a new partner? Will I have enough time? Is my dream gone again?

When I finally realize I need to do something, I force my legs to move and find Logan. He’ll fix this.

He’s in the office where I left him this morning with a laptop in front of him.

He smiles when he sees me in the doorway, but it immediately drops.

“What’s wrong?” He stands from the desk and walks toward me.

“He quit.”

His eyebrows furrow in concern. “Who?”

“Max.”

And then I crumple to the ground and start sobbing. Logan sits next to me, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me onto his lap. He holds my head to his chest, trying to calm me. I can hear his heartbeat racing.

“I don’t understand,” he says. “He just quit?”

I nod against him. “He said… he said it’s killing him to skate with me when he can’t be with me.”

“Goddamnit,” he mumbles. I feel him take a deep breath before he focuses back on me. “Don’t worry, baby. We’ll figure this out, ok?”

“How? How am I going to find a new partner mid-season?” I say between sobs.

“I’ll be your partner.”

“You’re retired,” I state the obvious.

“I’ll come out of retirement.”

I shake my head and wipe some of the tears away, even though it’s pretty useless. They just keep coming. “I can’t ask you to do that. Your mom⁠—”

“Will understand. And you’re not asking me. I’m offering to do it.”

“Logan.”

He puts his hands on either side of my face. “Look at me, Savannah.”

Reluctantly, I look up at him. I can’t imagine what a mess I look like right now. “I love you, Savannah. I will do whatever it takes to make you happy and see you succeed. If that means coming out of retirement so you can get to the Olympics, then that’s what I’ll do. Because I want to be able to give you that. It would be an absolute honor to skate with you.”

He leans down and kisses me, tears, snot, and all. I don’t know how he does it. How, on the worst day of my life, he can make it seem like everything will be ok.

“Come on. Let’s get you home to rest. I’ll call Tati to find out what we need to do.”

He lifts me off the ground and grabs a tissue from the desk. I wipe my face while he grabs his things.

He walks me to the locker room and waits for me to get my bag. Then he escorts me to his car. Max is nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t even be bothered to tell Logan, our coach, his decision. I wonder if he told Tati or if he was just going to let us handle that for him.

The car ride back to my apartment is quiet. Logan keeps his hand on my leg the entire time as if he’s trying to keep me calm and anchored through his touch.

Kelsey isn’t home when we get there, which is good. I know I’d start crying again with one look from her. Logan changes me out of my leggings and sports bra and back into my pajamas before tucking me into bed.

“I’ll just be in the living room. I’ve got some calls to make to get everything moving, ok? I’ll come check on you in a little bit.”

I nod, and he kisses my head.