Page 4 of Hate You Most

She had been flawless.

She skated off the ice without looking at the judges, without looking at the crowd. Viktoriya had learned early on not to search for validation in other people’s faces. If she felt she had skated well, to hell with others’ opinions.

She sat with her jacket pulled tight around her neck and watched the screen at the kiss and cry. The technical score appeared first, it was high. Higher than it had been last year. The components followed after.

Then came the total and her name slid into first place. This time, she allowed herself a small smile.

There were skaters still to come, but only one of them mattered.

Dakota Sanchez, the American.

Viktoriya did not pretend otherwise anymore. She had learned Dakota’s skating the way she learned difficult jump entries—by studying them over and over until there were no surprises left. Dakota was still emotional, still too expressive, but she had grown sharper over the past year. She was dangerous in a way she hadn’t been before.

When Dakota finished her program, the crowd erupted. Viktoriya watched from the TV backstage, her face completely neutral. Dakota had skated well, but not perfectly.

When the scores were finalized, the margin was narrow but unmistakable.

First place: Viktoriya Volkova.

Second place: Dakota Sanchez.

Winning gold felt better with actual competition.

The medal ceremony passed in a flash of lights and screams from the audience. Viktoriya stood on the top step of the podium, with her eyes forward and her back straight. She did not look at the skaters to each of her sides, she had no need to.

They crossed paths afterward in the corridor outside the locker rooms, away from the cameras and the noise. Dakota was already changed, medal tucked beneath her jacket instead of worn openly.

“Well,” Dakota said as she stopped in front of her. “Looks like you weren’t lying about winning gold after all. Congratulations.”

Viktoriya looked into her pale green eyes. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

Dakota laughed. “Guess I shouldn’t have gotten used to the gold.”

Something loosened in Viktoriya’s chest at that. Just slightly.

“You skated well,” she said. Viktoriya had meant it, which surprised even her.

“Yeah?” Dakota raised an eyebrow, leaning her shoulder against the wall to let another skater pass by in the hallway. “That’s some high praise, coming from you.”

She didn’t react. Just because Dakota seemed genuine didn’t mean she was harmless. She had learned better than that.

Viktoriya hesitated, then leaned her shoulder against the cold hallway wall too. It was a small thing, barely noticeable, but it meant their conversation would be longer than half a minute this time.

“You have improved.”

Dakota’s smile softened. “So have you.”

They stood there for a moment, the space between them charged with things neither of them named. They were competitors. Rivals. In Viktoriya’s mind, they were the only two people who truly understood what it took to be on top.

“So,” Dakota said finally. “Same time next year?”

Viktoriya’s lips curved, just barely. “I expect nothing less.”

Perhaps she had been wrong, and their conversation would be cut short and fade into nothing. She was uncomfortably disappointed by that thought.

Dakota stepped away from the cold hallway wall. “I’ll be ready.”

“I know,” Viktoriya said.