igh

giving a running commentary on the compe

but the landing is shaky, and her spi

for Julian. He was leaning against the opposite boar

ce my attention back to what mattered. Non-linear dynamic equati

e looked over, across the noisy c

out the shape of

barely perc

expertly extricated himself. He started skating towar

etending to catch his breath. "Being a

ve said no,"

nd of it," Julian said with a sigh. "Besides..." He paused,

" I asked. "I'm not i

happened yet, has it? If you won, you could

a point. If I won, I wo

in suddenly, his voice low and playfu

nstantly picked up its pace. Open? Did he mean o

my reaction. "I'm not interested in how o

his chest seeming to travel through the boards.

ice finished her routin

myself. "Her problem is that her center of gravity is too high when

shut as soon as t

ooking at me with amusement

based analysis," I scrambled

ing look, telling me

be engrossed, but my ears were tuned to t

or the ice, a muscle memory for jumps and spi

ed a simple spiral, but her balance wa

ected her form: shoulders should b

ulian's voice broke through my thought

iraculously tying my competitive spi

t me with a challenging expression,

g me with an encouraging gaze, a lo

ep breath a

y hand. "Kaleigh

ter of the ice. Fine. If you all want a sho