Page 126 of Side By Side
Chandler looked around the room filled with skaters and their coaches and pulled on Belle’s hand until they were in the hallway, which still had a few people milling about but was far less crowded.
“Good luck,” she said and gave Belle a quick but sweet kiss.
“You too.” Belle smiled at her. “I’m doing that for real later in the room, so be ready.”
“We said no sex until after the competition to conserve energy,” Chandler whispered.
“Where did your mind go? I just meant a real kiss.”
“Oh,” Chandler let out, sounding disappointed. “Well, okay, then.”
Belle laughed and nodded for them to walk down that hallway and toward the ice. They’d been practicing non-stop ever since Chandler had come back. They’d also basically been living together that whole time, with Chandler’s bags being unpacked after about a week and her clothes added to drawers next to Belle’s and hanging in the closet alongside Belle’s as well. Belle had been nervous and worried at first that they were moving too fast because they were partners on the ice and off. On top of that, Chandler had been helping out at the Ice Park, seemingly enjoying the work, and that meant they’d been spending every minute of the day together. Neither of them had seemed bothered by it, though. They had a routine of waking up, snuggling for a few minutes, or sometimes, making love if they had time, having coffee while they got ready to go, and Belle had noticed her mind seemed a little calmer with Chandler around.
She had this way of keeping Belle focused even when Belle was having an off or a bad day. They’d leave for the Ice Park and get in a morning skate where they’d work on their routines for the free skate and the long program before they’d finish opening the place up for customers. Chandler would count out the money and focus on the arcade and now, the new gym she was responsible for adding. She’d clean the equipment and make sure everything was set up properly while Belle did her usual rounds. Sometimes, they’d find each other in the ball hall and spend a little time making out in Belle’s office. While that hadn’t been exactly professional, for the first time in Belle’s life, she had a girlfriend who seemed to understand her so well, whom she was already in love with and was bursting to tell her, and whom Belle could see herself being with forever, so she didn’t care.
When they were up, they skated out on the ice together hand in hand and were only one of three same-sex pairs in the competition. The other two had already performed their free skate and had done adequately, but they hadn’t cracked the top ten of the competitors, so it wasn’t likely either of them would be medaling unless something catastrophic happened to all the other pairs, and Belle didn’t see that happening. Lincoln was up there at the top with his new partner, Alexa Putnam, who had lost her partner when he’d retired the previous season. She’d been on the lookout for his replacement, so thanks to Chandler not choosing to skate with Lincoln, she’d finally found one. Their scores in the free skate weren’t insurmountable, but they would be difficult to pass. Belle wasn’t focused on that, though. All she cared about was skating well. If she skated well and Chandler did, too, they’d be up there somewhere, and Chandler might get some good press out of it and the attention of the committee. So, as their music started, Belle put on her game face and did everything she could to give the performance of her life.
Her spins were tight and in time with Chandler’s. They’d worked especially hard on their lifts, using part of the gym Chandler had set up with the pads everywhere to give them the space to work things out off the ice, and Belle had gotten stronger than ever, which enabled her to lift Chandler for longer and hold her up higher. Their jumps were timed perfectly, and they did a triple Axel along with a couple of combinations that were timed well. Belle wouldn’t call it a perfect performance, but it was close to it, and when the music came to a slow and then stopped, she was holding on to Chandler by the hips and staring into her eyes, giving her a smile that had Chandler lighting up.
“Amazing,” Chandler said to her while she was trying to catch her breath. “You’re amazing.”
“All you, babe,” Belle replied and winked at her before they turned and waved, saying thank you to the crowd and the judges.
They skated off the ice, still trying to catch their breath, covered their blades, and sat down in the booth, awaiting their scores. A reporter covering the event approached, and Belle elbowed Chandler, who looked at her in confusion.
“Go,” Belle said with a little laugh.
“We both should.”
“No, you go. I’ll wait here.”
Chandler stood and walked over to the reporter.
“Chandler Wolfe, that was a great skate. How are you feeling right now?” the reporter asked.
“I’m feeling okay. I think we landed everything well, and our timing was good, so we’ll see what the judges think.”
“And your partner – you were skating with Walker Wilcox. I know, with his injury, you had to go in search of another partner. I heard rumors through the grapevine that you were interested in partnering with Lincoln Cates, but you’re one of the first same-sex pairs we’ve seen at this event, with it being new this year. What made you decide to go that route?”
“First of all, Walker is an amazing partner, and he’s doing really well in his recovery, so I look forward to seeing him back on the ice soon. Lincoln is a great skater as well, and he’s found the perfect partner in Alexa. You can tell because they’re number one on the board right now. As for me, Belle Elrod is the best skater I’ve ever been paired with. No offense to my other partners.” Chandler smiled. “She makes me better just by being out there on the ice with me. We go way back to our times in juniors, so when I was searching for a new partner and heard that they were allowing us to choose someone of the same gender for the first time, she was my only choice, and I’m so incredibly grateful that she agreed to skate with me.”
“Belle wasn’t skating competitively, but she agreed to come back with you. Why is that?”
“You can ask her yourself. Belle,” Chandler said and motioned for Belle to join her.
Belle stood up and moved beside her.
“Belle Elrod, what had you coming back to the world of competitive skating?”
“Chandler asked, and I said yes. It’s really that simple for me. She’s a fantastic skater and a great partner. I wanted the chance to be out there with her.”
“Now, same-gender pairs can’t skate in the Olympic Games, so I know people might be wondering what you’re both going to do after this, regardless of the scores.”
“Well, I’m going to skate as an individual after tonight,” Chandler shared. “I’m ready to get back to my roots and try to make the Olympic Team that way.”
“And this is it for me,” Belle replied.
“It’s it for you? You just started competing again,” the reporter said and moved the microphone back toward Belle.