Page 68 of When the Ice Melts
Brian was evidently waiting for her reply, so trying to steady her voice, she merely ordered coldly, “Speak your piece.”
No, she did not trust Brian. A half-formed idea floated through her mind of walking to the door and ordering him out, threatening to call the police if he didn’t comply. But the wordOlympicseemed to have hypnotized the rational part of her brain.
What harm could there be in hearing him out?
BRIAN TRIED AGAINto gauge her reaction. Boy, she was being very difficult. Irritation growled inside his mind. He’d never seen her so hard to get along with. Sure, he knew she’d be mad, but sheesh, not this bad. Standing there with that haughty look and those folded arms, face as immovable as if carved from steel, she reminded him more of Avery than of his compliant little girl.
Still, he had every confidence in his plan. It was foolproof. And was it his imagination, or was she weakening slightly?Yeah, I knew the word “Olympic” might do the trick.
Now to seize his opportunity. He took a deep breath. “You understand that by failing to place in Sectionals and advance to Nationals, you lost your opportunity to be considered for the U.S. Olympic Team. Also, for someone who has been training for the short amount of time that you have been, your chances of being selected any other way are very slim. Thus, it would appear that your Olympic dreams are over.”
He could almost see the ice forming on the edges of her soul. She drew her small frame up stiffly. “I am well aware of my unfortunate situation, but thank you for coming all the way to Canada to reiterate the point.” A dagger seemed to fly from her every word.
Brian allowed himself a sheepish grin. “Okay, okay. I get it. You’re unhappy with me.” She opened her mouth, probably to assure him that “unhappy” was putting it mildly, but he held up his hands in surrender. “And I know. You have every right to be. I was—I was a jerk. And I apologize for my—uh—unbecoming behavior.”
Now there was no mistaking it. The girl was slowly warming up. She shifted her shoulders slightly and inspected him suspiciously. Probably shocked that an apology came out of Brian Felding’s mouth. Well, an opportunity like this was worth eating a little crow for.
She still preserved her stony silence, however, so Brian continued. “I feel like, after—” he gestured uncomfortably—“what happened, I owe you one. Or more.” He grinned, and Addisyn actually gave a small half-smile for the first time. “So...I called a guy. Name’s Ed Bourns. He’s an agent with Team Unlimited.” He leaned forward and looked her straight in the eye. “Addisyn, they want you.”
ADDISYN’S MOUTH FELTfuzzy. She tried to swallow twice before she could do it. Her head spun faster than her body did when she performed a perfect layback spin.
“T-Team Unlimited?” She couldn’t stop the stutter.
“Yes.” Brian’s eyes locked onto hers. For once, he looked completely and totally sincere. He stood up, took a step toward her. “Addisyn...baby...do you realize what this means? Team Unlimited is huge. It’s international! Sponsorship, so you don’t have to worry about the money—big advertising bonuses—support from experts—this is the greatest deal to ever fall into the lap of a figure skater.”
His eyes were glowing. Addisyn narrowed her own at him. As usual, he was being melodramatic. But still...she had to admit, the deal was almost as great as he said it was.
“But I didn’t even medal in Sectionals.” Her voice sounded breathy to her ears. As though she’d just had a long session at the gym and couldn’t quite get enough air.
“But he doesn’t care!” Brian waved his hands wildly. He was getting more and more excited. “This dude—Ed—he doesn’t care a hoot. He saw you perform at Sectionals. He knows you’re brilliant. But he wants to meet you in person before he makes his final decision. He wants to see one more skate from you too.”
A handshake and a smile? A simple routine on the ice? Could that really be the only roadblock between Addisyn and her dream? For the first time she realized her palms were slippery with sweat. She wiped them hard against her jeans. From deep inside her, she heard the words come out. “What kind of routine?”
“Easy.” Brian waved his hand and leaned forward as if to impart a secret. “There aren’t even any choreography requirements! You can show off your talent as much as you like.
“There is one requirement, though.”
Unpleasantness dashed Addisyn like a bucket of cold water. She gritted her teeth. Hadn’t she learned to expect strings attached with Brian?
“The guy wants to see you in Chicago in nine days.”
Addisyn’s jaw dropped. “Brian, you honestly expect me to learn a routine—for a Team Unlimited agent—in a little over a week?”
“Listen. You can definitely do this.” Brian was talking in that sharp, fast tone that Addisyn hated. It made him sound like a used-car salesman. “We’ll take a flight tomorrow for Chicago, okay? Get you back in the gym on some workouts, although—” his eyes lingered as they traveled up her body—“you clearly haven’t lost any conditioning. You look great, baby. Then, we start learning the routine. It will be super simple but super impressive at the same time. I already have part of it figured out. I’ve got a nice K-pop piece. You’ll love it, lots of movement to it. You open with a Salchow and then a—”
“Wait.” Addisyn held up her hands as if to stem the tide. A horrible thought had occurred to her. “Brian Felding, are you lying to me about this?”
“No, I swear!” He held up his hand as though taking an oath. “Upon my honor.”
Right.She looked at him pointedly. “Your honor?”
Brian flushed. For just a second his face contorted into a nasty look, but then his features quickly straightened. “Okay. I get it.” He dug his iPhone from his back pocket and quickly swiped a few options. “Here. Check it out for yourself.”
An email was displayed on the screen. Addisyn could see the date was two days ago. Snatches of phrases seemed to leap from the screen.Ed: I received your email and am happy for the chance to work with you...Miss Miles is top-notch...one of the best figure skaters in all of...looking forward to your assistance. One line in particular snagged her eye. Miss Miles will be performing for you in Chicago, at the Rayard Arena, on the afternoon of the 1st, as per our earlier discussion.
She scowled and looked up at Brian. “You already signed me up? Without my permission?”
“But of course you’re going to do it! It’s Team Unlimited!”