Losing the Ice (Ice Series #2) by Jennifer Comeaux

live.”
    “That’s fine with me.”
    I crumpled my protein bar wrapper and squeezed it in my fist. I’d thought we would have a relaxing holiday — dinner with Mrs. Cassar on Christmas Eve and then a quiet celebration with my parents the next day. Josh was still working through his anxiety, and having his family in town would no doubt lead to more agitation.
    We returned to the ice a few minutes later, and Sergei stopped me before I could take off on my own.
    “Ready to skate with your partner?” He grinned.
    I jumped up and down with glee on the inside but kept my giddiness in check on the outside. Sergei instructed us to do crossovers together, one of the basic exercises we had done when we’d first teamed up. Josh took my hand, and he held it so fiercely I thought he might crush the bones in my fingers.
    “I know you got me.” I smiled.
    He loosened his grip a bit, and we began to push across the ice with identical strokes. Soon we were circling the rink with sweeping crossovers. Em motioned a few times for us to slow down, but it was hard not to get overly excited and fly faster. Having Josh beside me made me feel like a complete skater.
    Just doing the easy warm-up exercise with Josh also had my competitive juices flowing again. We had six weeks until nationals, and I wanted so badly to be on the ice in Greensboro, to perform the beautiful programs we’d poured our hearts into perfecting. I couldn’t get ahead of myself, though. We had a lot of training time to make up, and Josh had only taken baby steps so far.
    He turned his head and made eye contact with me, and his bright smile strengthened our belief in us. It gave me renewed hope we could conquer all the challenges ahead. One stroke at a time.
     
    ****
     
    I opened my locker and bounced on my heels. A new gift from my Secret Santa awaited me. I grabbed the small gift bag and carried it out to the rink. For the past week, Santa had given me a variety of presents — from a strawberry-scented candle to a pair of furry green earmuffs. I pulled the tissue paper from the bag and found a figurine of Donald and Daisy Duck as a figure skating pair.
    Josh saw my wide smile, and he grinned just as big. “What you got there? Is that from your Secret Santa?”
    “I wonder who that person could be…” I tapped my chin and gave him a knowing look.
    “You’ll find out very soon.” His eyebrows danced.
    With holiday music playing on the stereo and our rink party later that day, everyone was in a festive mood. Only a few days remained before Christmas. On the ice, Josh and I had advanced from simple stroking to doing spins and double jumps. We had also practiced all our lifts off the ice. Em and Sergei had a steady plan for us as we inched closer to nationals.
    I stashed my gift in the locker room and hustled back to the ice for the start of the next session. Josh was already out there, waiting for our next task from Em and Sergei.
    “You’re one minute late.” He tugged on my ponytail and smiled. “Slacker.”
    “It’s time to put the lifts on the ice,” Sergei said.
    Josh’s smile vanished. “Already?”
    “You’re right on schedule with where we hoped you’d be. It’s the next step toward doing sections of your programs.”
    “You’re ready,”Em said. “We wouldn’t ask you to do this if you weren’t.”
    I grasped Josh’s hand and looked up at him. “Our timing with them on the floor has been great. We got this.”
    He shuffled his skates and remained quiet as Sergei directed us to do the star lift first. We set off from the boards, and Josh’s hold on my hand intensified.
    “Just like riding a bike,” I said, trying to maintain the positive mood.
    I wasn’t sure Josh had even heard me. He was staring down at the ice and didn’t give me any kind of response. I was going to have to kick us into action to get his attention.
    “Ready?” I said and sped up my skates.
    Josh had no choice but to follow me or be dragged behind. We