Page 75 of Ice Princesses
“I’ll see you later?” she asks, and for the first time since I’ve met her, there’s something almost tentative in it. It throws me off more than anything else she’s done today.
“Yeah,” I say. “You will.”
Her mouth curves and then she steps away, already pulling herself back together. Shoulders straightening, expression settling into something more composed, more recognizable.
“And Coach?” she calls, turning over her shoulder as she walks away. “Stop distracting me.”
I sigh, watching her disappear around the corner.
Like that’s even remotely possible.
The hallway goes still again, but it doesn’t feel the same.
I push off the wall, already smiling to myself. “Yeah,” I murmur. “That’s going to be a problem.”
CHAPTER 26
ISABELLA
The exhibition weekdoesn’t slow down. It stretches instead, expanding into every available hour until there’s very little space left for anything that isn’t already scheduled. I had to ask Nina to add bathroom breaks into my agenda because I found myself having to excuse myself mid-conversation just to escape for a minute.
By the last day, I’ve stopped pretending I can keep track of where I’m supposed to be without checking my phone. Everything overlaps. A sponsor breakfast turns into a media segment which turns into a conversation I didn’t plan to have with two US federation officials who speak in careful language about long-term positioning.
I nod where I’m supposed to and answer what I’m asked, but leave before the conversations turn into something else.
I realize, belatedly, that this is all my parents’ doing. This sort of whisper network they’re working, threading the needle from person to person until someone can close the loop.
“Your timing is getting suspicious,” Nina says from one of the bathroom stalls in the farthest locker room in the building. I’d been stretching my break as much as possible, trying to see if I could avoid my parents for a few extra hours before everyone packs it up to go home after a successful exhibition.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, washing my hands quickly.
She hums like she absolutely does, and I sigh. “You missed the sponsor lunch.”
“I had a meeting.”
“Izzy.”
I glance at her. “Don’t abuse your power.”
She rolls her eyes, but her mouth tips upward a little. We leave the locker room together in the direction of the main rink. Just when we’re about to get to the lobby, my sister tilts her head slightly towards one of the conference room doors I’ve been avoiding all week. “They’re in there.”
“I know. Gertrude has been updating me.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Are you planning to acknowledge them at any point?”
“I acknowledged them yesterday.”
“You walked past them, Isabella,” she says. “Very decisively, I’ll give you that.”
Nina watches me for another step or two, then sighs dramatically. “Okay. So we’re doing this again.”
“Doing what?”
“This thing you did the year you retired where you pretended to move fast so they couldn’t catch you.”
I push open the side door that leads back into the rink. “Is it working?”
“For now,” she says with a smile, following me inside.
