He Switched Partners. I Switched Countries. novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: He Came for You

Wyatt walked into the Burnaby rink on Monday at 6:40 in the morning, in a camel coat, carrying a shoebox.

I was on the ice with Theo, halfway through a lift.

The other pairs in the club were warming up along the boards, twelve skaters and two coaches.

I felt the room change before I saw him.

Theo set me down gently and did not let go of my waist until I had both blades under me.

"Rule two," he said.

"I know."

"He's here."

"I know."

"Do you want him gone?"

I looked across the ice.

Wyatt stood at the gate with his shoebox held in both hands.

He lifted one hand and waved at me, small and hopeful.

"I'll deal with it," I said.

"You'll deal with it with me beside you," Theo said, and skated me to the gate without another word.

Wyatt's face was wet.

I had seen him cry exactly twice before, and both times he had meant it.

I did not know whether he meant it now.

"Len," he said. "I drove all night."

"You didn't have to."

"Paige quit." His voice cracked on it. "She quit yesterday, in the hotel. She said the lift was my fault and she wouldn't skate with me again. I have nobody. I came to say I was wrong."

The skaters along the boards had gone silent.

"You were wrong," I said.

"I was wrong about all of it. I was scared of Olympic season, I wanted a sure thing, and I used you." He held out the shoebox. "I kept these."

I took the lid off.

Inside were two tiny rental skates, brown leather, a child's size one.

The laces had gone grey.

They had been my mother's, and she had laced them herself, on a Saturday morning, eighteen years ago.

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