“Why is that?” He backed me against the wall. “Because you’re spoken for?”
“Because I’m not interested,” I said through gritted teeth.
He gave me a lecherous and intimidating glare that chilled my spine. “I’m curious. How did Sergei do it? How did he get you into his bed?”
Shivers overtook my body. I clamped my hands around my arms to stop the shaking.
“I’m not sleeping with him,” I said with a quiet insistence.
“Don’t try to deny it. I went to your house before the Final to talk to you about the trip, and you and Sergei were outside in each other’s arms. I saw you from the street, so I turned around and left. Figured I shouldn’t interrupt your little moment together,” he snickered.
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you think you saw, but you’re wrong.”
I tried to wiggle away from him, but he blockaded me to the wall with his arms. “I don’t think I am. And if you want me to keep your secret, you need to make it worth my while.” He pressed himself against me, and I stiffened with fear. “Why should Sergei have all the fun?”
“Leave me alone!” I twisted my shoulders in an attempt to wrench myself free.
Viktor started to pull me around the dark edge of the building. I struggled to release my arms, but all the twisting and turning had made me dizzy again. Terror shot through me as I realized I was losing the battle. We were about to round the corner when a voice broke through the night.
“Get off of her!”
Sergei reached us in a flash and pushed Viktor away from me. His eyes darted across my face as he put his hands on my shoulders. “Are you okay?” When I nodded, he barked at Viktor, “What are you doing?”
Viktor straightened his suit jacket and said coolly, “I was just having a chat with Emily.”
“This didn’t look like a chat,” Sergei said.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve accusing me of something when you’re the one sleeping with your student.”
Sergei’s body became one large, clenched muscle as he moved toward Viktor. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you. All that time you spend together . . .” Viktor leered at me. “I’d be all over her, too.”
Sergei reared back his fist and struck Viktor in the jaw. I gasped and covered my mouth as Viktor staggered from the blow. Sergei didn’t give him a chance to recover before he slammed his back against the wall.
“Don’t ever talk about her that way again,” Sergei seethed, his face inches from Viktor’s. “Don’t look at her, don’t speak to her, don’t touch her. Am I clear?”
Viktor shoved Sergei’s chest. “I’m sure a lot of people will be interested to know the very personal attention you’re giving Emily.”
I clutched Sergei’s forearm, holding back another punch. “And I’m sure everyone would like to know what a creep you are and how you harassed me.”
Viktor rubbed his jaw. “All I did was try to help a girl who’d had too much to drink. You misunderstood. And if you try to start trouble, then I have my own story to tell about you and your boyfriend here.”
“You don’t have proof of anything,” Sergei said.
“I don’t need proof to get people to start asking questions.”
Sergei got back into Viktor’s face. “What is it you want? Why are you doing this?”
“I want to see you squirm,” Viktor sneered. “You’ve had it too easy. The first pair you touch turns to gold. You need to sweat a little.”
“You don’t like me, fine. But Em and Chris don’t deserve to be hurt by your pathetic jealousy. They’ve put in all the work to get to this point.”
“I’m not jealous of you. Although, you do have a pretty nice deal going.” Viktor gave me another smirk that prickled my skin. “Do you coach Emily in the bedroom, too?”
“Son of a . . .” Sergei lurched forward, but I threw my arms around him.
“Don’t,” I pleaded. As much as Viktor deserved it, beating him senseless wouldn’t help the situation.
Pure evil lined Viktor’s laugh. “You’d better listen to her. I’m not going to charge you with assault because there are much more interesting ways I can ruin you.” He walked backwards toward the entrance. “You just won’t know if or when I’m going to make my move.”
I gulped and began to shiver again. Sergei’s brow knotted, and he ran his hands over the goose bumps on my arms. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. Everything around me was still a little hazy but clear enough to sense the trouble left in Viktor’s wake.
“How did you know I was out here?” I asked.
“I called your room to make sure you got there okay, and Aubrey said she hadn’t seen you. I figured you couldn’t have gone far.”
“I wanted to get some air, and Viktor followed me. I tried to fight him off, but everything was spinning . . .” A sob stuck in my throat, and I put my hands over my face.
Sergei hugged his arm around me. “Let’s go around to the back entrance.”
He guided me around the building and through the rear of the lobby to the elevators. In my room, Aubrey had passed out on her bed still in her dress. Sergei and I stood just inside the door, holding each other in silence.
“I’m so sorry about earlier when I told you to leave,” he said. “I wasn’t angry with you. I just couldn’t let you stay another minute because . . . something was going to happen.”
“You’re apologizing?” I picked my head up, too fast, and blinked a few times to focus. “ I’m the one who needs to apologize. I tell you I’m not going to sleep with you, and then I throw myself at you.”
“You weren’t yourself. I should’ve walked you back here before it got to that.” He brushed my hair away from my face.
“A lot of guys wouldn’t have stopped it from happening.” I hugged his neck and mumbled into his collar, “So, thank you.”
“If I just would’ve walked you to your room, then you wouldn’t have seen Viktor.”
“I really messed up,” I cried.
“No, this isn’t your fault. He was planning to get at us before tonight.”
Tears dripped from my eyes. Why was this happening? We’d overcome so many obstacles and were on the brink of seeing all our dreams come true. We should be having the time of our lives, planning for the Olympics. Instead, we had to hold our breath and hope Viktor wouldn’t wield his vengeful dagger.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Back home from Nationals, I practiced every day with a persistent knot in my stomach, worried what Viktor might do next. Sergei attempted to ease my anxiety, saying Viktor was all talk and trying to distract us from our Olympic preparations. After a week passed with no incident, I felt more hopeful he was right.
The weekend marked our one-year anniversary as a couple, so Sergei and I planned a night of good distraction to celebrate the occasion. I offered to make dinner at my house since Aubrey would be spending the evening with her parents. After I finished grocery shopping, I pulled into my parking lot and found Sergei’s car already there. The clock on my dashboard told me he was an hour early.
Sergei opened the door as I balanced the large brown paper bag on my hip.
“Did I tell you the wrong time?” I asked.
He took the groceries from my arms and gave me a kiss. “I just couldn’t wait to see you. Aubrey let me in before she left.”
I grinned and placed a delicate kiss at the corner of his mouth. “You are so sweet. Do you mind waiting for me to change before I start dinner?”
“Not at all. I can chop, slice, peel, whatever you need me to do.” He peeked into the bag.
In the kitchen, I set him up with the zucchini, yellow squash, and a cutting board. He started slicing while I put the shrimp, the other ingredient for my linguine dish, in the fridge. I gave him one more kiss before I dashed upstairs.
Once I’d changed my look from afternoon-errand-running Emily into evening-date-ready Emily, I emerged from my room, straightening the cropped jacket over my silky top. A surprising cold breeze hit me, and I noticed the sliding door to the terrace was ajar. I stepped through the doorway, and my hand went to my mouth at the sight before me.
Petite candles lined the terrace railing, creating a dreamy glow on the snow-covered patio. A path of red rose petals directed me from the door to the table, where four larger candles burned the scent of lavender. Centered between the candles was the Lyrics book.
I smiled and picked up the book. A silver heart-shaped bookmark stood between two pages and pointed to the song “When We Dance,” where red curvy brackets surrounded two particular lines.
As I read the lyrics, my head whirled, and I leaned against the table for support. I stared at the words, reading them again and again until the door shut behind me, snapping me out of my daze. I turned, and Sergei moved toward me in slow motion.
He gently pried the book from my hands and laid it on the table, his eyes not leaving mine. As he grasped my left hand in his, he placed one knee on the icy wooden floor boards.
I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me. My short and quick breaths showed in the frosty air. Sergei gazed up at me with hope, love, and a touch of nervousness. The candlelight shimmered in his eyes like sunlight on the ocean.
Sergei squeezed my hand and took a deep breath. “When you walked into my life, I felt an immediate connection to you. I thought it meant we were destined to work together, but it was more, so much more than I ever expected. One minute you were a friend, and then the next, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to be with you every minute of every day. I wanted to know everything about you. I wanted to hold you in my arms and look into your beautiful blue eyes and tell you how you’d stolen my heart.”
He paused and gripped my hand tighter. “Since we’ve been together, those feelings have only grown stronger. I can’t imagine being with anyone but you. You have so much passion and love in your heart, and you understand me like no one ever has. I don’t think there are enough words to describe how much I love you.” His voice cracked, swelling my heart.
“I know we’ve only been dating a year, and we haven’t exactly had a traditional relationship, but I don’t see those as reasons to wait to take this step. I feel like I’ve waited all my life for this moment.”
Tears spilled down my face. I covered my heart with my trembling hand as Sergei reached inside his pants pocket and brought forth a small, royal blue velvet box. Quicker than I could blink, he opened and shut it, and a sparkling solitaire diamond ring appeared between his fingers. The overwhelming love in his eyes threatened to knock me from my feet.
“Emily, will you marry me?”
Time froze. I saw myself walking into the rink, seeing Sergei’s smiling face for the first time. I saw us at the Sting concert, laughing in the rain, and at the cliffs, sharing our first glorious kiss. I saw the passionate look in Sergei’s eyes when he’d told me he loved me for the first time and the look of despair when he’d thought he lost me last summer. Finally, I saw us celebrating with my parents at Nationals and feeling like my family was truly complete.
Sergei looked at me expectantly. When I didn’t speak, he said, “ Em , you are so precious to me. Please say you’ll spend the rest of your life with me.”
My head swirled with images of my future, and every single one of the pictures contained one constant–Sergei. I dropped to my knees and touched his cheek. His eyes widened with greater hope.
I nodded vigorously and gasped through my tears. “Yes!”
A gleaming smile stretched across his face, and he pressed his lips to mine. Of all the kisses we’d shared, we’d never had one that contained so much unbridled joy.
“We’re getting married.” Sergei sounded as if he couldn’t quite believe it.
I couldn’t stop smiling and nodding. “We’re getting married.”
We gazed at each other as if we were in a trance, one of pure happiness. I reached for his other hand, forgetting he still held the ring.
“Oh! I guess I get this now.” I giggled and fingered the platinum band.
“Why don’t you stand up first? You must be freezing down here.”