Chapter 2

It seemed an eternity before Brett heard the jet’s wheels touch the ground. He’d been biting his lower lip and gripping the arm rests so hard his knuckles were white and his hands cramped.

Fucking airplanes.

Brett waited in line in the center aisle between the seats with everyone else preparing to disembark the plane. There was a lot of shuffling around, pulling down overhead luggage, the usual. He made his way to the luggage claim and then out into the airport. All the while he hoped someone, maybe Rylan Hennessey, Celia’s performing partner, or someone from the troupe, Celebration on Ice, would meet him.

No one was there.

He took a taxi to the arena where Celia had been performing for the last week. The male half of the troupe’s owners, Lars Sweeny, had arranged for Brett to stay in the same hotel as the troupe, but Brettdidn’t know which hotel it was. He did, however know where the arena was located, and made arrangements to meet Lars and his wife, Kathryn, there. Lars left a pass for him at the employee entrance.

Sporting arenas were pretty much the same, at least the ones all over Canada and the United States. The ice was at the ground level, offices were on the fourth story, there were indoor parking garages nearby. He made his way to the ice, where the performers were practicing.

The show must go on.

Brett understood, the games went on as well. Team members and fellow performers sometimes died. The best way to honor them was to continue and win the game or put on the best performance of your life. Mostof the skaters were practicing in groups so Brett made his way around to one end where a single skater moved across the ice.

Rylan Hennessey and Celia began skating together when they were children. Their training for the Olympics in Montana took place when Rylan was still a boy. Skinny to the point of being delicate, alwaysgraceful, quiet, and the hardest working athlete Brett had ever seen, Rylan never interested Brett beyond being Celia’s skating partner.

The Rylan skating now was no longer a boy, not by any stretch of the imagination. Brett made his way downto the railing around the ice and hooked one foot on one of the lower rungs while he leaned his elbows onthe topmost one. He loosened his tie and shrugged out of his overcoat, draping it over the railing and watched every move Rylan made.

Rylan was lean muscle under his workout clothes and he was a little taller than Brett remembered. Why onEarth anyone would want to jump and spin on something as slippery as ice, Brett would never understand. However, plenty of people did it and Rylan was amazing. Brett could skate forward and backward and hop over low objects if needed, but he was a hockey player. Compared to Rylan and Celia, Brett was a bulldozer on ice.

Brett watched as Rylan twisted one way, then another. He thoroughly enjoyed watching as Rylan began executing more complicated moves, spinning, jumping, and generally sinking completely into his routine. Brett wondered if Rylan even knew he was being observed by an outsider to the performing company. Rylan’s blond hair feathered out as he picked up speed and his breathing quickened with his exertion. Brett couldn’t take his eyes off the young man as he swayed and dipped to whatever music played in his earbuds attached by thin, black wires to an MP3 strapped to his waistband. His clothes were just tight enough to give Brett a hint of well-shaped, muscular legs, a narrow torso, round buttocks, and firm biceps. When he turned, and skidded to a stop, Rylan raised one hand and waved at him.

Waving back, Brett didn’t make the slightest effort to take his eyes off Rylan. He’d watched him skate with Celia, but rarely live, it was almost always on video or television. Seeing Rylan skate in person made Brett’s heart beat a bit faster and his groin warm, which surprised him enough to intensify his feelings.

“Hi. It’s been a while.” Rylan glided to a stop in front of Brett and held out his hand. “I should’ve come to the airport and met you, but I—”

“Then I wouldn’t have been able to watch you practice.” Brett held onto Rylan’s hand a bit longer than necessary. Rylan didn’t seem to mind.

Rylan turned and looked around the rink watching the other skaters for a few seconds then turned back toBrett. “I didn’t know what else to do or where to go so I came here. It helps me.”

Brett dipped his head to the break in the railing then walked that way. Rylan immediately followed along. When he stepped off the ice, Brett instinctively reached out and took his arm, steadying him as he transitioned from smooth ice to the rougher floor. Rylan used Brett’s hand to steady himself while he clipped blade guards in place.