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Bella Swan is a nationally ranked paired skater with Jacob Black. Edward Masen is beautiful British skater paired with Tanya. However, both of their partners fall into hard times. These two try to navigate their way through life, both on and off the ice.
Chapter One: Na tionals and Knees
BPOV
"Damn i t, Jacob! Stop touching my boo bs as you're lifting me," I gr owled.
"Come on, you love it," Jacob purred as he batted his eyes.
"No. I don't. Come on, we have only three minutes le ft in the warm up skate before we perform for the United Sta tes Nationals," I seethed. "St ar lift and don't touch the ta tas."
"Fine," he said as he ad justed his stance. We built up speed and Jacob lifted me int o a flawless star lift, soarin g over his six foot tall frame . He may be a pain in the ass, but he was strong and he has never dropped me. I flipped d own and landed softly on my sk ates. "See? I can play nice, I sabella."
"When you want to," I said as I jabbed in the rib s. "Do you want to win?"
"Yes, I do," he said. "Let's do thi s shit, babe."
"Don't call me babe."
We finished doing some basic lifts and spot checked a few places in the choreogra phy. Before we knew it, warm u p skate was done and we got of f the ice. We were the favorit es for the National Championsh ip. We coasted through the sho rt program and now we were las t to skate for the long progra m. It was our third year toget her as a pair. Jacob and I hat ed each other off the ice, but he was an amazing partner. He was strong, confident and dri ven. Everything I looked for i n a pairs partner.
We'd been f oisted together by my mother a nd his father. I was trying to hack it as a singles skater b ut couldn't nail the needed tr iples. Jacob was on his fourth partner in six months. He'd s lept with all of them. Two of them got pregnant and the oth er two were so repulsed that t hey left him. We met on the ic e. It was hate at first sight. However, my coach, the esteem ed Carlisle Cullen, insisted I try working with him. I sighe d and went with it. Jacob taug ht me the basics for pairs ska ting and by the end of our fir st practice, we'd nailed the s tar lift and a death drop. I h esitantly agreed to work with Jacob. However, it was a stri ctly business relationship. No funny business. I wanted Olym pic Gold and that means that I do NOT sleep around.
Besides, Jacob probably has the clap. Or something.
Ewwww!
Six mont hs after our initial meeting, we'd perform at several regio nal competitions. We were gain ing notoriety and experience. Carlisle felt that we were re ady for several international Grand Prix events and we enro lled in two competitions. We w on gold at both events. Easily . The only other pair that was close to us in the way of sco res was Edward Masen and Tanya Juneau.
Edward was a class ac t. Tanya, not so much. Her mou th got them into trouble and t hey lost points because she di ssed several judges. I felt so rry for Edward. Honestly. It's a shame such a strong skater had a bitch for a partner.
I bet he was thinking the same about me. It's a shame that I have to put up with Jacob. He 's such a prick. A bad boy. A baby daddy to two little girl s who will never know their fa ther. Bastard.
"Bella?" Carlis le asked. "Are you okay, sweet ie?"
"I'm fine. Just trying to focus on the program," I said as smiled at my coach. "I don 't want a repeat from rehearsa l yesterday. I can't fall on t he throw triple salchow."
"Tha t wasn't you, Bella. That was Jake. He threw you too hard. How's the knee?" Carlisle ask ed.
"Fine. I may have Jasper t ake a look at it after this co mpetition. I think I need some rehab on it," I said as I ben t my knee. Yesterday in practi ce, I fell funny on one of our throws. My knee gave out and it was slightly swollen. Emme tt McCarty who was the trainer that I worked with taped me u p so I could have some extra s upport for today. He also gave me some stim and ice last nig ht. Also a stern talking to Ja cob.
"I hope that it's nothing serious," Carlisle said with a frown. "We have the Worlds in March."
"I'll be fine. Jac ob just needs to not toss me l ike I'm a rag doll," I said wi th an eye roll.
I went into th e woman's room to adjust my ma keup. Normally I don't like to wear makeup but when I'm on t he ice, I piled it on. My eyes were smoky and my lips were a deep blood red. My brown curl y hair was pinned back in a ti ght bun with a red swatch of f abric that matched my dress. A lice, Carlisle's daughter, was my best friend and costume de signer for Jacob and me. The o utfit she chose for us for the compilation of songs from Mas k of Zorro was red dress with laser cut outs and a chiffon skirt. Jacob wore black pants and a shirt that matched my d ress. Alice wanted him to wear a mask, but he abjectly refus ed.
I agreed with him.
One of the rare times that I did.
Ju st because I agreed with him, Jacob wanted to grab my ass. He got a toe pick in the shin for that one.
"Yo, Bells. We' re up next," Jacob called into the bathroom. I blew out a br eath and went out into the bac kstage area of the ice arena. I slipped off my jacket and d id some brief stretches to loo sen up my muscles. Once I did my stretches, Carlisle rubbed my shoulders and told me that I would kick ass.
I hope so.
The pair befor e us finished their piece. Jes sica Stanley and Mike Newton s kated off the ice. I could tel l by Jessica's tears that they did not do well. Mike had a p osture of defeat. He gave me a slight smile as they went to the kiss and cry. Jacob and I stepped onto the ice and face d Carlisle.
"This is it. You b oth can nail this. Just be con fident and don't let the stand ings faze you. You both worked so hard for this and I'm prou d of you," Carlisle said. "Let 's say a brief prayer and you both can kick some ass."
We b owed our heads and said our si lent thanks to God and prayers that neither one of us would get hurt or fall. Carlisle sq ueezed our hands and gave us a smile as our names were calle d. Jacob grasped my hand and w e did a loop around the arena before reaching our mark for the opening of our routine. W e got into our positions and w aited for music to start.
It d id and we both flew into actio n. Like perfectly synchronized dancers, we moved and flowed with each other. I was only 5 '3", easily dwarfed by Jacob. However, we fit together perf ectly when we skated. Jacob ha d the strength that I lacked a nd I had the artistry that he struggled with.
We were halfw ay through our routine when we got to the throw salchow that caused me issues in practice. "Don't toss me like I'm a sac k of potatoes, Jake," I hissed as we built up speed.
"Got it , Swan," he said as he pulled close to his body. He twisted and turned, launching me into the air. I crossed my arms an d prayed that my knee would ho ld up. I did my three revoluti ons and landed on my blade. I smiled as I didn't fall. We w orked into our footwork sequen ce. It was tight and intricate and hard. I had no problem wi th it, but Jacob was bigger th an me and struggled with the m oves. Like I said, I had the a rtistry, Jacob had the strengt h.
We got through the footwork and did our spin sequence bef ore the end of the routine. We had one more jump left and it was the bane of my existence. Side by side triple loops. Ga h! I hated the fact that we pu t a triple at the end of the r outine, but in order to get bo nus points, we needed to do it . We readied our jumps and too k off simultaneously. Thankful ly, we landed at the same time but I noticed that Jake doubl ed his. I was pissed as it mea nt that we would not get the b onus points.
We finished the r outine and landed our final po se. The crowd roared and we bo wed for the audience. Flowers and stuffed animals were bein g thrown onto the ice and we w aved at the audience before we exited the ice. We both slipp ed on our blade guards and wen t to the kiss and cry. Carlisl e hugged both of us, exclaimin g his pride and joy that we di d so well. I was already menta lly deconstructing the entire performance in my head. Each mistake, each nuance, each fu mble. I knew that I wanted to address several places before we performed this routine for the world competition in a fe w months.
"Bella, stop obsessi ng," Jacob laughed. "Enjoy our adoring fans."
"Okay," I said with a smile. We both waved a nd waited for the scores. A fe w moments later, the scores we re posted and like we had been favored to do, we won our thi rd National championship. Jaco b pulled me into a tight hug, lifting me off the ground. I squealed excitedly and return ed his embrace. As we were the last pair to skate, the medal ceremony was being set up on the ice as we were hugging.
A camera was thrust in our face s and we had several interview s until we were beckoned on th e ice to receive our medals. W e skated around the arena and waved until we got onto the t op rung of the podium. Scott H amilton put the medals around our necks, shaking our hands and giving us bouquets of flo wers. Jessica and Mike got the bronze medal and some new pai r, James and Victoria Hunter, a brother/sister act got the silver.
We posed for pictures and then went our separate wa ys. I went into the locker roo m, changing into my jeans and t-shirt. I slipped on my comf ortable Chuck Taylors and pull ed my bag over my shoulder. Ca rlisle was driving me back to the hotel where I would have dinner with him and my parent s. Jacob wanted to go out and drink to celebrate. He could have at it. I just want to cr awl into bed and sleep. It had been a crazy few days and I n eeded the rest.
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