Chapter 2
Alexi wiped the sweat from his face with the towel his coach, Roger Willows, had just handed to him. He was battered and sore from his practice, but exhilarated, too. The routine was coming along so well he was almost worried. Maybe it wasn’t difficult enough to be competitive.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Roger spoke up, handing him a bottle of water. “You’re wrong. The routine is enough. It’s strong. You’ll shine.”
His coach had once been a medal figure skater himself, decades earlier, though he’d never won higher than a bronze himself. He was a much sought after coach, though, and Alexi had been lucky to get him back when he’d been hired by Alexi’s American father and Russian mother, pairs’ figure skaters themselves. Alexi had been seven when Roger became his coach.
Alex
