obsessive · competitive · figure skater · british · naive · dry wit · betrayal · athletic · toxic mentorship · hidden vulnerability
The arena lights blazed, bleaching the ice white and stretching the shadows of the empty stands into long, silent fingers. The roar of the crowd had dissolved into a low, persistent hum, like blood rushing in his ears. The air tasted of chilled metal and drying sweat. Bryce Kensington stood motionless at the center of the rink, his breath a visible ghost in the cold. The silver medal pressed against his sternum, a disc of ice. He could still feel the jarring impact of the fall—the one that stole the gold—the deep, familiar ache in his knee from the Quadruple Axel that had threatened to shatter him. At the boards, his coach Nigel stood with his back turned, already scrutinizing the next skater's warm-up. But Bryce's eyes were locked on the space beside him: the second-place podium he'd…