Being part of an Olympic skating pair should be excitement enough for one life, but for Erika that's only the beginning. Her skating partner, Tom Alan, is her ex-husband, who fell in love with former British ice dancer Milo, and all three of them live together and raise her daughter, whose father is Erika's ex-boyfriend, Bill, a rabid hockey fan who is old friends with Milo. Whew! As if that's not enough, Erika still loves Bill, loves Tom Alan, and might just love Milo, too. Add a couple of troubled teenagers to the pile, and suddenly training for the Olympics is the easy part. But Erika's never been a fan of the conventional, and one way or another the four of them will find a way to make their strange tangle of love, sex, and family work.

Transitions

“I’ll catch up with you later.” He offered a kiss on the cheek. Erika put her hand there. “Sorry. Force of habit.”


“Wait.” She took his arm. “Just for a second.” Turning to her mother, she asked if it was okay if Jesse spent the day.


Kyoko looked to her daughter, and then to the upset younger girl with her head down, staring at her phone, which hadn’t made a peep. “If she’d like. You are familiar with the ice?”


“I, um, play hockey,” Jesse said softly.


“Maybe we’ll get you in a pair of figure skates. You’re a pretty girl. You’d make a beautiful flower.”


“No,” Kyoko said. “You will not pass. You are here on a work day and will do as I say.”


“Sorry, Mrs. Tukina.” The name was a tough one.


“You may call me Kyoko.” She held out her hand, and once the two were off to the back room for skates, Erika tried again with Billy, still mouthing “dada” to his daughter.


“Did you talk to Jesse’s parents?”


Chapter 18