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

“It’s like catching fish in a basket—wait. That’s not right,” Jesse said.


“You mean shooting fish in a barrel?” Tom Alan offered up.


“Yeah.” Jesse giggled, but then turned serious. “The jerks know where to come so they can say the most awful stuff right to you. I, like, decided not to ever say anything to anyone at school, because that’s just painting a target on myself. I’d drop out if I could transition now. I know there are all kinds of tests and stuff they put you through first. This girl forced to live as a guy, we’re kind of tight…online. She’s pre-op, taking the right kinda pills and stuff. Things are changing, like, on…on top. She told me she slipped one time and called herself a guy. Something like, ‘Us guys went clubbing’, and her shrink went all crazy on her, like she wasn’t ready or whatever. So dumb. Her parents made her stop. Now she wants to kill herself.”


Chapter 28