On his way to realizing his Olympic dream, Tom Alan Baranowski finds himself in the midst of a dilemma. His traditional Japanese coach is insisting upon an arranged marriage between his biological daughter Erika and adopted son Tom Alan, who are partners on the ice. Tom Alan loves Erika, and his coach literally saved his life, rescuing him from an abusive home. How can he say no?<br><br>Somewhat resigned to his “not so bad” fate, everything changes when Tom Alan meets British ice dancer Milo Fisher. The spark between them is almost hot enough to melt the ice beneath their blades, and the two fall into an affair.<br><br>What about Erika? What about loyalty? What about gold? For Tom Alan, the impossible throw quadruple jump is suddenly the least difficult thing in his life.

Quadruple Flip

Unlike some locker rooms, the one at Irina Mischen’s rink had waist-high walls separating each individual bathing space. If one was tall enough—like say, maybe six-six—the walls did little to hide the guy beside you. Someone Milo’s height, however, couldn’t see Tom Alan, even if he’d been in the next stall in the line. He wasn’t. Tom Alan had chosen the one farthest away. He was shy in the shower as well, which was about to become a problem, since Milo Fisher came over to join him.


Athletes shower together. Gay, straight, it’s no big deal—unless, there’s some sort of attraction involved, or maybe another reason a guy might want to hide his nakedness. In Tom Alan’s case, both were true.


“My dad…” Milo began, washing his pits with a handful of gel he’d brought over with him, the hair there as wild as that on his head. “I have two, you see. One’s almost right famous. You, um, ever hear of him?”


Chapter 11