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

“Maybe tonight,” Milo said with a sexy grin. “People were boycotting, planning to. There’s still talk.” He turned all serious again, tugged at his hair some with frustration. “Dumping vodka down the sink. Not serving it in bars. We do what we do to stir up change. What we might do is refuse to skate, right?”


Tom Alan thought about that…all the work, his whole life focused on those rings…


“Exactly,” Milo said, as if hearing his thoughts. “It’s a complicated issue. You and me,” he seemed to be on a roll. “You and me can get married now, here in New York. Well, not you and me…”


“No.” Tom Alan was fiddling around with the string on his sweatpants as he sat near the edge of the bed.


“You and me won’t be getting married. But two blokes or two women, right?” Tom Alan nodded. “We go to some places for what we do…countries whose policies we don’t agree with or understand, right?”


Chapter 14