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

Later, “Now, skate opposite Milo and imitate his moves,” another tactic. “Good, Thomas.”


“Tom Alan.” He and Milo both said it.


Mrs. Mischen even skated with Tom Alan for a while, after her students had left. Milo watched. Irina Mischen couldn’t do a throw quad, but dang if the lady didn’t pull off a double or two, once Tom Alan got over the trepidation of A, touching a strange older woman, and B, chucking one.


“Gently,” she prompted. “This is for fun—for presentation practice, not for medals.”


By the end of a very hard three hours, Tom Alan was beat. Irina Mischen made elegance seem way harder than full-on athleticism. He had stripped off his top layers, down to a plain white T-shirt, and was guzzling from his water bottle when Milo skated by and gave the bottom of the bottle a hard whap, spilling water down Tom Alan’s front.


Chapter 18