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

Over the next four days, Tom Alan alternated between common sense, horniness, hopefulness, shame, and deep, dark depression. He reminded himself frequently that Kale Omlet had just undergone a serious operation. Surely Milo was busy, as Kat had said. He was spending as much time as possible with his dad and probably other family members, too. He didn’t get back to England all that often of late. Expecting him to have his mind on some guy he’d only known a few days, at a time like this, was both stupid and arrogant.


You are on the short list, dummy, of people he reaches out to from a continent away—Irina Mischen, Jenn, and you. Their messages aren’t lengthy either. Your first one was poetry! He took an extra thirty seconds…Okay, maybe five…Anyway, even if it was accidental verse, he made the effort, and the message was fun. Sure, the other messages were even succincter. Is succincter a word? Anyway, they came. Be grateful, not needy!


Chapter 45