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

“Sometimes when you are really looking forward to something,” Milo said, “the days dally on. Now, though, it seems like they are moving along okay, doesn’t it?”


“Eight more. I’ll be in Japan three days ahead. I keep rewatching that video Jenn made of you.”


She had passed it along to Milo, of course, and he had called the moment he’d seen it, and several times since. They’d talked every morning, every afternoon, and every night all week, sometimes online, to save a few bucks on what was going to be a pair of outrageous phone bills.


“It gets hotter every time,” Milo said. “I mean, damn, Yankee, I honestly didn’t know you had that in you. What was it what got it out?”


“Jenn said you were horny,” Milo ribbed.


“Actually, yeah.” Tom Alan blushed. “It was right after your smiley-face text. My ambivalence meter had swung to full-on ice dancer at that point in time.”


Chapter 56