Icebreaker

Aaron says that Nathan pranked him by placing something slippery next to his locker. Nathan swears that he didn’t (and the rest of the team does, too), but Anastasia is broken-hearted as she examines Aaron, worrying that they won’t be able to compete at sectionals in two weeks. She, Lola, and Aaron leave together. The next day, Nathan interrogates everyone on the team to find out who pranked Aaron, but everyone denies it. Coach Faulkner calls the hockey team in for an emergency meeting. Because Aaron’s mother threatened to pull her donation from the school, Faulkner threatens to throw everyone is off the team unless someone confesses to the prank. For the good of the team, Nathan lies and announces that he did it. Faulkner doesn’t believe him but has no choice but to punish Nathan and let the team keep playing. Nathan is barred from the team until Aaron is cleared to skate again.

Nathan nurses a migraine caused by stress. It gets worse and worse as he heads to Anastasia’s apartment. He lies to get his way past security and marvels at how nice the place is. When he knocks, Aaron opens it, smiling, and points Nathan to Anastasia’s room, where Ryan is consoling her in bed. Having heard about Nathan’s confession, she accuses him of lying to her. Nathan tries to respond, but the migraine incapacitates him, and he passes out in her arms.

Two weeks later, after Aaron has been cleared to compete, Anastasia video-calls her therapist, Dr. Andrews. They talk about her need to please her parents, and she admits that skating is the first thing they ask about when they call. Because of that, she feels relieved when they don’t call. Dr. Andrews suggests that her parents only prioritize skating because she does, and he advises her to tell them not to discuss skating for some time. Regarding Aaron’s critical behavior, Dr. Andrews advises her to prioritize her own well-being.

Then Dr. Andrews asks about Nathan. They had to end their last session early because she couldn’t stop crying about him. She hasn’t heard from Nathan for two weeks and believes that their relationship is over. Dr. Andrews points out that he lied once before to protect a teammate and might be doing so again. She admits that Nate is a “fixer” (191) who would willingly take the fall for his team. She feels naïve because she knows that either Aaron or Nathan is lying, and she doesn’t trust her judgment with Nathan because of her feelings for him. She is afraid talk with him and risk his rejection.

Nathan is relieved when Robbie tells him that he can rejoin the team, and he is happy that Anastasia and Aaron will be able to compete. He misses her and has avoided calling because of the look of betrayal she gave him two weeks ago. Although she took care of him when he had a migraine, he couldn’t stay awake to talk to her. Now, he keeps bugging Lola for information, but Anastasia has forbidden Lola to deliver messages. The hockey team wins their away game, and Nathan plays well. Later, he learns that he is once again off the hockey team because Aaron was injured a second time due to his wrist injury. His wrist gave out and caused him to drop Anastasia during the competition; he injured himself further by trying to catch her. Worried about Anastasia, Nathan goes to her apartment. Lola answers the door and says Anastasia feels like things are out of her control.

When Nathan enters Anastasia’s room, she is wearing his shirt. He apologizes for how badly he handled the situation over the last two weeks. She lets him hold her while she cries. She explains that the accident happened at the end of their routine. Aaron dropped her, and then she hurt his leg when he tried to catch her. However, their perfect performance before that moment allowed them to qualify. She is half laughing and half crying as she talks. She wants to wash her hair, so Nathan washes it for her and is shocked by the bruises on her body. She finally relaxes and they kiss, but there is nothing sexual in their interaction this time.

The next morning, Anastasia remembers how caring Nathan was the night before. She recalls that when she admitted to being afraid that he would reject her if she reached out to him, he was astounded and told her that he would go to extreme lengths to make her happy (203). She realizes that she feels safe with him. That morning, Nathan apologizes again for making her believe that he would do something to ruin her ambitions, and she confesses her feelings for him. However, she avoids talking about Aaron’s physical pain and ongoing issues with Nathan.

That evening, Anastasia drinks alone at a bar, grieving because Aaron can’t skate for another eight weeks. (Nationals is only eight weeks away.) Worse, Aaron refuses to talk to her. At one point, a group of guys start to harass her, and they only stop because Russ, who works evening shifts at the bar, steps in and pretends to be her boyfriend. Russ texts Nathan, who finds them because he makes his team use locator apps on their phones. Nathan gives them both a ride home, and Anastasia tells him that Aaron is avoiding her, she’s afraid of being lifted, and there are no male skating partners available for her to practice. Nathan offers to be her skating partner. She then explains that she won’t be able to focus with him because she has feelings for him. He tells her they can make it work, and that she will like bossing him around.

Anastasia and Nathan decide to abstain from sex for eight weeks to avoid distractions. The next day, they go shopping and talk about what her senior year will be like with Nathan living in Vancouver. Meanwhile, Nathan ignores multiple calls from his father. When Nathan gives her his phone and password as a sign of trust, she sees how many times his dad has been calling. Then she tells him that she doesn’t expect him to be celibate for two months. He responds by saying he will be blocking her from sleeping with any other guys, and she calls that “possessive and toxic,” but it makes her blush anyway (217).

Nathan asks if she wants any food, but Anastasia declines because she’s on a diet. Nathan, who studies sports science and has taken courses on nutrition, recognizes that Anastasia has a complicated relationship with food and asks if he can see her meal plan. When he sees it, he is shocked to realize that she is undereating, thanks to Aaron’s lack of expertise in making the meal plans. Nathan asks her if she’s been bruising more easily lately, but she denies that there is a problem and claims that Aaron sometimes struggles to lift her. However, she lets Nathan make her a new plan to show to Coach Brady, and she is clearly worried that Nathan’s assessment is correct.

At their first practice together, Nathan’s tights are too revealing, so Coach Brady makes him wear shorts and warns Anastasia about getting pregnant, pointing out that she knows the two like each other. She calls Anastasia her “best skater” (22). They start practice, and Coach Brady is hard on Nathan. She makes them take laps until Nathan can skate more gracefully. Once they get into the swing of things, Anastasia and Brady enjoy the session. Nathan is arrogant about his skills as a skater, but he is also honest about not knowing any figure skating terms. Anastasia is annoyed but also infatuated by him. She teaches him all the various jumps, and he asks her about the quadruple lutz that he saw her attempt. She explains that she wants to perfect it because she knows what it is like to have a skating partner who is not as skilled as she is, and she doesn’t want to hold Aaron back.

After practice, Nathan drops Anastasia off at her apartment, and she tells him he did a good job. Once home, she confronts Aaron about the meal plan he made her. Aaron gets defensive and accuses her of believing everything Nathan says just because she has sex with him. Aaron speaks with such anger that Anastasia immediately calls Nathan to pick her up.

Anastasia moves into Nathan’s house to avoid Aaron. It’s been two weeks, and while they sleep in the same bed, they put a wall of pillows between each other and continue to abstain from physical intimacy. They also start getting to know each other better. Nathan likes having her around, and he ends up doing better with his schoolwork because he follows Anastasia’s planner. They also do stretches to increase his flexibility. Coach Brady is shocked by Aaron’s meal plan and approves Nathan’s plan instead. Because of her issues with food, Anastasia struggles to adjust to the new plan emotionally and intends to talk to her therapist about it. Aaron keeps texting apologies, but she ignores him. Nathan and his roommates all insist that she can stay as long as she wants; everyone likes having her around and wants to protect her from Aaron. Anastasia teaches Robbie how to cook and plans to learn how to cook Indian food with JJ.

While Anastasia is at the movies with Lola, Nathan’s dad arrives and scolds him for spending his money while contributing nothing in return. He is in town for business and wants to talk to Nathan about Sasha, Nathan’s younger sister, who is unhappy and wants to quit skiing despite being a prodigy. He wants Nathan to convince her to continue skiing, but Nathan tells him that he needs to take care of her in other ways besides skiing. He advises his father to let Sasha go on vacation for Christmas. Nathan’s father notices evidence of Anastasia’s presence and criticizes his son for letting a girl live with him, then leaves.

During practice, Anastasia is afraid to let Nathan lift her. Nathan promises not to drop her, but although she trusts him, the fear paralyzes her. Coach Brady tells her to figure it out before the fear controls her. Despite this issue, skating with Nathan has revitalized her love for skating. After practice, Aaron shows up to talk. Nathan tries to protect her, but she agrees to speak with Aaron alone. Aaron again blames Nathan for his injuries and accuses her of lying instead of communicating. He also claims that her diet was not his fault and denies criticizing her weight. She accuses him of trying to control her and refuses to move back into the apartment until he regains her trust.

Afterward, Anastasia wants to do something irresponsible to keep her mind off Aaron, so they throw a party and play drinking games. They play Never Have I Ever, and Anastasia learns about some of Nathan’s antics in the years before she met him. When Nathan gets too drunk and tries to convince Anastasia to sleep with him, she forces him to shower and go to bed instead. Later, Anastasia denies Lola’s suggestion that she is in love. Suddenly, Nathan comes downstairs wearing only his boxers, still drunk, asking for her. Anastasia takes him back to bed and they fall asleep cuddling.

The next morning, Nathan is embarrassed by his drunken behavior the night before but is happy to be cuddling with Anastasia. The team makes fun of him in the group chat, because everyone, even his sister Sasha, saw a video of him drunk in his boxers. Nathan tells Sasha that he convinced their father to take her to St. Barts for Christmas. Nathan is nervous about Anastasia eventually moving back in with Aaron and worries it will have an adverse effect on their relationship. As Anastasia makes him pancakes, Henry speculates that Anastasia is in love with Nathan, which makes everyone uncomfortable. Anastasia blushes but says nothing.

Nathan takes Anastasia to practice, but instead of going to the rink, he drives to a swimming pool, with Coach Brady’s permission. At the pool, they practice lifts in the shallow end, increasing the difficulty until they practice the lift she was doing when Aaron dropped her. She trembles while he lifts her, but as he holds her above his head, he asks her to try falling. She thrashes around, and he holds her without dropping her.