The hotel lobby is empty, everyone still at
the rink. The first qualifications start tonight but Dante’s not on
the schedule until tomorrow morning for the five hundred and
thousand meter runs. He could race in all of the events if he
wanted to, if he could qualify, but he knows his strength is short
distance and after all that’s happened this afternoon, he’s glad
he’ll only race tomorrow. He doesn’t think he would do well on the
ice tonight.
When they get upstairs, they find their
floor deserted—faint voices drift out into the hall from behind
closed doors, ghosts that haunt the corridor as they head for their
room, but once the door is shut and they’re alone again, Dante
forgets the rest of the club to concentrate on Ryan, on only
Ryan. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he persist
