Just My Puck // Harry Styles

Chapter 41

V e r o n i k a ' s     P o i n t     o f     V i e w

"No-no-no-no-no-no-no. He's not a murderer, he's just a tall, kinda scary looking dude who's meant to scare you a little." Zac stated as he began pacing the room.

I bit my lip. "Close. He's a tall, kinda scary looking dude who killed a figure skater back in '09 and tried doing the same to me a few months ago."

Brett raised his voice, his accent strong. "The plan was never to kill you."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "You tried to hurt me so that I'd be unable to skate for years."

My feet glided against the ice as I perfectly landed a triple axel. A large smile made its way onto my face as I turned to Brett. "Did you see that?!"

He narrowed his eyes. "See you not hold your arms in tight enough during that jump? Yeah, I did see that and so will the judges. Do it again."

I blinked. "But..that was nearly perfect."

"Nearly. If you want to make it to the Olympics it needs to be perfect. Not nearly perfect. Now do it again."

I nodded. He was right. Nearly perfect wasn't good enough. My feet glided back over to the other side of the rink and I began doing the jump again and again, over and over until it was perfect.

Hours later, Brett held his hand up before I could try again for probably the 300th time. "Stop, no more. This skill is too advanced for you, you're not ready for it. We'll stick to double axel jumps for next time."

My breath was uneven as I tried to reply. "Please, I know I can do it."

He looked me up and down. "No, malen'kiy. You can't."

I sighed. I hated it when he called me 'little one' because it made me feel way inferior to him and he only called me it when he was angry and disappointed in me. "Are..are we at least still on for dinner at Anatoly's?" Anatoly's was my favorite little restaurant that served the best solyanka.

He let out a hough out and looked away. "I don't know.. You really shouldn't be eating solyanka, it's too many carbs. You need to lose weight to spin faster."

I glanced down at my tiny figure then back up to Brett. I reached for his hand, "Please? I'll get a salad."

His dark eyes pierced right into my soft, pleading eyes and he gave me a small peck on the cheek. "Fine. I'll meet you there at eight."

I glared at Brett. "You stopped me on my way to Anatoly's and pulled me into an alley where you tried to break my legs."

Zac swallowed after intently listening to my story with Brett. He was now avoiding staring at him. "Why would he do that?" He mumbled to me.

My face turned to Zac. "He was secretly working with another skater at the time who was paying him a lot of money. Way more than I was. They wanted to guarantee she would win over me, so they tried to get me out of the competition. Sound like anyone you know?"

Zac's features instantly softened and he began shaking his head. "I'm so sorry, Ronnie. I've been a real jerk. Not just to you, but to everyone." He paused and looked down. "I don't even remember who I used to be.."

I stared at him for a few seconds before deciding he really was being sincere. I almost felt bad for the guy. "Look, it's not to late for you to fix at least one mistake. Let me go so we can have this final game at a fair advantage."

He nodded. "I will. The deal is off, Brett. Let's get out of here so we can get a good night's sleep before the big game."

A smile was brought to my face but it then fell when Brett spoke up again.

"Not so fast."

______________________________________________

so this was short again but hopefully it was alright !!

as always, thanks so much for the feedback! i love hearing from you guys!

only a few more chapters left!!

Questions

1. Were you expecting that to be Ronnie's past?!

2. What do you think Brett's gonna do?

3. Have your opinions on Zac changed at all?