Execution (Off Balance, #2)

by Lucia Franco

"Lyubov' ne to, chto vy mozhete ponyat', eto to, chto vy chuvstvuyete v svoyem serdtse. Net slov, eto prosto tak."

"If you cannot feel your muscles screaming in pain, then you are not working hard enough. Your mind will tell you to stop, that you had enough. Only then should you push harder and give it more than you thought possible. Trust me. You will surprise yourself."

"Pick apart the routines. Watch the scores. Watch the skills. Watch every event. Pay close attention to detail, be their biggest critic. Be a heartless judge. Be callous. Be cruel. Find places for improvement. Being nice will get you nowhere. Remember everything, so when you are at practice you avoid making the same mistakes.

"We are a team—I exhale, you inhale. We fight together. We work together. It is an amazing feeling when you find someone who shares the same passion as you. The possibilities are endless. I am the beast beneath your beauty, pushing you. From here on out, we do it together. You come to me for anything and I will do everything in my power to make it happen."

"Feel that between us? That chemistry, that fire. The harmony of two people who are so wrong for each other but somehow come together, throwing everything off balance to the point that nothing makes sense but it feels right. That is us. That is trust. You do not let someone into your body you do not trust.

"I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how much you mean to me."

"Only you, Ria," he groaned, "only you. I cannot live without you or this feeling you bring me. I want to be in you every day, all day, for the rest of my life. I want to wake up next to you, make you only mine, and do this every fucking day. This is heaven. You are my everything."

"V tihom omute cherty vodyatsya." Our eyes met. "Still waters run deep," he said quietly. His voice was deeper, huskier. "It is a saying in Russia that pretty much translates to the same in English. 'Under calm waters, the devil waits patiently.'" He paused and swallowed hard. He shot a fleeting glance at my mouth then looked into my eyes and said, "I fear nothing good can come from you."

"Beda nikogda ne prihodit odna." I waited, my breath heightening. He was so sexy like this. "Trouble never comes alone. This notebook, kissing you, constantly finding ways where we are isolated from judging eyes, would bring nothing but trouble from the devil." Kova wrapped his arms around my lower back, then moved so his lips were touching mine, and whispered, "YA takoy ublyudkare'. Proklyatyy, yesli ya proklyat, yesli ne budu."

I took a risk for you. Now take a risk for me and drop every fear you have ever had. Go out there and be defiant. Refuse to lose.

Everyone needs a hero, but you have to save yourself first before you can save everyone else."

Ria, I will always find you. You have a part of me that no one has ever had, as I do with you."