I rack my brain and feel a slow sinking feeling in my gut; nothing good could come of this conversation.

“He offered me a job,” he says, beaming.

“At Powerhouse?” I ask.

“It would start this fall, after the Olympics. I could bring Hallie—she’s young enough that she could train for 2024, and Dimitri and I could train her together,” he explains. “I mean, think about it: more resources, better facilities, working with Dimitri Federov.”

“Yeah, I got that part,” I say.

Ryan’s face falls slightly.

“I mean, wow. That’s a lot,” I continue, rushing to switch to a more congratulatory tone.

“I’m really excited,” he says. “I can’t believe he wants to work with me.”

“What would Hallie’s parents think?” I ask, trying to find a hole to poke in this plan.

“I don’t know exactly, I’d have to talk to them,” he says. The lilt in his voice makes me realize he hasn’t thought through this part yet at all. “I can’t see why they’d turn down Dimitri. True, Powerhouse is slightly more expensive than Summit, but not by much, and it’s literally the best training center in the world. So.”

He smiles as if to say, That’s that.

“If you leave Summit, who else would train her?” I wonder out loud.

He shrugs. “Well, you’d still be at Summit, wouldn’t you?”

Training her on floor is already intense—I’m not sure if I’d be confident enough to tack on beam, bars, and vault, too. And anyway, the Conways probably wouldn’t trust me to pull that off. So if Ryan leaves and Hallie really does want to train for 2024, the Conways would probably follow him. And that means I’d be left behind.

Ryan sips from his drink and stares off into the distance. It’s clear that mentally, he’s no longer here at this party—he’s in Tokyo, watching Hallie climb the podium; he’s at Powerhouse, working as his idol’s right-hand man; he’s fast-forwarding decades ahead to when he’s the most respected coach in the entire sport, just like Dimitri is now.

I have to tell him the truth.

“I just…” I say, lowering my voice to a notch above a whisper. “I think you should really consider this before you say yes. I don’t think working with Dimitri is the right move—not for you, and definitely not for Hallie.”

I wish he would understand without making me say it.

“Let’s head out?” I suggest.

He kisses my temple and rises to stand. “We’ve barely been here an hour. Let’s stay for a little while longer, cool?”

I hesitate. I don’t know what else to say. “Cool.”