Rachel's legs felt like water as she stepped onto the ice in her sneakers, clutching the enormous bouquet of sunflowers.
The entire arena was staring at her. Hundreds of faces. Thousands of eyes.
And Mac, standing near the bench, his expression shocked and confused and guarded all at once.
Rachel walked to center ice, her heart pounding so hard she could barely breathe.
The announcer handed her a microphone.
"Um, hi everyone," Rachel said, her voice shaking and amplified throughout the arena. "Sorry to interrupt the game. This will just take a minute."
The crowd was dead silent, watching.
Rachel looked directly at Mac.
"Ryan MacKenzie, I need to say something to you. And I need to say it publicly. In front of everyone."
Mac's teammates were grinning. The crowd was leaning forward.
Rachel took a breath and continued:
"Two months ago, you walked into the library where I workand brought me too many flowers. You made a grand gesture. You told me you liked me in front of everyone. You were brave and ridiculous and wonderful."
Some laughter from the crowd. Mac's expression unreadable. Was he mad?
"Then you spent two months proving you loved me. You turned down better opportunities to stay here. You read books you hated because I loved them. You met my difficult mother. You believed in me when I couldn't believe in myself."
Rachel swiped at her cheeks, but the tears kept coming.
"And I let fear control me. I didn't trust you when you'd done nothing but prove yourself trustworthy. I broke your heart. And I'm so, so sorry."
The crowd was quiet except the scraping of feet against linoleum floor.
She started walking toward him, closing the distance across the ice.
Mac's eyes were wet, his jaw locked. She took one more step closer to the boards.
"But you taught me that love means showing up. It means being brave even when you're terrified. So I'm done hiding. I am choosing you, Mac. Publicly. In front of this entire town."
She held out the sunflowers.
"I love you. Will you please give me another chance?"
Mac
Mac stood there, his entire body trembling, staring at Rachel standing in the middle of the ice holding sunflowers and crying and declaring her love for him in front of hundreds of people.
His team was watching. The crowd was watching. The scouts were watching. Everyone was watching.
And Mac didn't care about any of them.
All he cared about was Rachel, standing there, completely exposed, waiting for his answer.
"You hurt me," Mac said finally, his voice rough. Not amplified. Only for her. "You broke my heart, Rachel."
Rachel flinched but didn't look away. "I know. And I'm so sorry."
Mac closed the distance between them in three steps.
