“And whisper something in your ear,” he said, doing exactly that, smiling as he noticed her bite her lip and then quickly regain her composure.
“Then what?” she asked, daring him to go on.
“I could tuck your hair back,” he said, wrapping a curl around his fingers, slowly sliding it behind her ear, and tracing his finger down the side of her face before gently stroking the tip of her chin. The tension between them thickened into a hum. He glanced down at her lips, wanting to close the space between them. But he knew he couldn’t.
“If we wanted to make it absolutely clear,” she said casually, “I could put my hand on your leg.” She gently laid her palm on his thigh and drew a tiny circle with her thumb. The touch sent a shiver up his spine.
“And then I could run my fingers over the stubble on your chin,” she said, gently tracing the tips of her fingers across his skin and casually setting a trail of nerve endings alight as her fingers swept over his cheeks and then up to his bottom lip. “Then what?” she asked. There was a twinkle in her eyes; she enjoyed the game as much as he did.
“I could kiss you.”
He let the answer float in the air for a second. Felt his heartbeat quicken. Noticed her attention flicker down to his lips for a moment before returning his gaze. Their faces were just a few centimeters apart. Close enough to touch.
“But we’re not outside a French restaurant,” she whispered.
“And this isn’t arealdate.”
Yet there they were, sitting thigh to thigh on the sofa, an unmistakable spark threatening to take them past the point of no return. But they couldn’t go against the rules. So, Drew leaned back, reached for a menu, and broke the spell. This couldn’t go anywhere, so there was no point in letting it start. Right?
25Ari
DAY FIVE OF THE 2026 OLYMPICS
Everyone walks all over you… and you just let them.Sienna’s words had been echoing around Ari’s mind all morning. It was a harsh thing to say, especially in front of all their teammates. But as painful as it was, Sienna was right. Being a chronic people pleaser was getting in the way of becoming the person she needed to be.
So when she got to the meeting room that morning, she unrolled a page of flipchart paper and uncapped a new marker, the sharp chemical smell of it filling her with a sense of purpose. She wrote out a list of strategies: ones that had worked well and ones it was time to retire. Then she printed out the personalized feedback notes she’d been compiling over the course of the past few months. When her teammates began walking into the room, she started handing them out.
“What’s all of this?” Yasmeen asked as she glanced through the notes. Nodding at some in agreement.
“A fresh slate,” Ari said, trying to sound firm as she addressed the rest of the team. “Yesterday’s meeting was a disaster, and I dropped the ball. But we have a lot of work to do if we’re going to try and make it to the quarterfinals.”
“So that’s why you left early? I thought you’d snuck away to hook up with that boy you told us about, not do all of this,” Izzy teased, pointing at Ari’s presentation, notes, and strategy meeting.
She knew Izzy was just messing with her. And even if she wasn’t, Izzy was a hopeless romantic. A statement like that would have never been a dig. But it still cut a little. Not because of Izzy’s intentions, but because of Ari’s past. She’d been in a near-constant state of distraction during her years with Harrison. Their relationship had preoccupied her in all the worst ways. She’d been a confident teenager, but he’d drawn out her insecurities and made her question everything. To the point where she stumbled her way through every game she played after hanging out with him. It had taken her ages to unlearn the lies he’d made her believe, and she’d come a long way since their breakup. But her teammates didn’t think she was there yet. So, she had to show them.
Sienna was right, Arihadfailed to truly take on the authority that came with being the captain of her team. Gracie was good at doing both because her reputation had led the team to respect her immediately. But Ari had known these girls all her life, and she didn’t know how to say no to them. Her inability to do that with her best friends made it nearly impossible to portray any sense of authority over the rest of the team. But that ended today.
Ari squared her shoulders. “Okay, first of all, let’s address the elephant in the room. The arguments we had the other day in the locker room? We’re better than that. A team doesn’t work without honesty and harmony, butthis,” she said, waving her hands in a circle, “is a strategy meeting, not our group chat.”
It was a little harsh, but she needed to stand her ground. Theycouldn’t allow their friendships to get in the way of the reality that for the rest of the month, they were, first and most importantly, teammates.
“You’re right,” Sienna admitted, putting up her hands. “I’m sorry.”
Coach McLaughlin walked in. He looked over at Ari, waiting to see how she would respond.
“It’s alright,” Ari said, brushing it off even though Sienna’s words from yesterday still stung. “The past couple of months have been intense, but it’s only because it matters to us. So let’s stay focused on the end goal. Getting to the semifinals.”
Coach raised an eyebrow at her statement. It felt like everyone did.
“I thought it was the quarterfinals?” said Yasmeen. “I don’t want to sound like a downer, but that feels a little unrealistic.”
Ari nodded; of course it was. “It only feels that way because we haven’t done it before. But I think we can, we just need to make some adjustments. Right, Coach?” she said as they all turned to him. She knew that they, like her, were still disappointed in him for not fixing the rink time situation sooner.
“Your captain is right. You’ve put in the time and effort you needed to get here. We just need to push that a little bit harder to stay in the game,” he said, giving Ari a small nod of approval before the two of them went around the room, giving each of her teammates detailed feedback.
Ari gave Mia, a player on the left wing of the offense, advice on how to improve her speed. Then, she told a right wing player named Alexis how to get better at blocking. She gave the backup goaltenders, Melissa and Kayley, guidance on how to improve their predictions, then went around the whole team until she finally reached her friends.
“Yasmeen, youdokeep getting distracted when the puck iscoming toward you,” Ari began. Yasmeen opened her mouth to object, but Ari just put her hand up to signal that she wasn’t done yet. “You panic and get distracted; I can see it in your eyes. You never used to do that back home. So, when you get on the ice, remind yourself that you’re excellent in defense. Then focus all your energy into tracking the puck so you can block it in time.”
