Drew immediately thought of Ari and how beautifulshe’dlooked in the early-morning light.
“Eliza was skating at full momentum, but in my trance, I forgot to move out of the way. So, she crashed right into me. We’ve been skating side by side ever since,” Hans said with a smile, then hefted the camera in his hands and switched his focus back to the ice rink.
“What do you wish you had known about love before you found it?” asked Drew. It had nothing to do with the Olympics, but it was the question he wanted the answer to most. Hans looked to the side for a second as if carefully thinking through the last seventy-two years of his life.
“Love only comes around a few times. So, when it finds you, don’t let it pass you by.”
With that, the speakers erupted with sound, announcing the start of the next dance. The audience was intently focused on the rink again, and Hans had gone back to taking photos. But Drew was frozen still. He knew that he was supposed to be out in the crowd capturing audience members and taking photos of the skaters Zeus had sponsored. But as the song for the next skate began, Hans’s words played back in his mind:When it finds you, don’t let it pass you by.
Drew knew that there were no guarantees in life, and that lightning rarely struck twice in the same place. He and Ari lived in different cities and on different continents and they occupied completely different worlds. But by some beautiful twist of fate, they’d found each other again. The Winter Olympics would be over in less than a week, and although there was a tiny chance hecould end up back in London in the spring, in all likelihood he would never see her again. As he watched the final moments of the next dance, he realized that if he didn’t go all in, something that had the potential to be great would pass him by. Again. So, he put his camera into his pocket, walked out of the press pit, and ran out into the snow.
42Ari
DAY NINE OF THE 2026 OLYMPICS
It had all gotten to be a bit too much for Ari.
The pile of things weighing down on her kept getting heavier. So, when she saw Harrison and experienced the dread of being faced with yet another one of her problems, her final dam of self-preservation broke. She’d been holding it together since January, but she couldn’t pretend to be stronger than she was anymore. So, she began to cry, an involuntary action that led her into his arms. Harrison was the last person in the world she wanted to see. But a warm body was a warm body. So, she let herself sink into the hug.
“Come here, babe, it’s going to be okay,” Harrison said, holding her tight. For a moment, she found it comforting, but then she came back to her senses.
“If that guy hurt your feelings, just tell me. I’ll deal with him,” said Harrison, unnervingly tense.
“It’s fine,” she said, pulling back from the hug. ButHarrison wasn’t listening. He never had. The first time she’d seen him like this, jealous and protective, she’d found it attractive. Assurance that he would do anything for her. But that jealousy had extended to every single person in their vicinity, including her friends. She’d desperately wanted to make things work with Harrison, so she’d allowed herself to be gradually pulled away from the people she loved, straining her relationships until she rarely saw her friends outside of hockey games and compulsory team-training sessions.
“You know I love you, I always will. It kills me that you’re seeing someone else, but I know in the end, it’s you and me,” Harrison said, trying to pull her back in. But being around him reminded her of how constricting their relationship had been. So, she pulled back and extricated herself from his arms. Deciding that this time, it was for good.
“Harrison, we’re not together. We’re never getting back together,” she said plainly as she took a step back.
“You don’t mean that,” he said, taking a step forward.
She’d spent the past six months tiptoeing around this conversation. Avoiding calls, walking to the other side of rooms, fake-dating someone new. Anything to avoid this conversation with him. But it was time to be honest.
“I don’t want to see you again,” she said firmly, so it was clear that there would be no gray area. “I don’t want you to keep conveniently popping up wherever I go, I don’t want you lurking in the shadows of my life in case I change my mind,” she said, watching his expression grow darker.
“You’re being emotional. But it’s okay, I know how you really feel,” he said, shaking his head. Back to acting like every boundary line she tried to draw was an overreaction.
“No, I’mtellingyou how I really feel.”
“You’ll change your mind,” he said, stepping closer.
“No, I won’t,” she said, stepping back again.
“You will, because in the end, it’s you and me,” he said, reaching for her and slowly stroking her hair in a way that sent a haunting chill down her spine.
“I don’t like you anymore, Harrison. Let it go,” she said, but he had just placed a firm grip on her shoulder. She stood completely still for a moment as she realized what was happening. He was trying to hold her in place. He’d never hurt her, not physically. At least, she didn’t think so. But there was a strange look in his eyes, and it made her feel uneasy. In that moment she realized that this was the man Harrison had always been.
“Let go,” she said. Her voice didn’t come out as loud as she wanted it to.
“Babe,” he said, holding on tighter. She shook her shoulder, but he didn’t move his hand.
“She saidlet go,” came a familiar voice as the sound of footsteps crunched across the snow.
Ari turned around. It was Sienna. And Yasmeen. And Izzy. All three of them were holding their kit bags and hockey sticks. They glared at Harrison with looks so lethal that even the strongest person would have withered.
“Back off, Harrison,” said Izzy, brandishing her hockey stick.
“If you don’t take your hands off her, I’m calling security,” said Yasmeen, her tone laced with venom.
