“You’re the reason she came back wrecked,” Daisy says, stepping forward now as if she's ready to do battle for me. Protective. Fierce.
“You broke her,” someone else adds.
“I know,” Landon replies, not flinching at the accusation. “And I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m not asking for anything.”
He looks at me again, softer this time. “I just needed to say it out loud. So she’d know I remember everything I did. And I regret all of it.”
The team closes in around me.
But all I can look at is the necklace still hanging from his fingers. A piece of something we never got to finish.
The silence hangs between us.
He steps forward and lays the chain in my hand, closing my fingers around it. His touch sends an electric shock up my arm. Why does he still affect me?
No one moves. No one speaks. My fingers are still curled around the delicate chain, the metal warm from where it had been against Landon’s skin.
I can feel Daisy’s eyes on me first.
Then I hear her voice, calm but dangerous enough to cut glass. “You hurt her, and then thought it would be a good idea to come and train with her team? That’s fucked up.”
Landon straightens his shoulders, his lips pressing into a thin line. “Yeah.”
“You’re the reason she never talks about Georgia,” she adds, stepping closer, protective heat rolling off her.
Landon nods once.
It’s surprisingly brave of him—not backing down even as every pair of eyes on the team turns to ice. Even Knox, who normally couldn’t care less about anything, is frowning at him now. Cheese mutters something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like unbelievable.
I force myself to breathe.
“It’s fine,” I say quickly. Too quickly.
“It’s not,” Daisy snaps, turning toward me. “Jinx, what the hell? You’ve been showing up here acting like you’re fine, but this? This is the guy who?—?”
“It’s fine,” I say again, firmer this time. “He’s not lying. He messed up. But he’s owning it.”
There’s a beat of silence. Then Daisy crosses her arms and glares at Landon. “I don’t care if you found God and learned to cook, if you screw with her again?—”
“—you’ll break up the rink so you can bury him in the new cement,” Knox offers. “And we will help.”
Landon gives a bitter smile, but he doesn’t disagree.
I hold up the necklace. “He didn’t come here expecting me to take him back. He came here to give something back. That’s more than I thought I’d ever get. And he’s here to help us now…”
The girls settle, not fully trusting, but not pushing it either. The protective anger hasn’t left their faces—but it’s muted now. Contained.
Landon nods again, swallowing hard, then he steps back, leaving me with my team. His gaze drops to my feet, unable to hold my eyes.
Daisy exhales and looks at me, quieter this time. “You okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. I really am.”
Even if my hands are shaking.
Even if my heart is still caught somewhere between thepast and whatever the hell the future’s supposed to look like.
The others peel off slowly, giving me space. I stand there a little too long, the necklace still curled in my palm. I don’t know what to do with it now that it’s mine again.
