A week of knowing I should’ve told her by now.
I haven’t.
Isabelle hasn’t texted since last Friday. No veiled threats. No games. The silence is its own kind of danger.
For half a second, a stupid hope sparks—maybe she’s letting it die.
I crush that thought before it can settle. Hope like that gets people hurt.
Because if this becomes real, there’s no version of it where I don’t have to tell Wren everything.
No version where the truth stays buried.
It won’t stop with her.
Liam. My mother. My coach.
Once it’s said out loud, it touches everything.
I don’t let myself think past that. I can’t.
Beside me, Wren shifts.
“Isn’t that a little premature?” she asks. One ankle crosses over the other, her heel bouncing once, her version of nerves. “We still need to improve durability. The control circuitry is?—”
“Messy,” I jump in. “But it’s getting there.”
She flicks me a sideways glance.Don’t oversell, it says.
I nearly grin. Even her disapproval turns me on.
“Premature?” Feldman shrugs. “Sure. But you’re undergrads. That’s when the good ideas show up, before you’ve collected enough caution to smother them.”
Theo already has his pen out. “What would we need to do if we kept going?”
“First step,” Feldman says, swiveling to his computer. “Talk to the IP office. I’ll send the contact. They’llwalk you through disclosures, university cut, timelines—the glamorous side of innovation.”
“Fun,” Wren mutters.
Feldman smiles faintly. “Welcome to engineering, Ms. Marin. Second step—ifthe tech holds up—you get it in front of people. Competitions. Demo days. Investors like hardware that solves real problems.”
“It’s not going to explode,” I say automatically.
“Good,” he deadpans. “That’s the baseline.”
A brief silence settles.
Then Feldman looks at me. “You play hockey,” he says, matter-of-fact.
“Yeah. Winger.”
“Right.” His fingers snap once. “O’Connor. New York Defenders’ pipeline.” The way he says it makes it sound official. Prewritten. “You going pro?”
The question I’ve spent my whole life answering before anyone finishes asking it.
Yes. Obviously.
“That’s the plan,” I say, keeping my voice even.
