I retrieved the puck and started skating laps, pushing harder, faster, like I could outrun my own thoughts if I moved quickly enough.
I knew why I agreed. It was the right thing to do. She deserved freedom, deserved to find someone who wasn’t a complete emotional disaster. Someone who could actually give her what she wanted without all the baggage. Without Jax looming over everything and without the complicated history of a drunken night, neither of us could remember.
But knowing it was the right thing to do didn’t make it feel right. It felt nauseating.
Every time I pictured her with someone else, something dark and possessive twisted inside me in a way I didn’t even know was possible. The jealousy was irrational. It was stupid, and I had no claim on her, no right to feel this way.
But I did anyway.
I stopped center ice, bending over my hands on my knees, chest heaving. The silence pressed in around me, amplifying every thought I had been trying to ignore.
Maybe this was my punishment. Wanting something I could never have and having to watch from the sidelines while she found happiness with someone else. Maybe that’s what I deserved for making such a mess of everything.
The rink doors opened, echoing across the ice.
I glanced up, expecting to see the morning maintenance crew or maybe a coach. A figure emerged from the tunnel, blonde hairpulled back in a high ponytail, figure skates dangling from one hand.
Harlow.
My gaze followed her. She hadn’t noticed me yet. She was too busy lacing up her skates on the bench near the boards, and I took the moment to... look at her.
She was wearing black leggings and a matching fitted tank top. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, and even from across the rink, I could see the delicate furrow between her brows as she concentrated on her laces.
She was so fucking beautiful.
She stepped onto the ice, wobbling slightly before finding her balance. Her gaze swept across the rink, finding me, and for a brief moment she hesitated. Her body tensed, like she was considering turning around to leave, and I couldn’t blame her. After everything, I understood if she wanted to avoid me entirely.
Something shifted in her expression, and she started skating toward me.
A smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it. The kind of smile that came from somewhere deep, that I couldn’t control, no matter how hard I tried.
“You’re up early.” She glided to a stop a few feet away.
“Couldn’t sleep.” I shrugged, spinning the puck with my stick. I left out the part about not being able to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about her. “You?”
“Same.” She wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold. “That empty house gets really loud at night.”
My chest tightened at the thought of her in that house alone at night. I knew what that felt like. One day you’re arguing with your sister about hogging the bathroom, and the next you’re alone. Harlow’s situation wasn’t exactly the same as mine. She still had her family. They just weren’t living in the same house asher anymore, or even the same state, but I understood because even though I still had Jax, Kaia, and Cam in my life, they weren’t here. It wasn’t the same. It was lonely.
“The offer still stands,” I said quietly. “The spare room.”
She shook her head, but there was less conviction in it than before. “Still a bad idea.”
“Probably.” I flicked the puck toward her feet. “Want to skate with me?”
She looked down at the puck, then back up at me, one eyebrow raised. “I’m a figure skater, not a hockey player.”
“I noticed.” I nodded toward her white skates with their toe picks. “I promise not to judge your inferior skating abilities.” I winked at her.
“Inferior?” Her eyes narrowed, but her face twisted with amusement. “I could skate circles around you.”
She was probably right, but I wasn’t going to admit it.
“Literally, maybe. You’re good at the twirly stuff. But speed? Power? That’s a different game.”
Her eyes widened. “The twirly stuff.” She repeated it flatly, but a hint of a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. “You mean the athletic discipline that requires years of training, incredible core strength, and the ability to land triple jumps without shattering your ankles?”
“Sure. That.” I grinned. “The twirly stuff.”
