She’d headed toward our dressing room, so I followed suit. The door was open, so I barged in, hoping to findher.
But the room was empty.
Where the fuck isshe?
Noticing the absence of her skate bag, I headed straight for the rink. As soon as I pushed through the double doors, I spotted her across the ice. The crash of the opening doors alerted her to my presence, and her eyes widened when she saw it wasme.
And. She. Still. Fucking. Smiled.
The irritation from that morning surged back up. There was no way she was actually happy, but there she was, flashing that obviously fake smile.
“Hey,” she said. “I’m not really in the mood. Can we talk tomorrow—”
“No,” I blurted out as I nearedher.
A mix of confusion and sadness etched her features.
She pulled a skate out of her bag and didn’t look at me as she fumbled with it. I rubbed at my chest, attempting to ease the weird tension there.
“Why aren’t you at the press event?”
“Because I didn’t feel like it anymore.” Her hands shook as she continued loosening the laces on her skates.
“Why not just be honest?”
“About what?”
“About anything.”
“What are you talking about—” She finally looked up at me with those big green eyes.
Go on. Say it. Call me out for being an asshole.
“Don’t worry.” She visibly composed herself, setting her shoulders back. “Please leave me be; I’d just like to skate.”
“I’ll go as soon as you tellme.”
“Tell you what?” She enunciated each word and pressed her lips into a fine line. Her usual composure slipped for the first time since I’d mether.
“Why did you leave the press event early? You’ve dressed up for it. You must have only stayed…” I glanced at my watch, doing the math in my head quickly. “Forty minutes?”
Her lips parted slightly, an incredulous look passing across her face.
“I told you—”
“The real reason. Stop deflecting.”
“Luca,” she reasoned with me, attempting to settle the argument. Her lack of reaction to my taunts only served to fuel the fire. I dug again.
“You wouldn’t know honesty if it smacked you across the face, would you?”
She cracked. Her mouth tightened, her jaw clenched. The restless bouncing of her leg abruptly stopped, and she let her skates slip from her grasp, dropping them mid-loosen.
“Fine.” She jolted to her feet, sending her skates toppling over. “You want the truth? I left the stupid event becauseyoudidn’t show up.” Her voice went up as she pointed at me and moved closer. “I wasalone;everyone else had their partners there, and I was alone.”
She turned away from me briefly before thinking better ofit.
“And do you want to know the worst part? When they asked where you were, I told them you’d be there because you knew how important it was for me. So now everyone knows you stood meup.”
