Her eyes flare. “That’s a big deal.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “But so are you.”
She stares at me like she’s trying to solve a puzzle that doesn’t have a clean answer. Then she whispers, almost angrily, “Why would you risk that?”
My chest aches. The answer is simple and terrifying. It’s the answer that changes everything. “Because I love something more than hockey. And that would be you.”
Harlow’s eyes soften. A tear clings to her lower lashes. “You love me?”
“I do.”
She drops the ice pack onto my shoulder and steps closer. She doesn’t sit. She just leans in and presses her forehead against mine, careful and quiet, before whispering the words I hoped she felt too. “I love you, Gray.”
My breath catches. I don’t move. When she pulls back, her voice is barely there.
“Thank you,” she whispers again. “For…not letting it slide.”
My throat tightens.
“I’m sorry you ever had to live with it,” I say.
Harlow’s mouth trembles once, then steadies.
“Stay,” she says.
Not as a command.
As a request.
My chest tightens. “Harlow?—”
“I know,” she whispers. “Just…stay.”
I nod.
“Okay,” I say.
And for the first time since the puck dropped tonight, my body stops bracing for impact.
Because she’s still here.
And she isn’t looking away.
41
HARLOW
“You can’t be serious.” Kai says, not at all thrilled with what I just asked.
“Come on, Kai. She’s going to end up at our house regardless, so why can’t she just ride with us? Her family is already there!”
Grayson tries, and fails, to fake a cough to cover his laugh, earning a glare from my brother.
“Listen, Harlow, I understand that she is still your best friend. I get it, I do, but are you seriously going to make me spend an extra two hours with her?”
I give him my best puppy face, because yes. Yes, I am.
He stares at me for a moment, completely unimpressed, before letting out a long exhale.
