My adrenaline spikes as I begin dancing to the choreography I’ve been watching for weeks.
The world around us blurs into lights and noise and laughter. The shouts and cheers from the stands are just background noise. When I look over to Jamie, he’s already looking at me like I’m the center of his world. Like nothing else matters. My heart skips several beats. He asked me to come with him. To leave Ellington and be with him. Can I do that?
Can I live with Jamie? Can I trust him with my heart? I mean, we have been technically livingtogether for months now, except we slept in separate bedrooms and tried to avoid each other at all costs. But even in doing that, we somehow always found a way to be near one another.
Jamie catches my wrist and spins me around like we’re the only two on the ice.
And then everyone moves at once. A ripple of motion spreads across the rink and the song finally comes to an end. My lungs burn and I’m smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. Everyone hits their final pose and the music goes out, leaving only the sound of our heavy breathing.
The crowd is silent and unmoving. Oh god, did they hate it? Was it awful? Did I fail? I peer up at Jamie who still wears a huge grin as he tries to catch his breath.
After what feels like an eternity, the place explodes. People erupt out of their chairs and onto their feet. There’s screaming, whistling, and stomping throughout the entire arena.
A relieved laugh rushes out of me and the weight of the world lifts off my shoulders. My laughter and excitement are uncontrollable. We did it. We pulled it off. This insane, elaborate stunt of ours worked.
The sound of Jamie’s laughing beside me only makes my smile widen. He looks just as thrilled as I am. This big, burly hockey player with his cocky attitude and rough exterior stands next to me after admitting his love for me, asking me to live with him, and helping me pull off this fundraiser with a grin wider than I’ve ever seen him wear.
I turn to Jamie, breathless. “That was insane. We did it!”
He beams. “We fucking did it, Sweetheart.”
Instead of the repulsion I used to feel when he called me that, my heart flutters and I want him to keep saying it.
The roar of applause keeps coming. I try to look for Lainey and Holland in the crowd, but there’s too many people and it’s impossible to tell where they are. I’ll have to find them after we’re finished here.
We all file off of the ice and into the changing rooms. The kids are ecstatic. They cheer and hug and it reminds me how it feels to perform your heart out and feel so proud and accomplished at the end. Listening to the audience scream your name, feeling the relief when you’ve performed your best. I miss that feeling.
When we’re all done in the locker room, we head back to the arena to greet our friends and family. I search the crowd to see if I can find Jamie. When I spot him talking to a couple of his players, I can’t help the grin that takes over my face. He turns around just as I begin heading toward him. His eyes light up, and butterflies erupt in my stomach. God, he’s gorgeous. Even when he’s all sweaty and tired.
“Hey,” I say, suddenly feeling nervous, because I know what I’m about to say could change everything between us.
“Hey, Sweetheart,” he licks his lips, and I wish I could kiss him right now, but I can’t. Not here.
“Jamie, I—” I start but am interrupted by the sound of DeanAshby’s voice.
I take a step back from Jamie, hoping Dean Ashby didn’t notice how close we just were. I know we only have a week left of the semester, but we still need to act professional.
Ashby looks as if he’s just won the lottery his smile is so wide.
“Do you two have any idea how much you raised?” he asks.
Jamie and I shake our heads.
Ashby beams. “A little over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
The number doesn’t compute at first.
“And that’s after expenses,” Ashby adds.
Jamie and I share a look that says, ‘what the fuck?’ before Jamies lets out a disbelieving laugh.
“You’re kidding.”
“I am not. You two did a phenomenal job. This was better than anything I could have imagined. Congratulations. You should be proud of yourselves. I knew you could do it.”
Once Ashby’s gone, I turn back to Jamie who is already looking at me.
I make a sound that’s half scream, half sob before grabbing him by the arms.
