I’m the last one off the ice, taking my time.
Shaw is already gone.
Typical.
I watch him disappear through the tunnel - that same quiet, efficient movement. No lingering. No small talk. Just… gone.
Something about him bothers me.
Not in a bad way. Just… I can’t figure him out. He’s good - really good - but he keeps everyone at a distance. The guys joke about it constantly.
But today, during that drill-
I shake my head.
I’m reading too much into nothing.
I push off toward the tunnel, letting the thought go.
But it lingers anyway.
The teasing about Nora sticks with me longer than it should. And they’re right about one thing.
I have absolutely no idea how to find her again.
After practice, I try anyway.
I grab lunch at the dining hall, scanning every table for blonde hair. Nothing.
I walk the long way back to my apartment, cutting through the quad where students always hang out between classes. Groups of girls sit on blankets, studying or laughing or scrolling through phones. I slow down, trying to be subtle about it.
Nothing.
By the time I reach my apartment, I’ve convinced myself this is ridiculous. I’m a college hockey player with a showcase to prepare for. I don’t have time to chase some mysterious girl who clearly doesn’t want to be found.
LEONORA
By the time afternoon rolls around, the adrenaline from practice has finally faded.
Which means my brain has had plenty of time to replay last night in painful detail.
And in daylight, with a normal brain and no party noise to hide behind, the whole thing suddenly feels like a logistical nightmare.
Because now Zane Blake knows a girl named Nora exists.
And unfortunately, that girl is me.
Which means the next logical step for him would be… finding me again.
I’m trying to explain my stress about it to Willow when we push open the door to the campus coffee shop.
The place is packed, as usual. Mid-afternoon between classes is prime caffeine hour at Blackwood, which means the line curls halfway toward the windows and the air smells aggressively like espresso and sugar.
I stop walking.
Willow takes two more steps before noticing I’m no longer beside her.
“Leonora?”
