“And he’s different,” Lucy adds. “Ty’s a good guy, with a giant heart.”
“He asked you how you wanted to be kissed?” Eva repeats, still stuck on that detail.
I look down at my hands. “Yeah. It was hot.”
We all crack up, the sound bouncing off the shelves, loud and a little unhinged in the best way. For a minute, I don’t feel it. That low, constant motion ofwhat if this goes wrongthat’s been sitting in the back of my mind since the alley.
It fades. Just enough for me to breathe. That’s what laughter and girlfriends do.
Lucy wipes under her eye, still laughing. “I’m sorry, but the man asked forinstructions. I don’t know how you recover from that.”
“You don’t,” Eva says. “You marry him.”
Juliette smiles into her glass, quieter but no less certain. “You let it be what it is.”
I laugh under my breath, shaking my head. “That feels reckless.”
“No,” she says, meeting my eyes. “It feels honest.”
Her words land right in the center of my chest.
I look down at my hands again, like they might have the answer. They don’t. But for now, I’m not trying to force one.
“I don’t know what this is yet,” I admit.
Lucy leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “You don’t have to.”
Eva nods. “Enjoy it.”
“And don’t run from it.” Juliette tilts her head slightly. “Can you do that?”
I think about the alley. The way he looked at me like he meant every second of it. The way he waited. The way he didn’t rush me.
I let out a breath. “I…think so.”
And that feels new. Possible. Tangible. I like this journey for me.
We linger a little longer, the conversation drifting into easier things, but something has changed, at least in my world. I can feel it under my ribs, cementing itself. It’s an opening, not a closing, and that is new for me. I’m not bracing for impact at this moment, no need to grab my lifejacket. I get to roll with things. Go with the flow.
When we say our goodbyes and I finally step outside, the air is cooler, the street quieter. The night comes in, settling into that delicious, in-between space where everything slows down.
I pull my jacket tighter around me and start the walk home. My phone buzzes once in my pocket. I don’t check it. Not yet.
I let myself sit in the echo of laughter instead. In the quiet, unfamiliar sense that maybe, just maybe, this time I don’t have to brace for the part where it falls apart.
And for the first time in longer than I want to admit—I don’t want to run from what comes next.
CHAPTER 16
TY
Captain’s practice at The Dominion Ice Center is almost officially underway. Somewhere in the building, a cheer erupts, reminding me that down the hall, on the community ice sheet, is a youth camp. Probably full of future Dominion hopefuls, at least a couple.
Summer hockey. Keeping up for the coming season. Informal summer sessions like this are what I live for. Ice, my game, and a clear head. My phone buzzes while I’m halfway through taping my stick.
Sawyer:
Don’t let Campbell turn this into bag skates. I’m serious. One summer clinic and suddenly he thinks he’s Herb Brooks.
