The last thing I wanted was to become another set of hands doing the same thing.
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
My chest ached. I closed my eyes, not bothering to look at my phone, because I knew there would be no text from Luka, no knock on the door.
A knock sounded against the door.
Hope surged through me so violently that I was already halfway off the bed before my brain caught up.
It wasn’t Luka. Of course it wasn’t.
Ethan stood outside holding two cans of soda. He took one glance at my face, and huffed. “Wow. You look like shit.”
I snorted. “And you wonder why no one has proposed to you yet.” I stepped aside and let him in.
He handed me one of the cans before dropping backward into the desk chair. “You look like somebody just canceled Christmas.”
I sat back down on the bed, rolling the cold can between my palms. “I didn’t realize it was that obvious.”
“To me? Yeah. To the media? You still look like America’s emotionally resilient golden retriever.” He took another glance. “Well, mostly.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He folded his arms across the backrest. “And how come you get a room to yourself?”
I smiled. “Someone likes me, I guess.”
He snorted. “In which case, they must hate me, because I got Noah, who snores like a lawnmower.”
“You were great tonight, by the way. In case I didn’t mention it when you came off the ice.”
“You did, and I know.” Ethan cracked open his soda. “But thank you for confirming what I already believed about myself.”
I chuckled. “You’re not a man plagued by a lack of modesty, are you?”
He didn’t smile, but stared at me long enough that goosebumps started to emerge. “What happened? And I’m not talking about how you ended up second tonight when everyone knows you should be in the lead right now.”
I should’ve known he’d cut to the chase.
I stared down at the unopened soda in my hands. “He pulled away.” It was the kindest way of putting it.
“Federation?” I looked up, and he gave me a hard stare. “Dean.Come on.”
I shuddered out a breath. “Yeah.”
“They got in his head?”
“Yeah.” The word came out rougher than I intended. “Nobody threatened him outright. They didn’t have to. They just kept talking about image and reputation and national responsibility until he walked out of there feeling like wanting the wrong person could burn his entire career down.”
Ethan went very still after that.
“And now he thinks staying away from me fixes it.” I laughed under my breath, exhausted already by the whole conversation. “Worst part is, I get why he thinks that.”
“Of course you do.”
I leaned forward, elbows braced on my knees. “He asked for space, so I gave it to him.”
Ethan studied me long enough that I could practically hear the gears turning in his head before he finally nodded once. “You handled it right.”
