I opened my mouth.
Dean didn’t stop. “You didn’t ask if I was serious.”
Kvrat.
“You didn’t ask how long.” He took a step toward me. “You didn’t ask why.” He kept looking at me, waiting for an answer I didn’t have.
I’d said no.
Dean’s gaze narrowed. “What?”
Another swallow. “Nothing.”
“Luka.” His jaw tightened. “Stop shutting me out.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. “I amtryingto protect you.”
The second I said it, I wished I hadn’t.
Dean didn’t say anything. For a few seconds he just looked at me. Then he laughed, a short, unhappy sound.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
I looked away, my heartbeat racing, my stomach rock hard.
“Luka.” His voice was quieter now. “Look at me.”
I kept staring out the window.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, I turned back. Hazel eyes looked into mine.
“Iget to decide what risks I’m willing to take.”
I swallowed past the rock in my throat. “You don’t understand?—”
Dean swore, and I blinked.
“I understand more than you think,” he said in a low voice. I shook my head, and he placed his hands on my shoulders. “Then explain it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Because there was no answer that didn’t sound ridiculous.
Helen had offered me a future and I still hadn’t decided whether I was brave enough to seize the opportunity.
Tomorrow I was stepping onto Olympic ice with a plan that could change everything.
And now Dean was standing in front of me, and I didn’t know how to fit him into any version of what came next.
My heart quaked. “You were never supposed to matter this much.”
The room went silent.
The confession hung in the air.
