“Stay,” I whispered against his hair. “Stay the night.”
“Couldn’t leave if I wanted to.” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Which I don’t. Ever.”
I smiled into the darkness, my fingers tracing lazy patterns on his back, then over the tattoos on his arms.
Liam shifted, pulling out carefully and cleaning up with some tissue before he settled back beside me. He tucked meagainst his chest, one arm wrapped around my waist, his chin resting on top of my head.
“Best first date ever,” he murmured.
I laughed softly. “It was pretty good.”
“Pretty good?” He pinched my hip playfully. “I’m offended.”
“Fine. Best first date ever.” I tilted my head up to kiss his jaw. “Happy?”
“With you?” His arm tightened around me. “Always.”
I fell asleep like that—wrapped in his arms, feeling more content than I had in years.
If I’d known what was coming, I would have held on tighter.
FORTY-FOUR
Practice was brutal in the best way. Coach had us running drills until my legs burned and my lungs screamed for mercy.
Drew and I were still finding our rhythm again. We’d talked. We’d agreed to move forward. But there was a stiffness to our interactions that hadn’t been there before—a carefulness that felt unnatural after a lifetime of easy friendship. We’d always been in sync on the ice, but not since our fight. We could still play smoothly enough to be efficient, but it wasn’t the same effortlessness we’d always had.
He’d forgiven me for keeping my relationship with Ava a secret, but it was clear he also still didn’t completely trust that I wouldn’t break her heart.
Which was fair.
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure either.
I was sure abouther. But I was the one who had a lot to prove.
“Good work today,” Coach said as we filed off the ice. “Take tomorrow off. Rest up for the games this weekend.”
The locker room was loud with the usual post-practice energy—guys chirping each other, while someone played some music on their phone. I sat on the bench in front of the locker I always used, and started unlacing my skates while watching the underclassmen goofing off.
For the first time in months, I felt at peace.
Ava and I were official. Drew knew the truth and hadn’t murdered me, and the secrecy that had been slowly poisoning everything was finally gone.
If this was my new normal, I couldn’t really complain.
I grabbed my phone from my bag, expecting a text from Ava. She’d been sending me random messages throughout the day—a meme she thought I’d like, a complaint about her study group, or a selfie of her making a face at her textbook that had made me laugh out loud in the middle of lunch.
I loved that she texted me so frequently now. I loved even more that we didn’t have to hide it anymore.
But the notification on my screen wasn’t from Ava.
Dad
I’ll be in town next week. I’ve made reservations at Summit Hills in Missoula for Wednesday at 7pm. See you there.
The peace I’d been feeling shattered like ice.
I stared at the message, my thumb hovering over the screen as my stomach dropped through the floor. The locker room noise faded to white static. All I could see were those words, the clear demand in them despite the fact he’d been radio silent for months—which really wasn’t all that different from how he’d been my entire childhood.
