Page 47 of Colliding with Ten

He trailed off. The space between us flooded with warmth. I tilted my head, urging him to finish.

He swallowed, eyes flicking to mine again. “If I regret it, it means I’d be wishing I never met you. And I can’t say that. Not even close.”

He paused, leaned back, and we exchanged gazes. We’d found each other, and as frightening as it was to admit, I wouldn’t change it either.

“I don’t regret that night. But it did make me think. About the game. About everything.”

I stayed quiet, letting him go on, overwhelmed by what he said.

“When I got injured, it was ugly. Torn knee, shattered confidence. I went from playing every game to barely climbing stairs.” He gave a short, humorless laugh. “My parents moved in for a while to help me get around. It was the first time since I was a teenager that I needed them for anything. I hated it.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “The media had a field day saying I was finished, that the franchise was doomed because I’d never throw the same again.”

He exhaled as if exhausted. “You tell yourself it doesn’t get to you, but it does. You start believing what they say. I stopped watching TV for months. Spent most days at home rehabbing with trainers. The only time I felt like myself was in the weight room. And even that didn’t last long.”

His voice cracked, sounding raw. “Coming back wasn’t just about the injury. It was about proving I could still be me. I rebuilt my throw, changed my mechanics, studied every detail until it felt like I was learning the game all over again. I didn’t want to be who I used to be. I wanted to be better. I had to be.”

Lennox flexed and relaxed his fingers against his leg, a habit of someone who’d spent time rehabilitating his body and was reminding himself that his skills never went away.

Then his eyes flicked back to me with less grit. “When you were talking about dance earlier, how it’s about trusting your body again, it made sense. Losing an ability like that, it messes with your head more than anyone realizes. And I would never want to be the one to take that away from you.”

He paused as if piecing the thought together as he spoke. “You weren’t just dancing through the pain of losing someone. You were finding joy again. I can see that. To lose it right when it started to feel good again . . .” He shook his head, unable to finish the sentence.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice controlled. “You understood all that just from what I said?”

His eyes met mine, unwavering. “Didn’t need much more than that. Some things you don’t have to live to understand.”

I smiled, though it trembled. “Most people just say ‘you’ll get back to it’ or ‘time heals’.”

He shook his head. “Time doesn’t heal. It just . . .” He grappled with it, searching for words. “It just makes you good at hiding the limp.”

I felt it all the way down to where the brace pressed against my skin. He watched me adjust my leg.

For a long time, neither of us spoke. Snow kept falling outside, the glow from the terminal lights reflecting off the windows and wrapping us in a cocoon.

“Guess we’re both trying to find our way back,” he murmured.

“Yeah. Guess we are.”

We leaned in, his shoulder touching mine, and we didn’t move.

12

SCOUTING REPORT

LENNOX

Ididn’t expect to see her so soon, and not knowing when I’d see her again weighed on me. Denver International was packed. Once I saw her, my plan to ride out the storm in the VIP lounge disappeared. I didn’t care if I had to sit in these shitty plastic chairs all night. No one could pay me enough to leave her alone.

The loudspeaker came on. “Attention passengers. Due to continued severe weather, all departures from Denver International are experiencing additional delays. Updates will follow as they become available.”

The groan that rolled through the terminal was almost comical. I smiled. The snow whipped sideways across the runway, showing no signs of letting up.

“I guess we’re not going anywhere,” I said, trying to hide how much this pleased me.

Ayla frowned at the weather outside. “AJ is gonna be worried. I’m gonna shoot him another text.”

She fired off a quick text, biting her bottom lip and furrowing her brow. My eyes lingered on her before turning back to the window.