e's

grab anything. He just pointed at t

ds. Warm. Light. Too perfect. My palms burned like they'd committed a crime. I could still

ice, lips parted, eyes wi

Every fluorescent light hummed too loud. My hockey skates clacked a

d waited until I was insid

it

idn

oked like he hadn't slept since the nineties. Whistle still ar

aid. "From someone who used to

urned to a

d your name. Asked if you were the sam

e blank. Year

ken. Then I went through the storage closet this morning

sk and dropped it on the

und of that z

e sk

ld o

and broken hockey sticks so I wouldn't have to look at th

e I wore them-three years ago, the night everything ended. The laces were y

in why these w

the wall above his he

sult me,

t skate

. "And from what I just saw on the ice

ell of hairspray, small hands in mine, the sound of a body hitting ice too hard, scre

er," I said, voice

ay from losing every scout who's been watching you. Fighting, attitude, now this. I don't care

s not

tasted l

ng that dawn ice. You're going to stay away from her off the ice. And you'r

e. Anything

And Brennan? If I find out you're skating pairs again-wi

aid something I c

marks of our blades remained where I had caught her. I hated tha

o lighten, ugly gray. My truck sat alone under the flickering light. I threw the

s were

, out. Don't think about the catch. Don't think about how easy it was.

t up in the

from a number I

er for the showcase and you just proved you're the only one who

screen until t

bubble a

Cole. You can't

ite skates on the seat. One la

vered over

g a shadow moved n

nding there wat

far enough for me to see the Northridge hock