LOGINShare
Chapter 35: Road Trip
publish date:
2026-07-05 00:33:43
Latest chapter
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 38: The Morning After
By the time Dean and I made it back to the cabins, the bonfire had burned itself into a circle of glowing embers. The music had long since stopped, the last of the laughter had disappeared into the trees, and the entire camp had settled into the deep, uninterrupted quiet that only came after everyone had finally gone to bed. We’d talked for so long that neither of us had noticed the hour, and judging by the chill settling over the lake, it was much later than either of us had intended. The porch light outside the boys’ cabin flicked on as we rounded the corner, revealing Ryan perched on the railing with his arms folded. He looked from Dean to me and back again before climbing down with exaggerated patience. “I waited up for you.” Dean rubbed a hand over his face, already sounding tired. “Ryan.” “I was worried.” “You were not.” Ryan thought about it for all of a second before nodding. “You’re right. I wasn’t. I was curious.” I had to press my lips together to stop myself from l
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 37: Where The Fire Couldn’t Reach
The voices around the bonfire slowly dissolved behind us as Dean and I followed the narrow path that curved around the lake. Ryan’s dramatic complaints faded first, followed by another round of laughter, until all that remained was the steady chorus of crickets and the gentle splash of water against the shore. The quiet between us never felt uncomfortable. It was the kind that didn’t demand to be filled. A cool breeze drifted off the lake, and I instinctively pulled the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands. “You cold?” Dean asked. “A little.” He slipped off his jacket and held it out before I could protest. “You’ll need this more than I do.” “You’ll freeze.” “I play hockey.” “That doesn’t make you immune to weather.” He smiled. “No. Just stubborn.” I laughed, taking the jacket from him. It was warm from his body, carrying the faint scent of cedar and laundry detergent. “It looks better on you anyway.” I looked at him. “That was terrible.” “It wasn’t meant to be smooth.”
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 36: Smoke Signals
By the time Ava and I found our cabin, Ryan was already standing on the porch of the one next door with the confidence of someone who had accomplished something impressive.“I’d like everyone to acknowledge that I have an incredible sense of direction.”Blake looked up from the room assignment list. “You asked three different people where the cabins were.”“I was collecting opinions.”“You were lost.”“I prefer collaborative navigation.”Blake folded the paper. “Whatever helps you sleep.”Ryan pointed accusingly at him. “That attitude is exactly why team morale suffers.”Ava leaned closer as we climbed the steps. “I’ve known him for less than a day.”“And?”“I’m already exhausted.”“It gets worse.”“Oh, fantastic.”Our cabin overlooked the lake, tucked beneath a row of pine trees that softened the afternoon breeze into a quiet rustling overhead. It wasn’t luxurious, but it didn’t need to be. Two beds, a shared bathroom, a small desk beneath the window and enough room that neither of u
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 35: Road Trip
By seven on Friday morning, Easton’s parking lot was already loud with rolling suitcases, overlapping conversations, and the kind of forced energy that only exists when a large group of people have agreed to be awake before they’re ready. Melissa stood beside the charter bus with a clipboard and a coffee, looking completely unbothered while the rest of us looked like we’d lost a bet. Ava yawned beside me as we dragged our luggage across the pavement. “If I ever agree to leave campus before sunrise again, remind me of this.”“I’ll print today’s date on a T shirt.”“Good. Trauma should be documented.”We were only a few steps from the bus when Ryan spotted us.“Sinclair!”Ava closed her eyes for a brief second.“I’ve been here all of ten seconds.”“And they’ve been the happiest ten seconds of my morning.”“You need a hobby.”Ryan reached for her suitcase anyway. “Allow me.”“I’ve got it.”“I know. I was trying to look helpful.”“You looked optimistic.”Blake came down the bus steps j
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 34: Old Ice
For the first time in weeks, I woke up because my body had decided it was finished sleeping instead of because an alarm had bullied me out of bed. Morning light spilled through the gap in my curtains, warming one side of the room. I lay there for another minute, appreciating the novelty of having nowhere to sprint off to.My phone buzzed.Dad Calling.“Morning,” I answered.“Well, somebody sounds suspiciously happy.”“I slept.”“I knew something was wrong.”I laughed.Our conversations never followed a straight line. Within five minutes we’d somehow gone from my sleep schedule to the fact that he’d nearly burnt breakfast because he’d been watching the news.“It wasn’t burnt,” he insisted.“It was.”“It was well done.”“It was a fire hazard.”“It built character.”“It built smoke.”His laugh filled the speaker, and mine followed without much effort.Eventually he asked about school.“How’s journalism?”“Busy.”“I’ll take busy over boring.”“So will I.”“And Easton?”I glanced at the
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 33: New Season
Monday reminded me that the rest of the world didn’t care about my personal plot twists. Northbridge carried on exactly as it always had. Students hurried across campus balancing coffee cups and unfinished assignments, professors looked personally offended by anyone arriving thirty seconds late, and the journalism building buzzed with conversations about deadlines, ethics, and a guest lecture that apparently half the department was pretending to be excited about. For the first time in over a week, my day belonged entirely to Northbridge. After my morning lectures, I headed for the library with my laptop, camera, and a growing list of assignments I had been politely ignoring while my life revolved around Easton. The quiet was familiar, almost comforting. Nobody here cared about hockey statistics or feature articles. They cared about headlines, interviews, deadlines, and whether a photograph could tell a story before a caption ever had to. I spent the next few hours editing photos
You may also like
Rude Awakenings
Turquoise Grace1.1M viewsYou're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
Cora Smith689.9K viewsMaster Odell’s Secret Ex-wife
Eggsoup1.2M viewsCEO's Tears Over Pregnancy Test Discovery
Faith Shaw738.1K viewsThe Wife He Took For Granted
Miss Jean176 viewsAfter I Died, My Husband Went Mad
Nova Shine-5259134 viewsContracted by the billionaire
MAY SLIVER90 viewsThe Wife He Divorced Became A Billionaire Heiress
K. C. G creation90 views
