LOGINHarper POVI make it exactly four days before I crack.Not publicly.Not dramatically.No screaming.No huge scene in the middle of campus.Just—Small things.Quiet things.The kind that slowly pile up until suddenly you can’t breathe right anymore.It starts with whispers.Again.Always whispers.By now I can tell when they’re about me before I even hear my name.It’s in the pause when I walk by.The glances.The way conversations dip lower but never fully stop.And somehow that’s worse.Because at least if they said it to my face, I could fight back.But this?This just sits under my skin all day long.By the time I leave my morning class, my chest already feels tight.Too tight.I pull my hoodie sleeves down over my hands as I walk across campus, keeping my head low.Not because I’m ashamed.At least that’s what I tell myself.But maybe part of me is.Because this whole thing has gotten so much bigger than I ever expected.Bigger than flirting.Bigger than tension.Bigger than sne
Logan POVI don’t sleep.Not really.I lay there for maybe two hours staring at the ceiling while my brain tears itself apart.Every time I close my eyes—I hear her voice again.I got some messages.Soft.Trying to sound okay when she clearly wasn’t.And the worst part?She didn’t even sound surprised.Like some part of her expected this.That’s what gets me.Not the rumors.Not the whispers.Not even the threats.It’s the fact that she’s already starting to believe she deserves them.That this is somehow the cost of being near me.My jaw tightens hard enough it hurts.No.Absolutely not.I grab my hoodie off the floor and shove my arms through it before heading out.It’s barely after six in the morning.The Ice House is quiet for once, most of the guys still asleep.Good.Because right now I’m hanging onto my control by a thread.And I already know where I’m going.⸻The drive to my father’s office feels too short.I don’t even remember half of it.Just flashes.Red lights.My hands
Logan POVI last twelve minutes.Twelve.That’s how long I make it before I cave and text her.Which is honestly pathetic considering she asked for space and I’m supposed to be respecting that.But I’m trying.I really am.The problem is—Everything feels wrong without her.Practice feels wrong.Campus feels wrong.Even the Ice House feels different now.Quieter.Not actually quieter.Marco is still yelling at video games downstairs and somebody definitely broke something in the kitchen twenty minutes ago.But it still feels off.Because my brain keeps expecting her.Expecting a text.A look.Something.Instead?Nothing.I stare down at my phone again.Still no response to my last message.Hope your test went okay.God.Could I sound more boring?I drop back against my bed with a groan, throwing my forearm over my eyes.This is ridiculous.I’ve never done this before.Never sat around thinking about a girl this much.Never cared this much.And somehow that realization doesn’t make me
Harper POVIt’s amazing how loud silence can get.I didn’t notice it the first day.Maybe because I was too busy trying to convince myself I’d done the right thing.That space was smart.Necessary.Responsible.All those nice mature words people use when they’re trying to justify hurting themselves before someone else gets the chance to.But now?Now it’s day three.And silence has started sounding a lot like loneliness.I stare down at my phone again.Still nothing.Not because Logan hasn’t texted.Because he has.Just… less.Shorter.More controlled.Like he’s forcing himself to respect what I asked for even though he hates every second of it.And somehow?That makes it worse.The last message sits there unopened for a second before I finally tap it.Hope your test went okay.That’s it.No heart.No teasing.No you still here?Just careful distance.Exactly what I asked for.And I hate it.“Okay,” Lila says from across the room. “You need to stop staring at your phone like it person
Logan POVThe ice is the only place it makes sense.That’s what I tell myself.That’s what I’ve always told myself.Because out here—There’s structure.There’s rules.There’s control.You skate.You hit.You score.You win.Simple.Except today—It’s not.I push off harder than I need to, my blades carving deep into the ice as I circle the rink during practice.Faster.Again.Harder.“Shaw!” Coach’s voice echoes. “Dial it in!”I am dialed in.That’s the problem.Every movement is sharp.Precise.Aggressive.Too aggressive.The puck slides toward me and I don’t hesitate—I fire it immediately.It slams against the boards harder than it should.“Jesus,” Marco mutters. “You trying to break the wall or score?”I ignore him.I don’t slow down.I don’t think.Because the second I think—She’s there.Harper.Standing in front of me in that hallway.Saying she needs space.Space.I push harder, skating full speed down the ice, cutting sharply around a defenseman during the drill.Too sharp.M
Harper POVIt’s been two days.Not long.Not really.But it feels like more.Like something stretched those hours out, pulled them tight, made every moment heavier than it should be.I sit in the back of the lecture hall, staring at notes I haven’t actually read.The professor is talking.Something about ethics.Or logic.Or something equally important that I should be paying attention to.But I’m not.Because my brain is somewhere else.Somewhere I told myself not to go.Logan.I haven’t seen him since the quad.Since everything.Since the way everyone looked at us.Since the way it all got too real, too fast, too public.Since I told him—I don’t know if I can handle everything that comes with you.I close my eyes briefly.God.Why did I say it like that?Because it’s true.Because it’s not fair to him.Because I don’t want to be the thing that costs him everything.Because—“Miss Lane?”My eyes snap open.The professor is looking directly at me.The entire class is suddenly very qu
Logan POVMarco catches up to me halfway across the quad, breath a little too hard for a guy who skates five miles a day.“Okay,” he says, grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around, “is there some kind of plague going around that only affects women?”I blink at him. “Good morning to you too.”“I’
Logan POVAvoidance turns out to be harder than it sounds.You’d think on a campus this size, with opposite schedules and opposite lives, it would be easy not to run into one girl.You’d be wrong.I switch entrances to buildings.I start taking the long way around.I leave classes early.I show up
Logan POVI can’t get her out of my head.Not her body.Not just that.Her face.The way she looked at me when I left. The way she didn’t wake up. The way she trusted me enough to fall asleep in my bed like it meant something.I told myself I did the right thing by leaving before she woke up.Gave
Harper POVI don’t plan to go to the Ice House.I just… end up there.It starts with me walking to clear my head. Then I realize I’m not heading back to the sorority. Then I realize my feet are very definitely taking me in one very specific direction.And then I turn the corner and see it.The Ice







