My Holy Ground

The next morning I showed up at the rink a few minutes early, still replaying yesterday’s weird conversation with Mason in my head. The way he’d pushed me toward Lila like it was nothing. The way it had pissed me off more than it should have.

I was doing warm-up laps when the door opened.

Kai walked in, skates slung over his shoulder, wearing that same easy smile from yesterday.

“Morning, Ezra,” he said, nodding at me. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Yeah, well… routine,” I muttered.

He laced up quickly and stepped onto the ice, moving with smooth confidence. After a couple laps he skated over to where I was stretching near the boards.

“Hey, I was thinking,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck. “Would it be cool if I trained with you guys sometimes? I saw you two working together yesterday. Looked intense. I could use that kind of push.”

I hesitated. “I’ll have to ask Mason. It’s not just my call.”

Kai nodded, but his eyes stayed on me a little too long.

“No pressure. Just thought it might be fun. You’re really good, by the way. The way you move on the ice… it’s kinda hypnotic.”

Before I could respond, the door banged open again.

Mason walked in, took one look at Kai standing close to me, and his face immediately went tight.

“Morning,” Mason said, voice flat as he dropped his bag.

“Morning,” Kai replied cheerfully. “I was just asking Ezra if I could join you guys for training sometimes.”

Mason’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Kai. “We’re good on our own.”

I shot Mason a look. “I told him I’d ask you.”

Mason’s jaw worked for a second. “Fine. Whatever.

One session. We’ll see how it goes.”

Kai grinned. “Sweet. Thanks, man.”

The three of us started training. It was awkward as hell.

Kai was actually good — clean technique, strong edges. But every time I corrected Mason, Kai was watching me. Not Mason. Me. His eyes followed my movements, lingered on my arms when I demonstrated something, stayed on my face a little too long.

Mason noticed too. I could tell by the way his shoulders got stiffer every time Kai opened his mouth.

At one point, during a lift, Kai offered to spot me instead.

“I got it,” Mason said quickly, stepping in before Kai could move.

Kai raised an eyebrow but backed off with a small smile. “No problem.”

Later, while Mason was working on backward crossovers, Kai skated up beside me.

“You know,” he said quietly, “you’re way better than most of the guys I’ve skated with. The way you carry yourself… it’s different. Confident. Kinda hot, honestly.”

I almost tripped. Mason, who was close enough to hear, lost his balance and had to grab the boards to stay upright.

Kai just chuckled softly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make it weird. Just calling it like I see it.”

Mason shot me a glare that could’ve cut glass.

The rest of the session was painful. Mason was extra aggressive with his movements, like he was trying to prove something. Kai kept throwing me these lingering looks and easy compliments. I felt stuck in the middle, annoyed and weirdly aware of both of them.

When we finally finished at 7 AM, Kai wiped sweat from his forehead and grinned at me.

“Same time tomorrow?” he asked.

I glanced at Mason. His face was unreadable.

“We’ll see,” I said.

Kai nodded, still looking at me. “Cool. Looking forward to it, Ezra.”

He left first. The second the door closed, Mason turned to me, breathing hard.

“You gonna let him train with us every day now?” he asked, voice sharp.

“I said we’d see.”

Mason laughed without humor. “He’s been staring at you the whole time. Like you’re a damn meal. You notice that, right?”

I shrugged, trying to play it cool even though my neck felt hot. “He’s just friendly.”

“Friendly,” Mason repeated, sounding disgusted. “Right. Keep telling yourself that.”

He grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

I called after him. “You’re the one who said I should go for Lila. Now you’re mad because Kai wants to train with us?”

Mason stopped, turned around. His eyes were dark.

“I said you should go for her because she’s normal and safe. Not because I actually want you to.” He shook his head. “Whatever. Do what you want, Cole.”

Then he walked out, leaving me standing alone on the ice.

I stared at the empty rink, chest tight. I still hated Mason Reid. But the way he looked at me when he said that last part?

That was new.And I really didn’t know what to do with it.