All Chapters of Skating With Hearts : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Ryans didn’t move for a long time. He just leaned there against the wall like he belonged in that spot, like he’d been carved into it. His arms were still crossed and his shoulders tense, but his eyes… God, his eyes were locked on me in a way that made it impossible to breathe.The hallway was quiet, save for the hum of the overhead lights and the muffled thump of music bleeding from another room down the hall. Some girl laughed behind a door, and someone else coughed. But between us, it felt like the whole building was holding its breath.I swallowed hard, my throat dry. My hand trembled against the key card.Finally, he sighed. It was a slow, heavy sound that seemed to drag the weight off his chest but sink into mine. His voice was low when he spoke, careful, like he was afraid too sharp a word would cut me in half.“I don’t want us to fight, Skylar.”The words cracked something open in me.He dropped his arms, his hand rubbing the back of his neck like the tension there had been st

I was still trying to catch my breath, still feeling the ghost of Ryans’ lips on mine, when the hallway door creaked open.“Hellooo, children,” June sang in her overly dramatic stage voice as she cat-walked towards us. My whole body jerked back, like I’d just been caught stealing cookies out of a jar. Ryans immediately straightened too, even though he didn’t exactly look guilty. He just looked more like amused, his lips twitching as if he wanted to laugh at my panic.June stopped walking as she looked at us with narrowing eyes. She relaxed against the wall with one hand on her hip, the other holding a paper cup that was probably coffee even though with June it could just as easily have been green tea with honey and something weird like cayenne pepper. Her curls were bouncing wildly around her face, and her eyes darted between us like she’d just walked into the season finale of her favorite soap opera.“Well, well, well,” she said slowly after several moments of silence, dragging out

It was the day of the game and by the time I dragged myself back to the dorm in the late afternoon, I felt like someone had wrung me out like a wet towel and left me crumpled under the sun. Every muscle in my body ached from sitting through endless classes, and my brain was a swamp of half-formed notes and things I was supposed to remember but already forgot. All I wanted—literally all I wanted —was to collapse on my bed, maybe eat something mindless like ramen, take a quick shower, and pass out for an hour or two before throwing on a hoodie for the game tonight.That was the plan. Simple. Blissful. Achievable.At least, that's what I thought.Except, apparently, June had drafted her own plan, and it was… not simple nor blissful.The second I pushed open the door, I was met with a squeal that nearly knocked me backward.“There she is!” June leapt up from her desk like she’d been waiting all day for this. Her eyes were sparkling with something I didn’t trust. I narrowed my eyes at he

One hour before …The night air felt alive when June and I finally stepped out of our dorm room. She’d changed into a glittery cropped hoodie and ripped jeans, her curls bouncing like she’d styled them with a cheer squad’s worth of energy. I had to laugh at her and then myself as we walked together. Two weeks ago, I was swearing up and down that I would always prefer to live alone. No roommate. No surprises. No one to deal with. That's how I have always loved it. That's how it had always been. Until it changed.I could remember easily how I hated it. But now? Now, here I was, willingly linking arms with June as we headed across campus like we’d been best friends forever.She had that effect. Wild, eccentric, unpredictable but impossible not to like.It was crazily beautiful.“You realize you’re glowing, right?” June said now to me while nudging me with her elbow. “I should get commission for this makeover, you know. Seriously. Free ice cream for life or something.”I rolled my eye

I watched as the lady’s hand slid into his so smoothly, like it belonged there and my breath hitched. The rink, with its echoing shouts and the clatter of skates against concrete, suddenly dimmed around me. All I could see was that delicate grip—her slim fingers wrapped around his right hand as though she’d been doing it forever.And Ryans didn’t pull away.His whole face lit up instead. His lips parted into a shock and then grin that wasn’t the usual teasing smirk or half-grin he tossed at people casually. No. This one was real, wide, unguarded.“You came,” he said, his voice low and brimming with excitement and happiness all at once. The young woman—God, she was beautiful—tilted her head, dark hair spilling like silk over her shoulders. Her answer was soft, ladylike, so quiet under the noise that I couldn’t hear the words. But the way Ryans leaned into her as if her voice mattered more than the chaos of victory songs around us, made my stomach twist painfully.June blinked, popcor