All Chapters of The Ice Between Us: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

54 Chapters

Chapter 41 Evan

I’ve played in packed arenas. I’ve played in hostile ones. I’ve played in playoff games where the noise rattled my bones. But nothing, absolutely nothing, makes me as nervous as sitting in the stands of a figure skating competition.PR thinks it’s good for me to be here. “Show support for Lena,” they said. “Humanize your image,” they said.Whatever. I was coming anyway. We knocked Philly and New York out of the playoffs, and Coach gave us the weekend off before the final game. One more win and we’re in the Stanley Cup.But right now? Hockey feels a million miles away. Right now, all I care about is Lena. I sit between my mom and Mason, with my dad, Gabe, and Lena’s parents filling the rest of the row. It’s weirdly comfortable, like our families have been doing this forever.The arena is buzzing. Skaters glide across the ice, music swelling, blades slicing clean lines. It’s… peaceful. Calming. Like watching ballet, but colder. I get why people love this. I get why she loves this.Gabby

Chapter 42 Sabrina

I slam the locker room door so hard the metal rattles. There is no way this happened. No way Lena Merritt, shaky, panicky, washed‑up Lena, beat me. ME. How the hell did she beat me? I pace back and forth, nails digging into my palms, heart pounding so loud I can barely hear myself think. Third place. She got third place. My spot. I should be on that podium. I should be the one everyone’s cheering for. I should be the one Evan is looking at like she hung the moon. But no.Lena skates one decent routine, one, and suddenly the whole world is acting like she’s some miracle comeback story. I grab my skate bag and throw it against the bench. It hits with a dull thud, not nearly satisfying enough.“How?” I hiss under my breath. “How did she fucking beat me?”Her jump wasn’t even perfect. She practically fell out of it. And the judges still scored her higher. Why? Because she’s the tragic little ice princess who had a meltdown on camera? Because everyone feels sorry for her? It’s pathetic. An

Chapter 43 Lena

The rest of the afternoon feels like a blur, a loud, bright, dizzy blur. Everyone is talking at once. Everyone is hugging me. Everyone is smiling. And Evan? He never leaves my side. Not once. His arm stays around my waist as we walk through the arena. His hand finds mine every time someone pulls me away for a picture. When we sit down for dinner with both our families, he rests his hand on my knee under the table, steady, warm, grounding.Every time I look at him, he’s already looking at me. Like he can’t believe I’m real. Like he doesn’t want to miss a second.After dinner, after the congratulations and the photos and the endless retelling of the jump, he drives me home. Chicago fades behind us, the highway stretching out in front of us, the sky turning dark.It’s quiet in the car, not awkward, just… full. I watch the lights blur past the window before finally asking the question that’s been sitting in my chest since the podium. “So,” I say softly, “about the kiss.”He glances at me,

Chapter 44 Evan

Something is off with Lena. Not in the obvious ways, she still smiles when she sees me, still leans into my side when we sit together, still texts me good luck before every practice and game. But there’s a tightness in her shoulders. A hesitation in her voice. A distance she thinks she’s hiding. She’s keeping me at arm’s length again. Not because she wants to. Because she’s trying to protect me. Protect us.With playoffs breathing down my neck and her next competition two weeks away, she doesn’t want more attention. Not after the Sabrina mess. Not after the kiss that went viral in under an hour. I get it. But I also know her. And something is wrong. She brushes it off every time I ask.“Just tired.”“Just stressed.”“Just a long day.”But her eyes tell a different story. So before I have to leave for our next game, I drive to the rink early and find Daniels in his office, hunched over a clipboard like he’s trying to solve a murder.He looks up when I knock. “Hart. Shouldn’t you be on

Chapter 45 Lena

Evan left yesterday for his playoff game. He won’t be back for a few days, and even though we’ve spent plenty of time apart before… this feels different. He calls when he can, texts when he can’t, but I still feel the empty space he leaves behind. And the rink feels different too. Not safer. Just… quieter. After Coach Daniels tore into the rink manager, things improved a little. My skates haven’t gone missing again. My schedule hasn’t mysteriously vanished. No more field trips taking over my ice time.But now? Now I feel like someone is always watching me.Not in the obvious way, no one lurking in corners or staring from the stands, but in the subtle, prickling‑at‑the-back‑of-my-neck way. Like eyes follow me when I walk to the locker room. Like someone is waiting for me to slip. I try to ignore it. I try to focus. But Nationals are getting closer, and every mistake feels heavier.My parents invited everyone over to watch Evan’s game, his parents, his brothers, Coach Daniels, and Gabby

Chapter 46 Evan

The penalty box door slams behind me, and the sound echoes in my skull. I drop onto the bench, chest heaving, knuckles throbbing from the punch I landed on Mitchell. The crowd is roaring, the refs are yelling, the announcers are losing their minds — but all I hear is the pounding in my head. Lena. Someone is messing with her. Someone is trying to break her. And I’m stuck in a box like an idiot while she’s back home dealing with all of it. I run a hand through my hair, tugging hard.Everything I’ve done, being there for her, helping her heal, trying to protect her, and someone is still getting to her. Still messing with her head. Still trying to ruin everything she’s worked for. And she didn’t tell me. Not because she doesn’t trust me. Because she didn’t want to distract me. Which somehow makes it worse.I look up at the ice. Mitchell is skating around like he didn’t just take a cheap shot at me. He smirked when he hit me earlier, like he knew I wasn’t fully here. Because I’m not. I’m

Chapter 47 Lena

The morning after Evan’s playoff game, the house is still buzzing with leftover excitement. Everyone stayed late, celebrating the win, replaying the fight, talking about the Stanley Cup like it was already in reach. But Evan is already on the road again, heading back to town with the team.And me? I’m at the rink before sunrise. I like the quiet. The cold. The way the ice looks untouched, like it’s waiting just for me.I lace up my skates slowly, breathing in the familiar scent of the rink, cold metal, rubber mats, faint traces of sharpening oil. It’s comforting. Grounding. But the second I step onto the ice, something feels… off. Not wrong. Just… not right.My left skate feels heavier. My right blade feels like it’s not sitting flush. Every push feels uneven, like the ice is tilting under me. I try to shake it off. Maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m overthinking. Maybe I’m still rattled from everything going on. I glide into a warm‑up circle, but the uneasiness only grows. My edges aren’t ca

Chapter 48 Evan

By the time the bus finally pulls into town, I’m running on caffeine, adrenaline, and about three hours of sleep. The whole ride home, I kept checking my phone, texting her. Checking it again. Waiting. Nothing. Lena always replies. Even if it’s just an emoji or a “later.” But today? Silence. And that silence sits wrong in my chest. When I turn onto my street, I see it immediately. Her car. In my driveway.I blink, confused for half a second. We didn’t make plans. I would’ve remembered. But the second the confusion hits, it’s replaced by something else. Relief. I’m not mad she’s here. I’m glad. I grab my bag and head inside, pushing open the door quietly in case she’s asleep. She’s not. She’s on my couch, propped up with pillows, watching The Mummy like it’s the most normal thing in the world. The glow from the TV lights up her face, and for a moment, everything in me settles. Then I see the ice pack on her knee. My stomach drops. “Lena,” I say, stepping closer.She jumps a little, the

Chapter 49 Lena

Warmth. That’s the first thing I feel when I wake up. Warmth… and something solid beneath my cheek. It takes a second for my brain to catch up. A chest. A heartbeat. An arm wrapped around my waist. Evan. My eyes fly open, panic shooting through me. I try to shift away, quietly, carefully, but even in his sleep, he pulls me closer, tucking me against him like I belong there. My breath catches.His face is relaxed, peaceful in a way I rarely see. His hair is a mess, his jaw rough with stubble, his lips parted slightly as he breathes. And just like that, the panic melts. Because this feels… right. Too right. Dangerously right.I stare at him, my heart doing that stupid fluttering thing it always does around him. I’m falling for him...again, and it terrifies me. Because last time? Last time I let myself feel this way, I ended up shattered. I swallow hard, trying to pull myself together. Then his voice, deep, husky, sleep‑rough, breaks through the quiet. “You’re staring.”I jump, heat rush

Chapter 50 Sabrina

I’ve watched the video at least ten times. Lena’s blade snapping off. Her body slamming into the ice. The gasp from Coach Daniels. The chaos.And every single time, I feel the same rush. Finally. Finally something is going my way. Everyone keeps acting like she’s some fragile little miracle, but look at her, she’s not untouchable. She’s not perfect. She’s not better than me. And the best part?No one has any idea I had anything to do with it. I’m skating through my routine, feeling light, powerful, right, when my phone buzzes on the boards. I glide over, already annoyed at the interruption. It’s Marcy. Of course it is.I can’t do this anymore. They’re locking down the rink. Cameras everywhere. After what happened to Lena’s skates… I’m out.I roll my eyes so hard it hurts. She always panics. Always. That’s why she’s useful, she’s desperate to be included, desperate to be liked, desperate to matter. People like that are easy to control.I type back:You’re overreacting. They can’t put c

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