《Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival》全部章節：第 31 章 - 第 40 章

I didn’t sleep much. Every time I started drifting off, my mind circled back to the same unanswered question. Dean’s car. Mason outside my dorm. The moment I turned around and realized Dean had already driven away. I had no idea how much he’d seen, and the uncertainty followed me all the way to Easton the next morning. The athletic center was running on pure preseason energy. Coaches crossed the halls with clipboards tucked under their arms, trainers pushed equipment carts from one room to another, and players seemed to be everywhere at once. The regular season was only days away, and the entire building felt like it had collectively decided there was no more time to waste. I had barely set my camera bag on my desk when Melissa looked up from her computer. “There you are.” “I don’t know whether to be relieved or concerned.” “That depends.” She held up a printed folder. “Your feature’s finished.” I took it carefully, suddenly more nervous than I’d expected. “Already?” “You met

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

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

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

I settled onto the bleachers after everyone else had gone and opened my laptop, working through the photos I’d taken throughout the day while scheduling the posts Melissa wanted for the next morning. Between uploads, I chipped away at a reading assignment for one of my journalism classes, but every few minutes my attention drifted back to the ice. Dean was still there, repeating the same shooting drill over and over, collecting his own pucks before skating back into position. Practice had ended a long time ago. Nobody was timing him anymore. Nobody was asking him to stay. He simply wasn’t ready to leave. By the time I looked up again, daylight had faded into evening. Dean finally glanced toward the stands, spotted me and smiled before lifting his stick in greeting. Then he motioned for me to come down. I closed my laptop, picked up the towel and water bottle he’d left behind and headed toward the boards. Somewhere between the bleachers and the ice, I found myself studying him in a