The rink had never felt so hollow for me the way it did tonight.
Not just tonight actually. It had been like this for over a month.
Usually, the air hummed with adrenaline — skates cutting through ice, pucks thudding against the boards, the faint smell of sweat and victory hanging like perfume. But lately, it all tasted like metal and regret. I’d spent the last month going through the motions — practice, press, games, repeat — but my head hadn’t been in any of it.
Because every time I blinked, I saw Skylar walking away from me.
It was really crazy that I still remembered her face that day — that look in her eyes, the one that said you’re just like the rest of them.
I could still feel the pain from how I’d tried calling, texting, showing up at her building and how she’d gone ghost l
