Page 33 of Icebound Hearts

“It’s too late. You let her win.” Aiden shakes his head, but I don’t miss the way his fingers tap lightly against the steering wheel to the beat. Alina elbows me.

“I think we just converted him.” I lean back against my seat, satisfied. “This is officially the best road trip ever.” Aiden rolls his eyes, but there was something softer in his expression. Something that makes my heart beat a little too fast.

Damn him.

The ice is my sanctuary. No matter how loud the arena gets or how the energy buzzes in the air like static, the moment my skates touch the ice, everything else fades. The world beyond this rink doesn’t exist. It’s just me, Alexei, and the routine we’ve practiced a thousand times. I breathe in and out to centre myself. We’ve trained for this. There is no room for hesitation. Alexei meets my gaze, squeezing my hand before the music starts.

“Showtime, Malyshka.” The music swells, and we move in perfect sync. Every jump, every lift, every step sequence flows seamlessly. Months of skating together have made us a single entity on the ice, a machine built for precision. A triple twist—flawless. A side-by-side triple axel—perfectly timed. As we hit our final lift, I soar above Alexei, suspended in the air for a breathless moment before he lowers me effortlessly. The final note of our program echoes through the rink as we glide into our finishing pose, my chest heaving as the roar of the crowd explodes around us.

We did it. Alexei’s arms wrap around me as we spin in place, his laugh ringing through the arena. “That was perfection, Katerina!” My heart pounds against my ribs, adrenaline coursing through my veins. As we skate off, the cameras flash, and I glance up at the scoreboard. The numbers appear in rapid succession—

First place. Gold.

The emotions hit all at once—relief, pride, and something deeper, something that made my throat tighten. I made it back—after everything that was stolen from me. Alina is waiting for us, still breathless from her performance.

“You did it!” she beams, tackling me into a hug.

“We both did it,” I yell in excitement, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug. Her scores were posted minutes ago—she secured gold in women’s singles, her jumps impeccable, her artistry untouchable. We’re going to the next round of qualifiers together.

A slow, mocking clap echoes through the air, slicing through my moment of triumph like a knife.

I don’t need to turn around to know who it is. Maxim Serkov. The name alone makes my stomach churn. After everything he did to me. After the news broke out, I have no idea how he was able to compete today. Daddy must’ve paid big money to make it happen.

“You looked stiff out there, Katerina,” Max muses, a smirk tugging at his lips. “But then again, you always did choke under pressure.” The rage that coils in my chest is instant, but Alexei’s grip on my wrist steadies me.

“Leave, Serkov,” Alexei says coldly, stepping slightly in front of me.

Max’s new partner lingers awkwardly behind him, clearly uncomfortable. She has the same haunted look I used to have, the same stiffness in her shoulders. Our old coach probablytrains her, too. Max scoffs, his gaze flicking back to me. “You think you deserved this win? After what happened last time?” His lips curl in disgust. “After you humiliated yourself?”

The air in my lungs turns to ice. I know exactly what he’s referencing. The fall. The injury. The nightmares. The night he tried to take more than just my career.

Max leans in slightly, his voice just low enough that only I hear. “I bet you still think about it.”

A fresh wave of nausea grips me. My fingers curl into fists, nails digging into my palms. I won’t break. I won’t let him see me break. But before I can say anything, a blur of motion flashes past me; a sickening crack echoes through the air. Max stumbles back, blood trickling from his lip, eyes wide in shock. Aiden stands in front of me, fist still clenched, breathing hard. His expression is unreadable, but his eyes burn with a fury that sends a shiver down my spine.

“Say one more word to her,” Aiden growls, his voice dangerously low. “I dare you.” The entire rink falls into stunned silence. People are staring, whispers spreading like wildfire. Max wipes the blood from his lip, glaring at Aiden.

“You just made a mistake.”

“I’ll live.” Aiden chimes in, grinning at Max like a maniac. Security is already moving toward us, and coaches are yelling, but Aiden doesn’t move. He just stands there before me, daring Max to try something else. Max sneers at both of us. “She doesn’t need you to protect her.”

Aiden doesn’t flinch. “She doesn’t need me to, but I’m going to anyway.” My breath catches in my throat as Max scoffs before security steps between them, ushering him away.

The moment he’s gone, Aiden turns to me, eyes scanning my face. His jaw is tight, his hands flexing at his sides as if fighting the urge to hit something again. “You okay?” he asks quietly. I should be angry. I should scold him for causing a scene. Formaking this about him. But all I can do is stare at him, my heart racing, my body still on high alert. Because for the first time in a long time, I feel safe. All because of Aiden, and I don’t know what to do with that. Instead of answering, I exhale slowly, nodding once.

Aiden studies me for a beat longer before nodding, too. He doesn’t say anything else, doesn’t press, just stands beside me. The moment we leave the rink, the air outside is sharp and cold, but it does nothing to cool the adrenaline still thrumming through my veins. The chaos from inside the arena still lingers—whispers, shocked faces, coaches scrambling to do damage control. But all I can focus on is the six four pure muscle, grumpy hockey player. How did he go from tormenting me to protecting me? He’s walking ahead of me, hands in his pockets, jaw tight. His knuckles are still red from the punch he landed on Max, and I should be lecturing him for it. I should be angry that he just got himself into unnecessary trouble.

But I’m not. Because when Max leaned in and whispered those words, when he tried to drag me back into the past I’ve been fighting to escape, Aiden was there. No hesitation. No questions. Just action. And I don’t know what to do with that.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I say finally, my voice breaking the tense silence between us.

Aiden stops walking but doesn’t turn around. “Yeah, I did.” I exhale, stepping up beside him. “Now you’re going to have to deal with whatever fallout comes from punching him in the face.”

“Worth it,” Aiden adds, slowly turning around to look at me. I shake my head, crossing my arms.

“You can’t just go around throwing punches every time someone says something you don’t like.” He finally looks at me, dark eyes unreadable. “You really think that was about me?” I don’t answer. I don’t have to. Because deep down, I knew it wasn’tabout him. It was about me. About what Max did— about what he almost did. Aiden saw it in my face. He knew. And that’s what terrifies me most of all. He takes a slow breath, his hands flexing at his sides like he wants to say more but doesn’t know how.

Instead, he just mutters, “Let’s get out of here,” and starts walking again. I follow, my emotions tangled into a knot so tight I don’t know how to unravel them.

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