Page 30 of My Last Dance

Seeing that the rest of the group was busy with a pick-up game, I shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

Dropping his stick, he hiked over the snow in his beat-up pond skates and plopped in the chair next to me. Man-spreading his legs, he took up way too much space next to me.

I poured another cup of hot chocolate and handed it to him.

“Thanks.” He blew on the top of the drink. When he looked back at me, he pushed his beanie up a bit and his face creased with concern. “Your legs hurt?”

“No, why?” I automatically snapped. Panic flared to life in my chest.Hide it, deny it, tell no one,a voice whispered in my head. “That’s a stupid question, why would you even ask that?”

A confused look crossed his face and his eyes darted around, searching for some kind of clarification. “Oh, sorry?” he asked more than said. Staying quiet, he started pulling at the laces of his skates to take them off.

Fear snaked down my spine. No one could know about my pain.No one.If I told him and then he went and blabbed about it and word got back to my coaches or parents, they’d make me stop training. Patrick and I couldn’t afford to lose momentum. Things were going really well for us this season. We actually had a shot at taking JuniorNationals this year.

After a minute, Richard stopped unlacing his skates and pinned me with a hard, unwavering stare. “Actually, no, I’m not sorry, Piper. I asked a question, I wasn’t being rude. Every single time we’re all together, you have to sit down.”

Shock rocked into me.He noticed. But he was talking about this way too loudly. I tried to shush him, but he kept going.

“No, Piper, I’m saying this.” His eyebrows pinched together, and his jaw clenched. He was mad, no,furious. “The first day we met, you said your legs hurt. I’mnotsorry for being concerned. And that day…” A muscle ticked angrily in his jaw. “That day you didn’t want to dance with me in the lobby, I thought it was because of me, but I went over it a million times.” He rubbed at his nose. “You didn’t look pissed at me, you looked sad. It’s because you’re hurt, aren’t you? You’re hurt, and you don’t want to tell anyone.”

I immediately looked over my shoulder at the rest of the group to make sure no one noticed us. They were still playing, completely unaware of his little outburst. Blowing out a breath of relief, I turned back to the bonfire, but I could feel his eyes on me.

“I’m not gonna drop it, Piper. So you better—”

“Yeah,” I whispered tersely, cutting him off. “You’re right, okay? Is that what you want to hear?” His gaze dropped to my legs, and his nose flared with a breath. “Donottell anyone, got it? If word gets out, I’llknowit was you, and you’ll be sorry,” I threatened.

His chest expanded with an angry breath. “What’s going on?”

“I have compartment syndrome,” I said in a rush.

He shook his head. His eyes were serious and full of concern for once. “What is that?”

“Basically the muscles are too big for my leg. It’s from overtraining,” I whispered.

“Hulk girl.” He smirked.

I shook my head. “It’s not funny, not at all.” My hands moved under the blanket to rub my calves. “The only way to fix the situation is tostoptraining, and that hasn’t even helped in the past. It always comes back. My parents said if it keeps hurting, they’ll pull me. So keep your mouth shut about it,” I said in a harsh voice. I held my breath, waiting for his reaction.

He frowned as he studied me, then finally nodded, making the tension in my chest finally ease.

We sat there in silence, listening to the static-y boombox. Aminute later, he angled his chair toward mine so that his knees encased my own, then he pulled off his gloves and reached under my blanket

I immediately pulled away from him, but his eyes locked on mine. “Let me, Piper.”

Swallowing hard, I relented. While I wanted to push him away, his hands were larger and stronger, and the way his warm hands kneaded my muscles honestly felt so amazing that my eyes fell closed for a second. It felt like finally laying on warm sand after swimming in a cold lake for hours.

My eyes scanned his serious face. “You’re not gonna badger me to go to the doctors?”

His jaw hardened. “No, I hate all that medical stuff. Not afraid of clowns or any of that kinda shit, but doctors and hospitals…” He shivered. “Hospitals scare me.”

Now I frowned. “What if you break a bone or something?”

“Jesus.” He reared back and reached down to knock on some of the firewood. “Don’t jinx me like that, Viper.”

I shrugged. “Just saying…You play a dangerous sport, what if you have to—”

“Hospitals are where people go to die,” he said with a shocking finality. “So, no, thank you.”

“That’s harsh.” I squinted at him. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

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