Page 67 of My Last Dance

“As a matter of fact, I think I do.” I nodded quickly. “I’ve been trying to convince Mer to move here with me. I think this would be perfect for her. Wait, would you really hire her?” I was practically bouncing on my feet. This would be so perfect.

He smiled. “I wouldlovefor Miss Bennett to join the staff, but what about yourself? You wanna try your hand at coaching? I hear you and Patrick are taking a gap year from the competition circuit to prepare for the Olympics.”

My eyes bulged in shock. “How do you know so much, old man?”

He laughed, making the corner of his eyes crinkle. “What do you say? I want good coaches here,kindcoaches,” he emphasized. We both knew what happened when coaches mistreated students from Mer and Ali’s experiences, and I doubted either of us were interested in watching history repeat itself.

“Please?” he pushed. “You’d really be helping an old man out.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “You love playing the old man card, don’t you?”

He raised a bushy white eyebrow. “Is it working?”

I laughed. “Ya know what? Yeah, I’ll coach. I think it’d be fun to play on the ice with some rugrats.”

With a proud smile, he turned on his heel. “I’ll sign ya up right now,” he said over his shoulder.

My only mistake was not questioning howHansgothisjob at the Coliseum.

Had I asked that one simple question, I would’ve realized that the Windy City Whalers gave him the job.

And maybe then I would’ve realized that I’d grown up with three players on their roster.

But I remained completely oblivious until Mer started working at the Coliseum in September.

Two weeks later, she gave a figure skating lesson to a little girl named Lucy, who had tiny dark pigtails and an eerily familiar smile.

Following Lucy off the ice to talk to the parents, Mer came face-to-face with her ex—Colt Conover—who was now a single father.

Within a couple months, the two of them were back together and stronger than ever.

It just went to show that sometimes two people were truly meant to be…unlike me and Kappy.

13. BITTERSWEET

I can honestly say that my best friend seemed genuinely happy for the first time in years, and that was thanks to Colt and Lucy. Because while Mer always had figure skating aspirations, her biggest dream was to have a family.

Each time Mer told me about them in the coaches locker room, her face would absolutely light up, but I knew she was leaving out a specific person on purpose. She rarely ever mentioned Kappy, even though I knew he and JP were always hanging around Colt’s house. It actually sounded like Lucy was being raised by the three goons.

And while Mer always invited me out to join them, to the cider mill, to Sunday brunch, over to Colt’s for trick-or-treating, I always declined.

Because I already caught glimpses ofhimin the rink, making Lucy and her friends giggle hysterically while taking off their skates, busting into a game of suey with some teen boys in the lobby, and even biking on a Peloton up in the weight room.

Each time I spotted his dark hair, dimples, and tatted muscles, a familiar thrill bloomed in my chest.

It was shocking more than anything. Because I thought that little fluttering feeling was reserved only for young love. I thought butterflies were gone for good from my life.

Then again, maybe this feeling was just my body’s stress response and it was actually abadthing.

Either way, I was sure that talking to him and being around him would only make the feeling grow, and I refused to play that dangerous little game with my heart.

So, I tried my best to keep my distance, which worked well, until Lucy’s sixth birthday.

“C’mon, please?” Mer begged on the phone the morning of the party. “Just come over right now!”

“But the party doesn’t start for hours,” I said, flopping over on my bed and staring out at the frozen edges of Lake Michigan. Carl sprung from his cat house and joined me for our morning snuggles. While living in my one-bedroom apartment was sometimes a little lonely, I truly loved the view.

“We really need help with the balloon arch, and you’re taller,” Mer said. “Please.”

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