Page 12 of The Love Comeback
“We just don’t want to see you lose your edge. Distractions—even good ones—can cost you at this level,” Mom adds.
“Colton’s not a distraction. He’s a kid who’s been through a lot in life and needs someone. And I like spending time with him.”
Now Ella, on the other hand…
“We’re not saying you can’t have a life. Just be careful where you invest your time and energy, okay?” Mom cautions.
“Yeah. I hear you—”
A loud bell rings in the background, cutting through our conversation.
“Oh, shoot,” she exclaims hurriedly. “We’ve gotta go! Trivia is about to start. We love you!”
“Love you,” I say before disconnecting the call.
I let out a deep sigh, rubbing my temples as my parents’ words sink in. They’re not wrong—distractions havenoplace in the game. But Colton isn’t a distraction. If anything, he’s given my life even more purpose. And honestly, our skate lessons have become the highlight of every week.
And so has seeing Ella…
My heart thuds at the thought of her, her hazel eyes filled with a kind of warmth that always drew me in, her laughter that used to be a melody to my ears.
Before I ruined everything.
Every part of me wants to just wrap Ella in my arms and sweep her off her feet and tell her everything is going to be okay. But deep down, I know I can’t let myself get carried away by these feelings. Especially considering she’s made it pretty obvious that I have no chance.
I’d just be torturing myself.
Maybe it’s agoodthing Nate set me up on that date after all…
Chapter Five
Ella
“I love Mondays!” Colton beams as he climbs into the car. “I’m so ready to skate. Kade said we might start working on harder drills today.”
“That’s exciting,” I say, keeping a smile on my face as he climbs in and tosses his backpack across the backseat. Kade’s been pouring himself into Colton, and it strikes a nerve in my chest—so much so that I have to just …not watch.
“Aaron told me today that you’re best friends with his mom,” Colton says, changing the subject, and I’ll take it, considering most of our conversations involve Kade these days.
“Well, Valerie and I do work together.” I drive toward the ice rink. I’ve been eating lunch with Valerie every day since the morning we made the robotics team application, and I mustadmit that it’s starting to feel like we might be friends. Which is nice, since I don’t really know anyone here in the city.
“Why can’t you just say that you’re friends?” Colton makes a face. “It’s not that big of a deal to be friends. Grown-ups are so weird.”
“Tell me about it,” I snort, which makes him laugh. His eyes light up and he leans back, content with our conversation. I run through options for dinner tonight. Though cooking isn’t my strong suit, I never have enough time to spend on it, and by the time we get home…
I’m too tired for complicated recipes. So we usually end up eating some variation of chicken and rice.
I navigate through the parking lot, noting a pretty redheaded woman wrapped in the arms of one of the Glaciers’ hockey players leaning against a sports car. I’m sure that Kade is friends with them, and the fact that I have no idea who most of the people are that he hangs out with only serves to make the disparity feel greater.
“I’m going to be a pro one day,” Colton says as he unbuckles his seatbelt. “And when I am, will you come to my games?”
I raise my brows as I grab my bag. “Of course. I’d be at every single one of your games—and I’d have one of those great big signs. Maybe it’d say, ‘That’s my little boy out there!’”
He crinkles his nose in disgust. “Pleasedon’t do that.”
“Oh, I will,” I tease him, climbing out of the car as he lets out a pained huff. My eyes flicker back to the couple standing by their car, watching us. I swallow hard as they smile and wave…
Like they know us.
