Page 84 of Hearts on Ice
“Careful, Coach,” I said quietly. “Someone might think you like me.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I’m not subtle. I just pretend I am.”
“You’re subtle to everyone else,” I said. “Just… not to me.”
His breath hitched. Barely. But I felt it.
“You ever think about… later?” he asked suddenly.
“Later?”
“After all this. After the hiding. After whatever storm might come our way.”
I studied him—the way the city lights reflected in his eyes, the worry sitting just under the surface.
“You’re scared,” I said softly.
“Terrified,” he admitted. “Not of being with you. Just… of what the world might do with it.”
My throat tightened. “Me too.”
He nodded, almost relieved I’d said it out loud.
“But then I think about waking up next to you,” he said. “And everything gets a little less… impossible.”
The words hit me like a warm hand closing gently around my heart.
“I don’t need a perfect future,” I said. “Just one with you in it.”
He smiled, the kind he didn’t give away lightly.
“We’ll get there,” he whispered. “Even if we have to crawl.”
I laughed under my breath. “You planning to crawl anywhere with that knee?”
He nudged me softly with his elbow. “Smartass.”
But his smile didn’t fade.
He turned slightly, just enough that our arms aligned.
“I wish,” he whispered, “that I could touch you right now. Just… reach over. Take your hand. Pull you close.”
Heat shot through me—sharp, deliberate, unmistakable.
“I’d let you,” I said. “Anytime.”
He laughed under his breath—a small, shaken sound. “Not here.”
“No,” I agreed. “Not here.”
But God, the temptation hung between us like humidity, thick and tense.
He stayed quiet for a moment, watching the city, watching the life neither of us felt entirely part of.
“I want a future with you,” he said softly. “I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t know if it’s possible. But I want it.”
My pulse stuttered.
