Page 72 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

I nodded.

“So…” he looked around the bathroom. “What do you want to do the rest of the day?”

He was going to stay all day? I didn’t know where to start. I had been dreaming of this moment forever. I wanted to tell him that I loved him with my whole entire heart. That I dreamed of us getting married. That I wanted to have a million babies with him and that I already had some of the names picked out. But I didn’t want to scare him away. I’d tell him all those things after he admitted he wanted it first. After we were married. That made the most sense.

“Um…we could watch a movie?” I said.

“We should probably watch Pocahontas so that you can learn that rocks don’t have brains.”

“Admit that you just like the movie.” I stood up, completely forgetting the fact that a few minutes ago I was knocking on death’s door.

“I don’t like it,” he mumbled.

But I was pretty sure he loved the movie as much as I did. Especially when we laughed at all the same times. And when he pretended to be John Smith when it was over and chased me around with a paper towel roll he was pretending was a sword.

And in one afternoon Miles became my best friend. I couldn’t wait till we were married and I could finally tell him that I loved him.

Chapter 30

Present Day – Monday

The past ten years of my life had been a series of bad luck. But I had always held out for one thing. One hope. That Miles Young would come back to me.

My feet skidded in the slush. I grabbed on to the railing and continued to climb as fast as I could. Who had I been kidding? I couldn’t love anyone else. It was him. It had always been him.

I thought about what Dr. Miller had said. That V’s heart was frozen. That wasn’t true. V’s heart could never be frozen. Because Miles’ heart could never be frozen. He was the kindest person I knew. The sweetest. The most compassionate and understanding

. Someone like him couldn’t stop loving. It wasn’t in his blood to become cold.

I pressed in the code to our apartment. There were a million things I needed to say to him. A million things I had never gotten to say the first time around. The window started to rise. I ducked down and climbed in when I could barely fit, leaving a trail of wet boot prints behind me as I ran to V’s room.

“V?” I pounded my fist against his door.

No answer. I tried to open the door but it was locked.

“V!” I yelled again and knocked even louder. “It’s important!”

Liza came out of her room and stared at me. “What’s going on?” She wiped beneath her eyes. She had clearly been crying a moment ago. The tears on her cheeks were a good clue. But her eyes were also red beneath her glasses. And her posture was all wrong.

“Liza, is everything okay?” I kept knocking on V’s door while I looked at her. I wanted her to say yes even though she was clearly upset. I didn’t have time to comfort her right now.

“Summer, I’m so so sorry. I…” her voice trailed off. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Eli and I swear I never crossed any line or anything. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have feelings for him. And I…”

“That’s fine.” I breathed a sigh of relief. That was easier than I thought it would be. “He’s all yours.” I turned back to V’s door and tried to turn the handle again. “V, let me in!”

“What do you mean he’s all mine? You two are dating.” She stepped forward and grabbed my arm so that I’d stop knocking. “You’re supposed to be upset with me.”

“We broke up. Really, it’s fine.” I tried to lift my hand to knock again, but she was stronger than I thought.

“It’s not fine!” she hissed. She pulled my arm so that I’d look at her. “It’s not fine,” she whispered this time. “I swear we didn’t kiss or anything. If you broke up with him because of me I’d never be able to forgive myself. I broke all sorts of girl code. We’re best friends and I…”

“Liza, I promise it’s not a big deal. I hope you two make each other happy. You both deserve that.”

She released her grip on my arm. “That should have been sarcastic, but it didn’t sound sarcastic.” She paused. “No, this is not how this conversation is supposed to go. I’ve done research. You’re supposed to yell at me and call me a slut.”

“You just said you didn’t even kiss him yet. And it really doesn’t matter. I’m in love with someone else.”

“Who?” Her eyes narrowed on my hand as I started knocking on V’s door again. “Not V.”

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