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“Hey. She said it was a joke.” I dropped my voice lower and moved my hand away from his to avoid drawing attention to us. “I’m not interested in anyone but you.”
He stared at me for a second as a slow smile curled his lips. “The feeling’s mutual.”
The announcer’s voice came back through the speaker system in the arena. We all listened intently as they started with third place, working their way toward first place. The other pairs skated out to the center of the ice to get their medals and bouquets of flowers before standing and waiting for the first place winners.
Leo and Aria’s names rang throughout the arena. We were all instantly on our feet, clapping for them as they skated together to stand with the other winners. We waited until everything had come to an end and the skaters returned back to the locker rooms. Charlotte insisted that we all come along with her down to where her brother was.
Wes was trying to prove to him that he could get hockey players to show up at a figure skating competition. Charlotte didn’t seem to care about that, but instead wanted her brother to see and feel all the support he was getting. We all headed down to the entrance of the building and ended up running into Leo there. He was already out of his skates and had changed into a different outfit.
Everyone took their turn fawning over him and his performance before Charlotte introduced me to him. They could have passed for twins and he was very attractive. His hair was a light brown color, in tousled waves, and his eyes were almost like a golden brown. He took my hand in his and shook it.
“Thank you for coming out,” he smiled and nodded. “We really appreciate all of the support.”
“It was a beautiful performance. It left such a lasting emotional feeling.” I paused and looked past him as I dropped his hand. “Where is your partner, Aria?”
Leo shrugged with indifference. “No idea. I suppose she probably went home.”
“They’re not together,” Charlotte informed me as she appeared back beside her brother. “They just skate together as a pair.”
“Really?” I tilted my head to the side, my forehead creasing as I looked back at Leo. “But there was so much chemistry between the two of you.”
Leo laughed loudly and shook his head. “Oh, God no. I hate her. We both just ended up without partners and weren’t given much of a choice.”
“So, you hate her, but you’re still able to skate together like that?”
“She doesn’t particularly care for me either.” He chuckled and shrugged again. “It’s complicated. Like you said, we have chemistry. We skate well together and complement one another. When we’re on the ice, the way we really feel about each other doesn’t matter.”
“Talk about a mindfuck,” Charlotte mumbled and shook her head. “Okay, Leo. You ready to go celebrate?”
Mac stepped up beside me. “I think we’re actually going to head out for the night.”
“I bet you are,” Nico chirped as Wes beamed at us.
“It was really nice meeting you and hanging out, Juliette,” Harper said as she and Charlotte crowded around me. “We should do a girls’ night sometime soon.”
“Yes! I live for girls’ nights,” Charlotte exclaimed as she clapped her hands. I gave both of them my number and hugged the girls before saying bye to Nico, Wes, and Leo.
Mac was waiting patiently with the softest of smiles on his face. “Are you ready to go?”
I nodded, my smile matching his. “Take me home.”
“Gladly,” he said as he slid his hand into mine, not caring if any of his friends saw, before leading me out to his car. As we reached the passenger’s side, he pulled open the door for me, his eyes warm as he watched me climb into his car.
And in that moment, I knew the truth.
I was so goddamn gone for him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
MAC
The kids were all congregated on the other side of the boards, impatiently waiting for someone to open the door so they could step out onto the ice. A few of them were banging their sticks against the boards and a few were pounding their fists on the glass. They were all chanting together, yelling for someone to let them out.
I couldn’t help but smile and laugh as I shook my head and glanced over at Lincoln.
“Kids, man,” he muttered, shaking his head as he snorted.
“Were you like that when you were a kid?” Juliette asked me as she skated over with a bucket of blue practice pucks. They were lighter and bouncier than the pucks we used. These were the ones that were typically used for younger kids to aid in their training.
