Let go.
My grip tightened instead, not by much, but enough that I felt it.
Luka looked up at me.
Neither of us moved. The noise of the rink seemed to drift farther away.
Then Luka stepped back.
“I am fine,” he repeated, his voice clipped tighter this time.
My hand fell to my side. “Yeah.”
The word came out rougher than I intended.
Luka pushed off without another glance, putting distance between us in long, controlled strokes.
I watched him disappear into the flow of skaters crossing the rink.
A coach shouted instructions somewhere behind me. Music started up again. Practice carried on.
I didn’t. My attention kept circling back to one stupid detail.
I’d noticed I was still holding him. And then I’d kept doing it.
Every time I tried to dismiss it, my brain brought it straight back.
“Hey, Dean.” Ethan was suddenly at my side. “That was close.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“But that’s not what you’re still standing here for, is it?”
I turned then, finally looking at him.
He held my gaze for a second. For once, he looked completely serious.
“You saved him.”
“Yeah.”
“The rest was extra.”
I looked away first, back to the ice. Then I pushed off before Ethan could say anything else.
For a few minutes I concentrated on skating.
At least, I tried to.
The problem wasn’t the interruption.
The problem was that I’d run out of explanations.
Tomorrow, I was going to have to find a new one.
Chapter Five
January 29, 2026
