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You know who doesn’t make me feel safe? Reese Cain. Not because he’s dangerous, but because he’s the first person to push me out of my comfort zone in a long time.

The first person to make me want to feel something more.

Looking away from my reflection, I tug on a clean T-shirt and shorts. My hair is wet, hanging loose, and I think about Reid suggesting I wear it down. Another reminder of how I allowed Ethan to change who I am and how I present myself.

Grabbing a hair tie, I pick up my phone and head into my room, opening Chattysnap to Reese’s account. The picture of us has even more likes now and hundreds of shares. Reese looks devastatingly handsome, of course. His lips are pressed against the side of my face, amplifying the angle of his scruff-covered jaw. His body dwarfs mine, and you can’t see anything but my face. My eyes are huge. I know it’s from the surprise, but in the moment, I just look happy.

No one knows the nerves that were crashing inside of me.

I stare at the hair tie. So small but, so meaningful.

I toss it on the bedside table, run my fingers through my hair and loosen the waves.

Nadia’s right. It’s time to leave the past behind and embrace the future.

6

Reese

After a full dayof classes and practice, I’m fucking beat.

Axel is the only one that parties regularly, his body able to take a beating on the ice even with whatever toxins he decides to ingest. Some of mine is just habit. Those years of training with my dad were more than just workouts and practices. It was creating an entire mindset around success.

“What’s going on with you and the trainer?” Jeff asks, after deke’ing my player on the screen. We ate dinner in the athletic dining hall and came back to play a few rounds of video games before I needed to study.

“You saw the pic?”

“Everyone saw it, dude.” He winces as I slam his guy into the boards. “Or was that the point?”

Jeff knows me and I shouldn’t be surprised he’s suspicious of the photo of me and Twyler. “Shanna’s been sniffing around again.”

“Shit? For real?”

All night I expected another text or some kind of response from Shanna. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she showed up at the Manor door. But that never comes and I’m relieved when it doesn’t happen. I have zero interest in dating Shanna again, but the simple fact she’s waiting around for the right opportunity to weasel her way back in? That’s enough to make me consider something extreme.

“What does that have to do with Twyler?”

“We were walking back to Shotgun when one of the texts came in. It was just a way to maybe shut Shanna down.”

In my peripheral I see him nod. “She was okay with that?”

I laugh. “It was her idea.” I manage to score, the light flashing behind the goal. I toss the controller on the coffee table. “Okay, I’ve got a paper to write.”

An hour later, I have half a paper written for my communications class, but there’s a restlessness gnawing at me. That’s what Shanna does to me. She worms her way into my brain, distracting me from my goals. I mean, that’s the real reason why we broke up. She wanted me to go pro this year, leaving my college degree behind. But I decided a long time ago that I wanted to graduate. A professional career has to wait until I get that diploma in my hand.

I refuse to make the same mistake my father did.

She doesn’t give a shit about that or what I want. Which is why she’s trying to reinsert herself in my life. She doesn’t want me. She wants the lifestyle.

I can’t let her fuck with me again, especially not in the preseason. Every practice, every workout is important. I know she hasn’t changed her mind about what she wants me to do, and I sure as fuck know I haven’t either. One thing stopped her in her tracks, for now at least: the photo with Twyler.

Tossing my laptop aside, I grab my phone and open the official team chat. Scrolling down until I find the right number, I type a message and press send.

OneFive: It worked.

The message is instantly read, but there’s a long pause before the small bubbles of a new message appear.

InternTwy: What worked?