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In a bizarre twist, Ali called excitedly screaming that she was engaged.

She was marrying Mark on New Year’s Day at only twenty-years-old. I tried to feign happiness on the phone with her, but I just felt confused about the whole thing.

“Are you sure? Marriage is kinda a big deal. You’re still only twenty, what’s the rush?” I asked as gently as I could.

“Yes, we’re sure. It’s what we want, Piper,” she said tersely.

I paused. “Okay, but what we want and what I want are two very different things, Al.”

I was shocked when she started crying.

“I’m not being mean,” I said quickly. “I’m just trying to make sure that you fully want this.”

“Look, Mark warned me that you wouldn’t be happy,” she said, cutting me off in a teary voice. “I had to fight to invite you and JP, so please just…just be happy for me, Piper.”

“Okay, say no more.” I squeezed my eyes shut as I gripped the phone, because I knew she was potentially making a huge mistake, but I had no clue how to get her out of this. “I’ll be there to support you , okay? With anything you need.” I hoped she knew that included driving the getaway car.

“Thank you,” she breathed out, and I could hear the relief in her voice.

Later that day, I received a text from Richard asking if I was going to the wedding. I smiled down at my phone as I typed back my yes .

It’d been too long since I last saw him in person.

The past year was busy for both of us. Patrick and I were now competing for Team USA, meaning we were on the international competition circuit, flying somewhere different each month.

Kappy was traded to a higher team, and now he was only a step away from the NHL.

We were so close to our goals.

It was almost our time.

________

The night before the wedding, we went out together as a group.

I found myself sitting at a high-top table between JP and Colt while Kappy, Mer, and Ali were all at the bar ordering more drinks.

Colt, who’d really bulked up in the past year and now sported a shorter haircut making him look more professional, stared at his girlfriend at the bar and tapped the table with an impatient finger.

“If Mer was getting married to a total douchebag instead of me, I’d probably…

” He blew out a strangled breath. “I don’t even know what I’d do.

I just know that I wouldn’t let it happen.

I’d do something. I’d fuck up the wedding,” he solemnly swore.

My eyebrows flew up. “Are you serious?” That sounded a little controlling.

“Yes.” He said it to me, but he was staring daggers at JP. “No fucking way would I let an asshole swoop in and marry my woman.”

My eyes darted between them, sensing a huge amount of tension. JP’s eyes looked red and swollen. He shoved his chair back with a small, “Fuck off, Colt,” before stalking away.

Colt dropped his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Okay, what did I miss?” Kappy asked, coming up to hand a beer to Colt.

“JP’s being a little bitch,” Colt spat.

I sucked in a shocked breath, making both boys look at me. I’d never heard Colt so mad before .

“He needs to get his shit together,” Colt continued. “I have a bad feeling.” His eyes flitted to Mer and Ali at the bar.

“About Ali and Mark?” I asked.

A wary look crossed his face as he nodded. “I just…” He sucked in his top lip and played with the wrapper of his beer. “I have a bad feeling about everything right now. Something just doesn’t feel right.”

“Weird,” Kappy said, clapping him on the back. “Maybe you need some water, bud.”

Colt ignored him and looked at me. “Is Mer okay?” he whispered, leveling me with his intense gaze. “Has she said anything to you?”

My face softened. “It’s a stressful time. It’s been a long year, but we’re at the end, okay? She just has Nationals, then the Olympics, then it’s done. It’s make it or break it right now.”

His nose flared with a breath. “You don’t think she’ll try for another four years after this?”

“No.”

He eyed me hesitantly. “She told you that?”

I nodded. “She wants to retire after this. This is her shot, she’s almost there.”

His shoulders sagged with relief. “I can’t fucking wait. This stress isn’t good for her. And her partner…” His hand balled into a fist. “I hate that guy.”

I didn’t know her partner, Andy, all too well, but Patrick thought he was bad news.

With a sigh, Colt smoothed back his chair and stalked over to Mer. His hand went to the small of her back and she gazed up at him with a loving look.

“You’d go another four years, wouldn’t you?” Kappy asked, making me jump slightly.

“Yes,” I said matter-of-factly. “I’m going until I get my gold.”

He weighed my answer as he finished his drink. “Well,” he said, placing his glass on the table, “I hear that this Olympic gold is in your reach.” He raised an eyebrow, making a warmth bloom in my chest.

“And I hear you and Colt might get called up soon.”

He gave me a self-indulgent grin as he offered me his hand. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

Butterflies danced in my stomach as I took his hand and hopped down from my stool.

“No.” I feigned innocence. “What could it possibly mean? ”

A little grin played on his lips as he guided me through the bar to the small wooden dance floor.

“It means…” He smoothed my hands to the back of his neck. “That it’s almost our time, baby,” he whispered, before dropping a quick, chaste kiss on my lips.

“Is it, now?” I cupped his face with my palm. It felt so good to finally touch him again.

His large hand grasped my wrist and his thumb gently stroked back and forth. “Been dreaming about it all year.”

“Piper!” Ali’s voice rang out, making me slightly jump. Her features remained tense as she eyed Kappy. “Can I borrow you for a second?”

“Oh.” I immediately dropped my hands from his neck. While I wanted so badly to stay with him, this could be my opportunity to ask Ali if she really wanted to go through with this wedding.

Kappy jutted his chin toward Ali with a small grin on his face. “Find me after.”

Rolling my lips together, I turned on my heel to follow Ali toward the women’s bathroom.

Inside, Ali leaned back against the sink and twisted her fingers in nervous knots. “So, I don’t know how to tell you this…but…”

Mer crashed into the bathroom, a concerned look on her face. “Tell her what?”

Ali’s shoulders tensed. “It’s just…”

“Is it about Mark?” I coaxed, trying to make her spit it out.

She shook her head. “Kappy…”

My heart slowed. “Kappy…what?”

The next thing out of her mouth made my ears ring. The room spun. I had to brace myself on the counter.

My friends regarded me with pity, and I hated it.

“You knew, right? Please tell me you knew.” Ali had a tight grimace on her pretty face.

“Yeah,” I lied, trying to play it off, trying not to reveal how badly I’d been blindsided. “Of course. That was just…I don’t know.” I waved my hand around stupidly. “S-stupid.”

“Because it looked like…” Ali trailed off.

I quickly shook my head. “It wasn’t anything. I’m a little tired, though. I think I’m just gonna…go.”

“No, Piper, you don’t have to leave.”

But I didn’t wait to respond .

I couldn’t.

I needed to get myself out of there before I broke down in sobs in front of the whole bar, which would just make the whole situation worse.

With my heart lodged in my throat, I stalked out of the bathroom and power-walked to the exit for my coat.

I only made it about ten steps out onto the snowy sludge-covered sidewalks before I heard him behind me.

“Whoa, whoa, wait, where are you going?”

I came to a halt. The streetlights blurred in front of me. I blinked rapidly to clear my stupid eyes, because I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered behind me.

Steeling my spine, I turned to face him and almost crumbled. You. It was supposed to be you, my heart cried. This hurt. It hurt so fucking bad.

His breath hung in the cold air while snowflakes clung to his hair. “Piper, what’s wrong?” he repeated.

Swallowing down the pain, I forced out, “Nothing, Richard.”

His eyebrows slammed down. “Why are you mad?”

“I’m always mad.”

He smirked like I was playing around.

And that hurt worse. I was done playing. We were stuck going round and round in this toxic cycle. But I needed to get off this rollercoaster ride and never get back on. My hands went to my temples because it felt like my head was about to fly off.

“This is so stupid.” My voice broke. “I can’t do this anymore.”

He took a step closer, but I held up a hand to stop him.

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” he asked, clearly confused and at a loss.

“I can’t be sitting here waiting for you, hoping it’s our time.

” My throat burned. “I turn guys down, ya know?” My chin quivered.

I tried so hard to mask up, to hide my hurt, but it felt impossible with him.

“I turned them down because I was hoping for you . I was waiting for you .” My breath hitched.

“But you’re not waiting for me , are you? ”

“Piper.” His face fell. “I didn’t ask you to wait for me.”

Those words felt like a slap to the face.

Because… didn’t he? He’d been dropping clues since we were fifteen years old. And I ate them all up. Did he not realize how much all those little clues meant to me? But maybe they weren’t a big deal to him, maybe this was all a game to him.

And that hurt. It hurt my heart so fucking bad.

He jerked his chin to the door. “C’mon, it’s cold, we can talk inside.”

Yeah, it was cold. It was freezing, and I could no longer feel my hands or my face. It was a damn shame the cold couldn’t numb my heart because it was cracking right in half.

I was realizing then, with soul-crushing disappointment, that everything I ever thought about him, about us, was built on delusion, just a cute mental dreamhouse I’d been carefully constructing for years. Now it was all crumbling down around me.

“We never…” He was at a loss for words. “I never said…We didn’t…” His warm breath hung in the air.