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Blasting music with my windows down to breathe in this sunny blue-sky day, I hightailed it down Lake Shore Drive with the lake on my left and the city skyscrapers stretching into the sky on my right.

Pulling into the city, I made a couple quick turns to find the parking lot.

Housing three sheets of ice and a state-of-the-art gym upstairs, the Coliseum Arena was a massive new building in downtown Chicago and, more importantly, my new home rink.

My coaches, Michelle and Luka, were offered a deal to start an Ice Dance Academy at the Coliseum this summer, probably because they coached about five ice dance teams, including Patrick and I, who were most likely Olympic bound in another year.

Pulling into the parking lot, I hopped out of my car, grabbed my skate bag and iced latte, and strolled across the cracked parking lot.

But entering the brightly lit lobby, my coffee almost slipped right out of my hand.

Because standing by the concession stand, seemingly waiting for me, was a man from my past.

He had more wrinkles around the eyes, his hair was all salt instead of pepper these days, and he was hunched over a bit more now as he shuffled forward, but his smile still held the same kindness it always had.

“Hello, Piper,” he said warmly. “Welcome home.”

“Hans!” I rushed forward to hug him. “Oh my God, how long have you been working here?” I pulled back. “Wait, why aren’t you at Centre Ice?”

He let out a rough chuckle. “Ah, Centre Ice sadly closed their doors last fall. Been here ever since. One hockey season down, about a hundred more to go, right?” he said with a wink.

The news about Centre Ice shocked me. “B-but you like it here?” I stammered out, looking around at the dark blue, light blue, and white decor. “It’s a good spot for you? I’ll knock some heads if you need me to,” I promised.

He laughed. “I know you would, thank you, Piper. It’s been good here.

” His old eyes twinkled with happiness as he looked around.

“But it was missing some of my favorite people. The hockey players’ egos were getting too big.

Needed some figure skaters to keep them in check, show them what real talent and hard work looks like out there.

” He nodded to the ice. “We’re running low on staff though.

You know anyone else who would like to coach?

” he asked, giving me a conspiratorial grin.

Surprise rocked into me.

“As a matter of fact, I think I do.” I nodded quickly. “I’ve been trying to convince Mer to move here with me. I think this would be perfect for her. Wait, would you really hire her?” I was practically bouncing on my feet. This would be so perfect.

He smiled. “I would love for Miss Bennett to join the staff, but what about yourself? You wanna try your hand at coaching? I hear you and Patrick are taking a gap year from the competition circuit to prepare for the Olympics.”

My eyes bulged in shock. “How do you know so much, old man?”

He laughed, making the corner of his eyes crinkle. “What do you say? I want good coaches here, kind coaches,” he emphasized. We both knew what happened when coaches mistreated students from Mer and Ali’s experiences, and I doubted either of us were interested in watching history repeat itself.

“Please?” he pushed. “You’d really be helping an old man out.”

Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “You love playing the old man card, don’t you? ”

He raised a bushy white eyebrow. “Is it working?”

I laughed. “Ya know what? Yeah, I’ll coach. I think it’d be fun to play on the ice with some rugrats.”

With a proud smile, he turned on his heel. “I’ll sign ya up right now,” he said over his shoulder.

My only mistake was not questioning how Hans got his job at the Coliseum.

Had I asked that one simple question, I would’ve realized that the Windy City Whalers gave him the job.

And maybe then I would’ve realized that I’d grown up with three players on their roster.

But I remained completely oblivious until Mer started working at the Coliseum in September.

Two weeks later, she gave a figure skating lesson to a little girl named Lucy, who had tiny dark pigtails and an eerily familiar smile.

Following Lucy off the ice to talk to the parents, Mer came face-to-face with her ex—Colt Conover—who was now a single father.

Within a couple months, the two of them were back together and stronger than ever.

It just went to show that sometimes two people were truly meant to be…unlike me and Kappy.