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Chapter 7: First Day
publish date:
2026-06-24 15:58:35
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Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 26: Almost
Two hot chocolates. The phrase lodged itself in my head with absurd persistence, as if my brain had decided this was the detail worth circling back to while everything else moved on. Ryan had already forgotten it, Dean hadn’t reacted at all, and yet it lingered, quietly rearranging something I hadn’t realized was unsettled. When I looked at Dean, he met my gaze with the same steady calm he always had, like nothing had shifted, like nothing had been revealed, and that somehow made it worse. “Can we talk?” I asked, my voice coming out drier than I intended. “Sure.” No hesitation, no edge, no sign that I’d inconvenienced him. Just an agreement, simple and immediate, like it cost him nothing. It should have eased the knot in my chest. It didn’t. “I just need to finish editing a few things first,” I added, gesturing vaguely toward the media room as if that explained anything. He nodded once. “I’ll wait.” “You don’t have to.” “I know.” A faint pause, then, “I’ll wait.” There wasn
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 25: Mixed Signals
I dropped my bag the second I got into my dorm and let it hit the floor harder than necessary. My shoulders felt heavy in that dull, lingering way that comes after a long day that wasn’t bad, just… full. I crossed to my bed and fell onto it face-first, pressing my cheek into the pillow like I could sink into it and disappear for a minute. I stayed there, breathing in the faint smell of detergent, letting everything from the morning come back in pieces instead of forcing it into something neat. My phone buzzed beside me. I didn’t need to look, but I did anyway. AVA CALLING. Of course. I answered without moving, my voice muffled into the pillow. “Hi.” “Well?” I rolled onto my back, a laugh slipping out before I could stop it. “Hello to you too.” “No,” she said, already halfway into interrogation mode. “I’ve been waiting all day. I want everything.” “You’re exhausting.” “And you’re avoiding.” “…Fine.” I stared up at the ceiling and started from the beginning, walking her thr
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 24: Off The Record
“Yeah.” It came out too fast. I heard it as soon as I said it and almost wanted to grab it back, like I’d answered a question I hadn’t fully understood yet. Dean paused just long enough to check if I meant it. “I mean…” I lifted my notebook, half laughing at myself. “The interview’s technically done. I’ve got enough for the feature.” He gave a small nod. “Good.” The hallway settled into a quiet that wasn’t awkward so much as aware, distant voices, the hum of overhead lights, the weight of my notebook still in my hands like it mattered more than it did. Dean checked his watch, then looked back at me. “Have you eaten?” I blinked. “What?” “Breakfast.” He adjusted the strap of his bag, already moving forward in his own logic. “There’s a diner a few minutes from campus. Good food. It’s quiet.” He didn’t ask me to come. He didn’t need to. The invitation was already there, steady and unforced, like he’d simply made room for me in whatever came next. “I’d like that,” I said, surprisin
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 23: Beyond The Captain
By the time warmups wrapped, I had already filled two pages, though none of it would impress an editor looking for clean stats or structured observations. Instead, it was a collection of small, telling details—the kind you only notice when you stop trying to prove something and pay attention. Dean thanked every trainer he passed, not loudly or for show, but in a way that suggested he meant it. He returned equipment without being asked, listened fully when someone spoke instead of waiting for his turn, and somehow managed to move through a crowded rink without ever pulling attention toward himself. The labels people used for him—captain, leader, ambassador—felt heavy when I considered them. Dean didn’t. “You’ve been staring at the same page for five minutes,” he said, breaking into my thoughts. “I’ve been thinking,” I replied, though the defensive edge in my voice softened when I saw the faint amusement in his expression. “I can tell.” “How?” “You tap your pen against your note
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 22: Dean
Six in the morning should be illegal. The sky hadn’t even committed to being morning yet, stuck in that gray in-between like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be, and I stood outside Easton’s training facility with a cup of hot chocolate warming my hands, trying to convince myself this was a reasonable life choice. It wasn’t coffee, I’d tried that once and immediately regretted every decision that led me there, but hot chocolate had never betrayed me, and at this hour, loyalty mattered. My phone read 5:57 a.m. Three minutes left. I shifted my weight, watching my breath fog in the cold, already certain that Dean Mercer would be here before the clock hit six. He had that kind of presence, disciplined, precise, the sort of person who arrived early to make sure he could be early. I muttered something about never agreeing to another six a.m. assignment again, mostly to the cup in my hands, when a voice cut in from behind me. “You didn’t have much of a choice.” I turned too quickly
Across The Ice: Falling for my ex’s biggest rival Chapter 21: Behind The Jersey
I stopped just outside the conference room door, my fingers still hooked around my camera strap like I’d forgotten what I was doing there in the first place. “You can’t keep avoiding me forever, Melissa.” Lucas Mercer’s voice carried through the door, softer than I expected. Not sharp. Not heated and just worn down, just a way that made me shift my weight without meaning to. I shouldn’t have been standing there. That part was obvious. This wasn’t my conversation, and I knew better than to linger outside closed doors like some kind of eavesdropping cliché. Still, I didn’t move right away. Something about the quiet in his voice held me there for a second longer than it should have. Melissa didn’t answer immediately. The silence stretched just enough to make me uncomfortable. Okay. That was my cue. I turned to leave, already halfway down the hall, when another door opened somewhere behind me. Footsteps echoed, quick and purposeful, and instinct kicked in before logic could catch
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