Page 180 of Iced Up Love: Part Two

---

Elijah’s response is immediate.

“No.”

I blink. “What?”

“You’re not going somewhere public like that right now.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No.”

The word is sharper this time. More final.

“It’s a game,” I push. “I won’t be alone. You’ll be there.”

“Not this one.”

Frustration rises again, but before it can turn into something bigger...

“Next game,” Jackson cuts in gently. “You come to the next one. We’ll set you up in the player family area. Away from the crowds. Controlled.”

I look at him.

Then at Elijah.

Then at Zach.

It’s a compromise. Not what I want. But not nothing.

“Fine,” I say finally. “The next one.”

Elijah nods once.

“I’ll be here with you for this one,” he says.

I don’t argue.

Not this time.

Not when I can feel the tension still sitting under everything, the way we’re all trying to find our footing again, the way none of us quite knows how to move forward yet without breaking something else in the process.

“Okay.”

Zach’s hand returns to my hair, slower now, steadier, and I let myself lean into it again, closing my eyes for a moment.

Not to disappear.

Not to shut down.

But to hold onto something.

To remind myself, I’m still here.

And this time, I’m not letting go of myself again.

thirty-nine

Jackson

---