Page 76 of Only Ever You

My heart thumps so wildly, it’s ready to jump out of my chest.

I know that landing. I’ve seen her do it a hundred times—in videos from every championship, every highlight reel, footage of the fucking Olympics last year.

But it can’t be her.

Ash clears his throat. “Am I hallucinating? Is that⁠—”

“Isla.” Her name scrapes out of me roughly. I haven’t said it aloud since she moved to Boston. I stuck with calling her a traitor instead. Despite the pain that came with speaking those two syllables now, her name doesn’t feel foreign on my lips.

“Wow. I can’t believe she’s here.”

Neither can I, but I can’t find the words to tell him that. I’m too focused on the sound of her blades cutting across the ice and the ridiculously fast beat of my heart. It feels like it’s syncing to the rhythm of her movements.

Her body is all lean muscle and refined lines. She’s as petite as I remember, but she exudes more power than before. Warmth spreads through my body and settles in the pit of my stomach. She’s not just skating. She’s laying claim. Solidifying ownership.

She owns this fucking ice, and she’s imposing her reign like a real-life Ice Queen.

She slows to a stop, and when the details of her face register, I suck in a breath. I haven’t seen her in person for over three years. I haven’t talked to her in even longer.

“Dammit. Why didn’t she tell me?” Ash mutters.

His words hit me like a punch. What does that mean? Has he stayed in touch with her?

Eyebrows knitted together, I fix my focus on her. She glances at her watch, and as she turns to leave, her attention snags on me. When our eyes collide, my heart goes into overdrive.

Before I can rein myself in, she zeroes in on Ash. The way her lips curl into a smile sends a shiver down my spine. What the hell is going on?

Ash takes off, a shit-eating grin plastered to his face, and when she steps through the door, he loops his arms around her waist, lifts her, and whips around in a circle.

With a burst of laughter, she winds her hands around his shoulders.

My muscles go numb and my throat constricts. I can’t move, can’t speak. All I can do is watch them…and lose my fucking mind.

“What are you doing here?” He sets her on her feet but doesn’t release her. I ball my fists, the sight of his hands on her waist sending my temperature skyrocketing.

She takes out her earbuds and closes her fist over them, her other hand pressed to his chest. “Practice. I wanted to try the ice.”

“Isla,” he groans. “I mean what are you doing here, in California?”

She giggles, the sound light and melodic and so damn familiar. “Am I not allowed to tease you a little bit?”

“You’re allowed to tease me alright, but any more surprises like this, and I’m afraid we’d be talking at the hospital, since I’d probably have a heart attack.”

“So dramatic.” She shakes her head, the move causing a lock of hair to slip from her bun. Her hair is the same deep brown it’s always been, but with pinkish highlights at the ends. “I’m here because it’s my first year at GBU.”

“You’re joking…”

“Nope.”

My heart twists in my chest, a mixture of trepidation and pain and maybe…hope?

“Oh my fucking God!” my best friend shouts, his voice echoing through the arena. “My sophomore year is gonna be a thousand times better than I thought.” He pulls her to his chest and hugs her again.

Dark jealousy infiltrates my veins, fueling every cell in my body.

Why can’t he keep his hands to himself?

“Hope you won’t be disappointed.”