Page 118 of Breakaway

“So tell him! Tell him that!”

“He knows that—”

“No. He doesn’t, that’s the problem. Do you know how excited he was to tell you he made captain? And how upset he was when you didn’t tell him how proud you were? Maybe if you weren’t so shitty about telling your son that you loved him, he wouldn’t feel like he needed to buy his uncle’s affection.” I spit out the words. Maybe I shouldn’t be speaking like this to my future father-in-law—at least, who I hope will be my future father-in-law—but whatever. He needs to hear it. If he just fucking listened to Cooper, if he’d given him what he needs, none of this would have happened.

Richard looks stunned. Good. I hope he hears what I’m saying. I wipe at my eyes; I started to tear up in the middle of my speech and can’t hold them back any longer. “You need to tell him how you feel—otherwise he won’t trust you, and he’ll just keep getting hurt. Trust me, I know.”

I stride over to the door and yank it open. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my boyfriend. Because I love him, and I’m not afraid to tell him that.”

I gather my skirt and run down the hallway. In the movies, they make this look easy, but it isn’t in the slightest. I almost trip over my own heels, only steadying myself thanks to whatever modicum of balance that years of figure skating has left me.

In the lobby, the woman at the reception desk says, without looking up from her computer, “Looking for a boy?”

I rub my knee, which is protesting. The cold is going to suck, but I need to catch Cooper before he gets too far away. “Yes. Which way did he go?”

“Left.”

“Thank you!” I call as I run out of the building.

The air hits me like a freezing shower. This dress doesn’t have straps, and my jacket is in the coat check, which means I’m a block of ice in under ten seconds. I grab a scrunchie from my clutch, throw my hair into a messy bun, and bunch up my skirt again. A man walking a tiny, sweater-clad dog whistles as I run by. I give him the finger while I’m still in motion, which makes me feel badass, but then I nearly slip on a patch of ice. My knee screams at me. I keep on hobbling. I don’t see Cooper anywhere. Where are we again? Right below Central Park, I think. I’ve never been to this part of the city.

It would be so stupid to get lost while trying to find my boyfriend, but it’s not like I can stop now. He has a heart of gold. I can’t even imagine how much pain he must be feeling.

“Cooper!” I call. It’s relatively quiet here, but I hear nothing but faint honking and the echo of my voice. I take out my phone and call him. It goes to voicemail.

Fantastic.

I look up at the sky. Where would he go? He could’ve gotten an Uber, but we were planning to stay at the Plaza overnight, so it’s not like there’s anywhere else to go. I guess he could’ve gone to the train station, but he wouldn’t leave the city without me. The nighttime sky is as smooth as a mirror, with an impressive number of stars dotting the deep blue. I know if I wanted to clear my head, I’d find the nearest ice rink, but we’re in the middle of Manhattan.

Then I remember: there is a rink nearby.

Chapter 65

Penny

Up ahead, there’s a park entrance. Central Park is huge, but there’s outdoor ice skating there. It’s at least a place to start. I hurry through the entrance, stopping short as soon as I’m on the path.

Even in early March, the trees bare, the snow on the ground half-melted, the park is beautiful. It’s like I’ve stepped into a secret garden. Streetlamps illuminate the winding path, and for half a second, I forget that things are close to falling apart. There’s a pond ahead, the water dark and glossy. The moon sits in it like a chip of silver. The sight of it steadies me. I walk forward slowly, turning my head everywhere in case he wandered off the path. The cold doesn’t bother him the way it does me, so I wouldn’t put it past him to go tromping through the snow in his fancy dress shoes.

Speaking of shoes, my toes are freezing. I bite my lip, wincing with each step.

I can’t believe I was ever afraid to tell him about my feelings. That I thought I could give him my trust without my heart. I don’t want to be anything like Richard, struggling to tell his own son how he feels. I love Cooper, and if I’m being honest with myself, I started falling for him the moment we first spoke.

Whatever I thought about him before, whatever walls I thought I could keep around my heart—none of that matters anymore. And if I need to wander around all night to find him so I can tell him that, then that’s what I’ll do.

I spot a sign for the Wollman Rink and start hurrying, my heels clacking against the pavement. I try his phone again, but again it goes to voicemail. I wrap my arms around myself and call his name. “Cooper!”

The path turns around a group of trees—and then I see him, staring at an ice rink. The rink is larger than I thought it would be, lit with floodlights and the light spilling out of the high-rises in the background. It’s surrounded by trees, tall pines and maples stripped bare because of the season. Even though it’s nighttime, there are plenty of skaters on the ice. Pop music plays from the ticket booth. The whole scene reminds me of the music box my mother used to keep on her dresser; tiny skaters going around in circles while “Für Elise” played. Now that box belongs to me, but it’s in my closet.

I’m putting it on my own dresser the second we get home.

Cooper’s back is to me, but I would recognize him anywhere. His broad shoulders, the way his hair curls over his collar. My heart swells in my chest.

That’s my guy.

“Cooper!” I shout as I run over.

He turns, his eyes widening when he spots me. He catches me when I slip right in front of him, steadying my shoulders. “Penny? Jesus, you’re freezing.”

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