Page 40 of Playoffs & Promises

"Fire!" someone yells.

Lou is beside me in an instant, scooping me up in his arms. He skates us away from the danger as someone else rushes in with a fire extinguisher, dousing the flames before they can spread.

We stop at the edge of the rink, breathless and covered in frosting.

The absurdity of it all has me laughing harder than I have in ages. I'm laughing so hard I can barely catch my breath, but when I look at Lou, his expression is a mix of something else. Something that stops my laughter.

"This wasn't what I had in my plans for today," he mutters, setting me down.

"No," I agree, wiping a smudge of frosting off his cheek. "But at least this was my choice and not hers."

His lips twitch with amusement, "You wanted to set the world on fire, Cupcake?"

"I wanted my effort to mean something. I wanted to finally be seen."

Lou's expression softens, his usual playful demeanor giving way to something more. He leans in slightly, his eyes searching mine for something. The chaos around us has faded to the background, leaving just the two of us in a bubble while we figure this out.

He opens his mouth, hesitates, then quietly, and with so much sincerity, says "I see you."

The words are soft, but the force of them hit hard.

He keeps going. "I see how hard you work. How you put everything into everything you do and still hope it will be enough. And it is. It so is. If you'd let me I'd remind you every day not to listen to anyone that says otherwise."

"How?" I ask. "How can you see it?"

"Because I've spent years trying to live up to other people's reviews of me. That day the judges gave you that score? I had the worst game of my career. I ended up in the hospital with a concussion so bad I don't even remember the game, or how I tore my ACL. Let alone when my girlfriend dumped me while I was hooked up to an IV. Ever since, I've been trying to prove that I'm still worthy of this jersey. I've eaten so many lemons in an attempt to hold onto good luck I lost sight of everything else. Lost sight of the people around me."

The questions I've had, finally have answers. All those times I thought he played dumb, or pretended not to remember. He really didn't remember.

"You thought lemons were good luck?" I ask.

"You have no idea." He chuckles. "I had a very specific superstitious process for getting them from the store and everything."

"Would that include stealing lemons from a sweet baker in desperate need for a competition?" I ask.

He stares down at me. Realization dawning. "Is that what happened?"

I nod. "I was making a lemon meringue pie. You took the last ones the store had."

"Then the judges blasted you." he says with understanding. "I am so sorry. I will buy every lemon you ever need from now on."

Laughter bubbles out unexpectedly. "I think you've more than made up for it. But I'll make you all the lemon bars you need."

The realization that he understands, and isn't the horrible person I'd built him up to be in my imagination is a relief. He's not my arch nemesis, he's someone who's been through his own challenges, and if I have anything to do with it, will be victorious.

He shakes his head. "I don't need lemon bars."

"No?" I ask, worried he doesn't want anything to do with me now. I drop the box of cupcakes I'd been clinging to, barely registering when they hit the ice. I lift my hands up around his neck, pulling him closer.

"Maria..."

I don't let him finish, instead, I close the distance between us. Kissing him with everything that words can't say. It's everything I've been holding back, all the emotion I've kept locked away. As his arms come around me, I only briefly wonder if we should worry about melting the ice. Because this kiss, it's the connection of that something else I'd been avoiding, fighting, ignoring, trying to shove into a box, and it's bursting free.

Thirteen

LOU

The sound of whistles and applause finally burst the bubble that provided Maria and I the space to clear the air. She tucks her face into my chest, and I can't help but chuckle when I spot the smudged frosting in her hair. If anyone had told me it would take throwing cupcakes at each other to resolve our differences I would have vehemently disagreed. But here we are.

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