Page 3 of Beneath the Surface

A memory flashed through my mind. A night I didn’t want to remember. A night that I managed to forget when I was on the ice. But Micah fucking Pierce had brought it all screaming back.

The boat rocked a little as Miller stumbled. Fuck, my teammate was wasted. He glanced over at Micah, most likely blinking as he attempted to focus his blurred vision, if he was as drunk as he sounded. “Look, Pierce. I don’t know why you’re even here.”

Although it was dark, I could easily picture the hurt flashing in Micah’s brown eyes. “Shut up, Miller.” My voice held a warning that I knew he’d pay attention to, even in his drunken state. I didn’t know why I cared, but the words were out before I could think twice about what I was saying.

Miller grunted, and I took that to mean he understood. I sped up the boat, heading for the center of the lake, the party far behind us. There was something about being here in the darkness, far away from the crowds, flying across the still, inky surface of the lake. It was an adrenaline rush, and it was peace, both at the same time.

To my left, I could just about make out the silhouette of Ava Hayes, huddled up with Micah, and an irrational spike ofjealousy went through me, knowing how close they were. Ava was fucking beautiful—all long blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a fucking stunning body. At first glance, she came across as a typical sorority girl, which was why I couldn’t understand Micah’s friendship with her, but I knew there was more to her. She intrigued me. She also skated. Not my kind of skating, but figure skating. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a secret or not, but I’d seen her sneak into the rink before our practices, so fucking graceful on the ice, executing spins and jumps with a level of skill that astounded me.

She was just my type, but for some reason, she’d never been interested. She’d shot down every single one of my advances, which made me even more intrigued. On top of that, she seemed to resent me, just like Micah Pierce did. Only it wasn’t just me she resented, it was the entire team. I had no idea why, but my brain had marked her as off limits. Too bad my cock didn’t seem to get the memo.

Lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t realized how fast we were going until Micah’s command cut through the darkness. “Stop the damn boat, Cross.”

Then everything else seemed to happen in slow motion.

“Relax, Pierce.” I went to ease up on the throttle, but it got stuck.

There was an ominous bump.

And then I saw the hand that had haunted my nightmares ever since.

Gritting my teeth, I tore my gaze away from Micah and focused on the drills, a sense of calm coming over me as my mind finally emptied, leaving only the ice behind. This was all that mattered. What had happened that night would one day be nothing but a distant memory.

2

AVA

Have you ever woken up from a nightmare and your breathing was jagged, but as soon as you opened your eyes, you realized everything was okay, that it was just a bad dream, and nothing was real?

Well, that was how I felt every morning when I woke up, except that relief never came. Over the last year, I had become very good at lying to myself. If you did it long enough, it got to the point where you started to believe your own bullshit.

Two minutes later, my alarm went off. I didn’t know why I even bothered to put it on anymore. I was lucky to sleep six hours on a good night. The first thing I did after washing my face was put on my makeup. I had two hours of practice if I hurried before the hockey players started their drills.

My father was already gone by the time I left the house. The first few days of my new normal were the worst. I felt like I was being watched. A sick paranoia followed me around.

Last year was an isolating year. Then, after the events of the lake, it was like instead of pushing me closer to my friends, it pulled me away from them.

I was lucky that skating was a solitary sport because what little energy I still had in me went into the game. If I were going to be lost inside of my head, then I would use it to my advantage and try to be the best at this damn school.

There was something beautiful about being out on the ice. As I glided, it was akin to flying. When it was me in the rink, that was when I felt free. I couldn’t think about anything else because if I did, then there went my career. Skating was how I was able to be free from the monsters that haunted me at night—even if I had made myself believe they were not real.

One day, I would regret how loud my headphones were blasting in my ears. I needed loud music because there was something about the quiet that made me feel like I was drowning.

I furiously glided across the rink. If my coaches could see me now, they would be scolding me. There was nothing graceful about the way I was skating. Knowing my playlist was coming to an end, I knew it was time to call it quits. Slowing down my pace, I ended my practice with a double Lutz.

My chest was rising and falling rapidly. It felt like I was tasting fire for a moment, and I almost smiled. I loved feeling the ways I could push my body to the brink as a reminder that I was real and I was here. A reminder that I had things left to do, and I couldn’t let myself go for a what-if.

I pulled the headphones down so they could rest on my neck when I heard some cheering.

“If you ever need some one-on-one lessons on the ice, Ava, I’m game.”

Great.

I usually timed my practices so I didn’t have to interact with the hockey squad.

Not like I could say anything. This was their domain, and I was lucky enough the school let me use it to practice—as long as it never interfered with their precious boys.

They used to have a skating program, but somehow solo sports didn’t matter. I was stuck here with these buffoons while the cheer squad had to share with the football team. I knew for a fact I could out-skate half of the team.

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