Page 134 of Cold as Ice

“Agreed,” Elliott said and took a deep breath. “Okay. Well. I guess I’m ready. I was ready two weeks ago, so I can’t say I’m any less ready now.”

“You want to grab a coffee and do a quick review before we head over there?” Mal asked. And if Elliott said no, he was going to convince him to agree, anyway.

Yes, he knew the material. But there was no harm in making sure.

“I thought you had class then?” Elliott asked, frowning.

And it occurred then to Malcolm thatyes, Elliott knew he loved him. But he didn’t know that if Elliott needed him, Mal would drop everything for him.

That he’d put him first, no matter the consequences.

Sometimes, you’ve just got to say fuck it.

Mal leaned in and saw the shock and pleasure on Elliott’s face as he brushed his lips across his mouth. “I do,” he said. “But this is more important. You’re important to me.”

If Elliott had been confident for the first go-around of this test, he couldn’t say he was the same for this iteration.

He’d been burned too badly, not by confidence, and not even by over-confidence, but by faith in the system.

Would the same thing happen again?

Was he ultimately the problem, not Dr. Prosser at all?

Well, he was about to find out, once and for all.

Elliott hesitated in front of the row of cottages that had been remodeled to house faculty offices—Dr. Bricker’s was in the green one, with the quaint swooping roof.

“You good?” Mal turned to him, putting a supportive hand on his shoulder, squeezing it briefly.

“I’m terrified,” Elliott admitted.

Mal’s expression softened even further.

“You know this like the back of your hand,” Mal said. “I know you do. You know you do.” They’d just spent the last hour at Koffee Klatch going over the last semester’s worth of material, and Mal was right.

But that didn’t change the terror making his stomach so unsettled.

“Yeah,” Elliott said. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Mal nodded. “Me too. Come on, let’s do this. You’ll be so happy when it’s over, and you’re proved right.”

Elliott squared his shoulders and led the way into the green cottage because Mal was right. He would be happy to put this nightmare to bed, once and for all.

Of course, if they fixed this problem, they still had their other issue lingering.

How would their relationship affect his chances of being drafted to Toronto?

Coach would have to give them his opinion and even if he told them it could hurt them, Elliott still didn’t know whether he wanted it to stay a secret.

Even keeping it between them for a month had been hard. He didn’t want to live like this.

“You got this,” Mal murmured under his breath as Elliott knocked on the door to Dr. Bricker’s office. “I love you, no matter what happens.”

And from the way Mal was gazing at him, Elliott knew he meant it.

Dr. Bricker opened the door and ushered them in.

On the other side of the office from Dr. Bricker’s desk was a re-purposed dining room table. Elliott vaguely remembered it being piled with papers and books, before. But now it was cleared and there was a woman with dark brown skin and a regal crown of braids wrapped around her head, sitting there, her hands clasped in front of her.

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