Page 117 of Ice Bet

Before I made it through the locker room with my skates in tow, Coach shouted at me from his desk. “Rink is closed.”

“You’re already banning me from the rink?”

For fuck’s sake.

“No. Figure skating tryouts are today.”

“No,” I corrected him. “They’re tomorrow.”

“No, they rescheduled. They’retoday.”

I dropped my shit on the floor and ran right to the stands because knowing Riley, she would be here.

38

RILEY

“Areyou sure you’re okay to do this?” Sutton followed me around our apartment as I left various colors of leotards behind in my wake. I turned around, sucked in a slow breath at the lingering nausea from last night, and nodded at my choice of ballet-pink.

Aasher’s T-shirt was in a pile at my feet. After slicking my hair into a tight, ballerina-like bun, I changed into my skin-colored tights and slipped into my leo that felt more like a second skin than anything.

“I don’t have a choice. Ijustgot the text that they are happening in twenty minutes.” I argued, taking my blush brush and applying some highlighter to my cheek bones and the very tip of my nose. The dark bags under my eyes weren’t going to go away, no matter what I did, so they had to stay.

I turned and looked at Sutton leaning against the doorjamb.

“I do have a choice,” I corrected, knowing that I didn’thaveto do this. It was up to me to decide my future, and it was up to me to decide if I wanted to continue with figure skating. Aasher was the one who opened my eyes to that.

“You’re right.” Sutton nodded. “And let me guess…youwantto do this.”

“For me,” I whispered, running my hands down my velvet leo. “Someone once took the choice from me, and I refuse to let them do it again. Before leaving Rosewood, I only skated to prove something to someone. I didn’t think I had a choice. It was either Iwas perfect, made no mistakes,ornothing. This isn’t about that anymore.”

I snagged my keys and rushed to the door, knowing I would be late if I didn’t leave now. “No one is going to take my choice away. Someone roofied me last night, and if I let that stop me from doing somethingIwant, then I’m no different than who I was at Rosewood.”

Sutton opened the door for me and grabbed my hand. “You’re such a badass.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Then she slapped me on the butt. “Go kill it, Ry. We are all rooting for you.”

First, tryouts.

Second, find Aasher and we go talk to my dad together.

* * *

I smelled the cool ice of the rink the moment I stepped into the arena. The hockey team was there, their cars all parked in a single row toward the side entrance. I didn’t let it distract me, though.

“There she is!” I was hurriedly pulled down the stairs by a senior skater, who I recognized from prior competitions. My skates bounced over my shoulder, and every step was like a pulley tugging on my sensitive belly.

“I’m not late,” I announced, eyeing my future coach. The figure skating committee sat in a single row with their clipboards hugged tightly to their chests and glasses perched on the edges of their noses.

“Is that Riley Lennon?”

“I think so.”

“Well, fuck us. We’re out.”

I leaned down to the young girls that were likely hoping for a full ride to Bexley U—or maybe just a spot on the team in general.

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