Page 126 of Wilder

Charli nodded. “I want to make sure she can get the training she needs.”

“We just have to pray for God’s guidance as we talk with her and figure out if this is indeed her future.”

“Do you know if Lexi is planning to come back here to coach?”

Wilder shook his head. “No clue. We haven’t talked about her future or anything past the Olympics. At this point, I don’t even know if she’s going to Worlds.”

“Haven’t you guys been talking at all?”

“Not really,” Wilder admitted. “She made it clear that her priority was her training, so we haven’t talked much beyond just the odd text here or there.”

“That’s just so weird,” Charli said. “Every time we’ve all been together, she’s really seemed into you.”

“I don’t know.” Wilder broke off a piece of cookie but didn’t eat it. “We get along really well, but we both agreed that friendship was all we could have. Our lives are too different for anything else.”

“So does that mean that if circumstances had been different, you’d date her?”

Wilder shrugged, then ate the piece of cookie to buy himself some time.

“Do you really like her?” Charli asked when he didn’t respond.

He definitely did like her, but it went more than that. The connection they’d shared confused him because they were so different. But there was no denying that he loved her. He’d never really understood the sayingabsence makes the heart grow fonderuntil Lexi had put distance between them.

Each day they were apart made him realize that he wanted her in his life every day. He wanted to stop by the rink before his shift to say good morning. And once he was finished on the slopes, he wanted to be able to go to the rink to see how her day went.

But that only worked when they were both in the same place, which, given his current life, would only be for a few months out of the year.

“Have you prayed about this?” Blake asked.

Wilder nodded. Lexi was the first woman he’d really focused prayer on. Anytime she came to mind, he said a prayer for her, which meant that he was saying several prayers a day for her.

Charli looked at them over the rim of her mug. “And how do you feel God is leading you?”

“I don’t know.”

How was one supposed to know?

His feelings weren’t leaving. If anything, they were getting stronger. Was that from God?

“Are you ready to make changes in your life?” Charli asked. “Because obviously that would be required if you were going to pursue something with Lexi.”

He’d been thinking about that, trying to figure out if there was a way to keep part of his summer plans while still having a relationship.

“Don’t run from love without giving it serious thought,” Blake said as he wrapped his arm around Charli. “We were fortunate to have gotten a second chance, but that’s not always the case. Don’t let Lexi be your biggest regret.”

“Try,” Charli encouraged him. “You’ve only been looking at why it won’t work. Take some time to think and pray about how to make it work.”

Wilder nodded. He could do that, but Lexi had to want to do that too. It wouldn’t make any difference if he was willing to consider a serious relationship with Lexi if she wasn’t willing to do the same.

It was time for a real conversation with her. Hopefully she’d come back to Serenity once the Olympics were over, and she could spare him a few minutes for a talk, even if she was preparing to go to Worlds.

Maybe it was time for more balloons and flowers.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Lexi glared at Mik, trying to keep her temper under control. However, the man was making it exceedingly difficult. After so many years together, he knew what buttons to push with her, and it was infuriating.

But they’d never fought as much as they had in the past few weeks. She tried to keep things calm, but the only time Mik stopped trying to antagonize her was when they were at a competition.

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