Chapter Four: Cracks in the image
1236 Words
By the third day, Nora was tired of pretending she didn’t notice the looks.
They followed her everywhere now. In the hallway, outside class, even at the café near the gym. People didn’t even try to hide it anymore. Some smiled. Some whispered. Some just stared.
And every single time—
Ethan played his part perfectly.
His hand would find hers without effort. His voice would drop just a little when he spoke to her. He’d lean in close like whatever she said mattered more than anything else in the room.
It was smooth.
Too smooth.
“Do you ever get tired of this?” she asked one afternoon as they walked toward the rink.
“Of what?” he replied.
“Being watched like you’re some kind of show.”
He shrugged lightly. “You get used to it.”
“I don’t think I want to.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “This isn’t permanent.”
Nora glanced at him.
That word again.
Not permanent.
It should’ve made her feel better.
It didn’t.
They reached the rink, and the noise hit them immediately. His teammates were already there, loud as always. Someone shouted his name the moment they walked in.
“Cole! Finally. And you brought her again.”
Nora resisted the urge to sigh.
“Of course he did,” another voice added. “He’s obsessed now.”
Ethan didn’t react to the teasing. He just guided Nora further inside, his hand resting at her lower back.
Casual.
Easy.
Like it belonged there.
“Sit here,” he said, nodding toward the bench.
“You’re bossy,” she muttered.
“You’ve said that before.”
“And I’ll say it again.”
Still, she sat.
He grabbed his gear, already focused. For a second, it felt like she disappeared from his attention completely.
And that was new.
Nora watched him as he got ready, expecting the usual—loud jokes, careless attitude, showing off for attention.
But he didn’t.
He was quiet.
Focused.
Listening when the coach spoke.
Even when his teammates joked around, he didn’t fully join in. A small comment here and there, but nothing over the top.
It didn’t match the version of him she had heard about.
“That’s your guy?” someone said beside her.
Nora turned.
One of his teammates dropped onto the bench next to her, grinning.
“He’s not my—” she started, then stopped herself. “Yeah.”
The guy laughed. “Relax. We all see it.”
She didn’t respond.
Her eyes went back to Ethan.
He stepped onto the ice, moving with ease. Fast. Controlled. Every movement sharp, like he knew exactly what he was doing.
People respected him.
That much was clear.
Not just liked him.
Respected him.
It showed in the way they listened when he spoke. The way they followed his lead without questioning.
“That’s not what I expected,” Nora said quietly.
“What did you expect?” the guy asked.
She shrugged. “Something… messier.”
He laughed again. “Yeah, that’s what people think. He lets them think that.”
Nora frowned slightly. “Why?”
The guy just shrugged. “Less pressure, I guess.”
That didn’t make sense.
But before she could ask more, practice started getting intense. Players moved faster, harder. Voices got louder. The energy shifted.
Then—
A sharp sound cut through the rink.
Someone hit the ice wrong.
Hard.
Nora sat up straight.
“s**t,” someone muttered.
The player didn’t get up immediately.
Everything slowed for a second.
Then Ethan was there.
Not rushing blindly.
Not panicking.
Just moving fast and steady.
He dropped to one knee beside the guy, saying something low that Nora couldn’t hear. His expression changed completely.
Serious.
Focused.
He signaled to the coach, helped the guy sit up slowly, making sure he was okay before anything else.
No jokes.
No show.
Just… care.
Nora felt something shift in her chest.
That wasn’t the version of Ethan people talked about.
That wasn’t reckless.
That wasn’t careless.
That was someone who paid attention.
Someone who stayed.
The player was eventually helped off the ice, and practice slowed down after that. Ethan stayed back for a moment longer, talking to him quietly before rejoining the others.
When practice ended, he walked straight to Nora.
“You good?” he asked.
She blinked slightly. “I’m fine. Are you?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
She studied his face.
There was still a trace of that seriousness there.
It hadn’t fully disappeared.
“That was…” she hesitated, “different.”
“What was?”
“You.”
He frowned slightly. “How?”
“I thought you’d be the type to laugh it off. Or not take it seriously.”
His expression shifted, just a little. “Not when it matters.”
That answer stayed with her.
Not when it matters.
Before she could say anything else, a familiar voice cut in.
“Nora.”
Her body stiffened instantly.
She turned slowly.
Liam.
Of course.
He stood a few steps away, hands in his pockets, looking like he had every right to be there.
Ethan didn’t move.
But Nora felt the shift in him.
Subtle.
Still.
But there.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Liam glanced briefly at Ethan, then back at her. “Can we talk?”
“No.”
It came out too fast.
Too sharp.
Liam exhaled. “Nora, come on. Just for a minute.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“That’s not true.”
Ethan stepped slightly closer to her.
Not obvious.
But enough.
“She said no,” he said calmly.
Liam’s jaw tightened. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“And I wasn’t asking.”
The air shifted.
Tense.
Nora hated it.
“Stop,” she said quietly. “Both of you.”
She looked at Liam. “You don’t get to come up to me like this. Not after everything.”
“I just want to explain—”
“You already did,” she cut in. “You ended it. That’s the explanation.”
Liam ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is for me.”
Silence stretched.
Then Liam looked at her one more time. “You moved on fast.”
Nora almost laughed.
“Yeah,” she said. “I did.”
His eyes flicked to Ethan again.
Then back to her.
Something unreadable passed through his expression.
Then he nodded once.
“Fine.”
And just like that, he walked away.
Nora let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
For a second, neither she nor Ethan spoke.
Then—
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
But her voice was softer now.
Less certain.
They stood there for a moment longer, the noise of the rink fading into the background.
Then Ethan spoke again, quieter this time.
“You don’t have to deal with him alone.”
Nora looked at him.
Really looked.
There was no act in his face now.
No performance.
Just… honesty.
That confused her more than anything else.
“I know,” she said.
And she meant it.
That was the problem.
Because for a second—
It didn’t feel like a deal anymore.
- Writer
