Chapter 12: The Disturbing Thoughts
~ Yates ~
Practice had run long today.
Not because anyone called it — just because nobody wanted to be the first to leave, the way it sometimes went when the energy on the ice was right and momentum carried everyone past the point where they should have stopped. By the time I stepped off the rink, my muscles were burning in that satisfying, specific way that meant the session had been worth it.
I grabbed a bottle of water from the team cooler, let the cold run down my throat, and then walked up to the bleachers alone. Not because I wanted company. Because I didn't.
I needed to think.
The moment I sat down and the noise of the rink fell back behind me, my mind went straight to Fanny. To that night at the farmhouse, to the look on her face when she s
