The Ice Between Us

Chapter 15 -Evan

It’s been a few days since lunch with Lena, and I’m still thinking about it. Not in the stressed, overthinking way I expected. In the good way. The kind of way that sneaks up on you when you’re not paying attention. She stops to talk to me every morning now, just a few minutes before she heads to the pond and I head into practice. Sometimes it’s about training. Sometimes it’s about her parents. Sometimes it’s nothing at all.

But it feels… easy. Natural. Like we’re finding our way back to something we lost. And I can’t wait to see where it goes. I’m also trying to figure out who the hell Sabrina is. Every time I think about that lunch, about Lena laughing so hard she nearly spilled her coffee, I get this weird mix of amusement and dread. Amusement because Lena’s laugh is still one of my favorite sounds. Dread because apparently some stranger thinks we’re dating. I still don’t know her. At all.

Practice ends, and Mason jogs up beside me as we head toward the parking lot. “So,” he says, bumping my shoulder, “how’d the date go?”

“It wasn’t a date.”

“Sure it wasn’t.”

I roll my eyes. “It went great. It was like old times. She always knows how to make me laugh.”

Mason grins. “Dude, you’re smiling.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are absolutely smiling.”

I shove him lightly, but he’s not wrong. I am smiling.

“And,” I add, trying to sound casual, “I got tickets for Saturday’s game. For Lena and the girls who are coming to visit her.”

Mason whistles. “Smooth.”

“It’s not...”

“Not a date, yeah, yeah, I know,” he says, waving me off. “Just you giving her tickets to your game. Totally platonic.”

I glare at him, but he just laughs. “Oh,” I add, remembering, “and apparently some girl named Sabrina is coming too.”

Mason stops walking. “Who?”

“Sabrina,” I repeat. “According to Lena, she’s been telling everyone we’re dating.”

Mason bursts out laughing. “Okay, now that’s funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

He laughs harder. “Come on, man. Who would believe that?”

“Everyone, apparently,” I mutter. “Lena said she’s been bragging for months. That we met at a party in Chicago, hooked up, had a ‘connection.’”

Mason nearly doubles over. “A connection? With who?”

“I don’t know!” I throw my hands up. “I don’t even remember meeting her. I didn’t even know what she looked like. I had to ask Lena if she had a picture of her.”

Mason wipes tears from his eyes. “Oh, this is gold. Absolute gold.”

“It’s not funny.”

“It’s hilarious,” he says. “You have a delusional fan-girlfriend and didn’t even know.”

I groan. “I swear, if she shows up acting like we’re together...”

“Wait,” Mason cuts in, eyes widening. “She’s coming here?”

“Yeah. With the girls.”

He stares at me, then bursts out laughing again. “Oh, you’re screwed.”

I rub my face. “Don’t remind me.”

But even with the Sabrina disaster looming, I can’t shake the warmth in my chest. Because Lena is coming to the game. Because she talks to me every morning. Because lunch felt like something new and familiar at the same time. Because for the first time in years, I feel like I’m getting her back. And I didn’t realize how much I missed her until now.