I went back to the strip three days later.
My knee was sore, but it held. I wrapped it before practice and arrived early enough to find the room quiet. The window-side strip was empty. Miles's old place.
I put my bag on the bench and began warming up.
The others came in one by one. Tessa waved from the doorway. Coach set the pairing chart on the desk but didn't post it right away.
Miles arrived last.
He stopped near the bench. "Can we talk before practice?"
"About what?"
"About being partners again. If you want to."
I looked at the empty strip. For a long time, I'd assumed the right answer was to get back what we had. The answer had felt obvious when we shared runs to the pier and traded points under the bright windows. Then he'd decided I was dangerous to him, and the old partners
