Page 165 of Top Shelf

My breath stops. I wasn’t certain if I actually heard him speaking in the limo, but there is no doubting it now.

My heart breaks and heals in the same moment, and as Silas pulls me closer, holding me against him like he’s afraid I might disappear, I realize this is all I need in life.

Being chosen.

And choosing someone back.

38

SILAS

The locker roomis louder than usual. It’s the kind of nervous energy that only comes before a championship game. When everything is on the line. For some of these guys, it’s their first Frozen Four, while for others, it is the last game they’ll ever play, and that brings its own sort of energy.

Around me, guys are taping sticks, lacing skates, checking gear for the fifth time. Coaches move through the room offering final reminders no one is really listening to.

I should be focused. Instead, my attention keeps drifting.

To a girl with honey-brown eyes who has turned my world upside down. Who has given me light after years of living in the darkness. Who healed a scar I thought had closed over with three simple words.I love you.

A smile threatens before I shove it down. I need to get in the zone ahead of tonight’s game. Settling onto the bench in front of my locker, I close my eyes and begin my breathing routine.

Six in.

Hold.

Six out.

The familiar weight of the coin I’ve been carrying aroundwith me since the first night I laid eyes on Wren rolls between my fingers. It’s become a routine motion. Something I turn to occupy my hands when I need to focus.

I don’t even remember consciously picking it up anymore. I just do.

The metal catches against my thumb as I rotate it.

Breathe.

Rotate.

Breathe.

Slowly, the chaos around me subsides, a meditative quiet taking its place.

Another turn of the coin.

Except this time it catches, jarring against my finger before it slips free. I feel it leave my fingers.

My eyes snap open in time to watch the metal disk bounce against the concrete floor. Then it rolls, fast, directly across the locker room. Jumping to my feet, I follow it as it spins beneath benches and skates, past bags and sticks, before circling and?—

A foot stomps on top of it.

Isaac bends at the waist. Peeling off his glove, he reaches for the coin.

He turns it over in his hand, then laughs. A surprised exhale. “Holy shit.”

Running his thumb over the engraving, he lifts his head and looks directly at me. “Where the hell did you get this?” He shakes his head, one side of his lips hitched. “I thought I lost this thing.”

The world narrows, just slightly, and for the first time since I stopped speaking to others, I hate that I can’t just ask him the question burning a hole through my tongue.

“Looked everywhere for it. It was my lucky charm all through high school, then I lost it freshman year.” He chuckles to himself. “Was convinced I’d wash out without it.”He flips the coin in the air. “And you’ve had it this whole time?” He shakes his head, catching the coin in his hand before depositing it in his locker and going back to his pre-game routine.