Chapter 2
June's POV
I look at his face, so familiar and yet like a stranger's. Whatever was left of my feelings for him crumbles to nothing in that moment.
"I'm not feeling well. I'm heading back." I put my coat on.
"Suit yourself." Jasper's expression goes cold, and he turns back to Sadie. "Don't worry about her, she's been in a mood lately."
I don't argue. I push the door open and step out into the cold air of the hallway.
The winter wind cuts at my face like a blade.
I don't call a cab. I just walk, slow, down the street by myself. The old injury in my right ankle starts up its familiar ache.
It's been with me for seven years now. Every time it rains or the temperature drops low enough, it feels like something's gnawing away at the bone.
I don't know how long I walk before the pain gets bad enough that I have to stop.
I lean against a bus stop sign, my hands shaking as I dig my phone out of my pocket. The screen is empty. Not a single message.
I pull up Jasper's contact and call him.
It rings for a long time before he picks up, music and voices from the bar loud in the background.
"Yeah? What now?" Jasper sounds openly annoyed.
"Jasper, my foot's killing me. I can't walk." I try to keep my voice steady. "Can you come get me? Take me to the hospital?"
There's a pause on the other end. Then Sadie's voice comes through, bright and teasing. "Jasper, it's your turn! Get over here!"
"June, I can't leave right now." Jasper lowers his voice. "Everyone's having a good time, I can't just take off. If your foot hurts, grab a cab to the hospital yourself, or take some painkillers. You're a grown woman, why are you acting like a kid?"
"Jasper, whose fault is it that my foot ended up like this?" I close my eyes, my voice trembling slightly.
"June!" His voice jumps. "Are you seriously bringing up something from seven years ago again? Yeah, I owe you, I'll owe you for the rest of my life. But you can't keep throwing that in my face every time we fight. I need room to breathe too!"
The call ends.
The streetlight stretches my shadow long and twisted across the pavement.
Seven years ago, it was another cold winter day like this one.
The old rink the club used hadn't been maintained in years. We were practicing a lift when the metal rigging overhead let out a loud crack.
I only had time to see the shadow of it falling toward Jasper. My body moved faster than I could think, and I shoved him out of the way with everything I had.
The second the rig came down, I heard my own bone shatter.
When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor told me my right ankle was crushed. Even with the best recovery, it would never hold up to jumps again.
I would never skate competitively again.
That proud boy knelt at my bedside all night. He pressed his face into my hand and cried without stopping.
"June, I'm sorry. I'm the reason you lost everything."
"Don't be scared. From now on, my legs are your legs, my medals are your medals."
"As long as you stay with me, I'll be the first one to hug you after every competition from now on. And when I win the Grand Slam, I'll marry you in front of the whole world, no hiding it. Everyone will know you're the only woman I'll ever call my wife."
Back then, Jasper only had eyes for me.
But time is the cruelest thing there is. It can wear down even the most burning promise until it's nothing but a cheap excuse.
I don't know how much time passes before an empty cab pulls up beside me. The driver takes one look at how pale I am and hurries out to help me in.
"You okay, miss? Let me get you to the hospital."
"Thank you."
At the ER, the doctor studies my scan, frowning. "Old injury, flared up from the cold. You can't keep putting weight on this leg. Keep it warm, don't stand too long. Is your family here? Why'd you come alone?"
"I don't have family with me." I take the prescription from her, my voice calm. "Thank you."
After I get my medication, I sit in the hospital lobby until the sun comes up.
At seven in the morning, I drag myself home, back to the apartment Jasper and I share.
I push the door open. A pair of women's shoes I don't recognize sit scattered by the entryway.
My stomach drops.
On the living room couch, Jasper and Sadie are asleep in their clothes. Her head rests on his shoulder, and his hand is loosely draped over her waist. The coffee table is covered in empty bottles and a half-eaten cake.
The sound of the door jolts Jasper awake.
He sees me, and for one second, panic flashes across his face. He yanks his hand back on instinct, then forces himself to sit up and look composed.
"June, you're back. Everyone had a lot to drink last night. Sadie lives far, so I just let her crash here."
Sadie rubs her eyes and sits up too. The second she spots me, she puts on an innocent smile. "June, don't get the wrong idea. Jasper was wasted last night, he kept grabbing my arm so I wouldn't leave, made me listen to him talk about his old competitions. Nothing happened."
"I'm not confused about anything." I limp toward the bedroom.
"What's wrong with your foot?" Jasper finally notices the way I'm walking, his brow furrowing.
"It's nothing. I just went to the hospital."
"June, can you stop shutting me out like this?" His voice rises behind me. "I already told you, she's my partner, she's like a little sister to me. You're supposed to be my future wife, can't you be a little bigger about this?"
I turn around and look at him.
"Jasper, do you actually still want to marry me?"
