The biting cold of the secondary practice rink was nothing compared to the suffocating winter that had permanently settled inside Jake's chest. Leaning heavily against the clear acrylic of the protective barrier, his long fingers gripping the handrail until they went completely numb, the brown-haired skater held his breath. His violet eyes, heavy with a volatile mixture of utter helplessness and silent, brewing rage, never drifted a single millimeter away from the silhouette resting in the dead center of the frozen oval.
