"Admiration looked different on him."
The singular moment of Eli's deliberate applause had broken something open in Silver's chest that she'd been keeping carefully sealed. She'd retreated to the team bench to unlace her skates, hands shaking slightly from more than just physical exertion. The crowd had dispersed quickly, moving on to post-event socializing, leaving the rink nearly empty.
The Zamboni hummed across the ice surface, methodically erasing the evening's marks with each pass. Americus had disappeared to chase down some logistics issue with the event coordinator. Riley was chatting with other skaters near the exit, giving Silver space to process whatever she was feeling.
For the first time all night, the arena felt genuinely quiet.
