“I don’t think I’ll know what to do. I haven’t–” I say before I can stop myself, suddenly feeling very insecure that the only experience I have is the whirlwind of what happened between Riven and I today. “You must have found comfort in someone? Someones?” I laugh at how silly the plural sounds, and I hate that my voice is shaking. I don’t really want to know, but the words are already out there hanging over us.

He stops skating and this time he actually does glower at me like I’ve offended his sensibilities in some way.

“There’s something you need to understand,” he says, gripping my jaw gently. His voice is low. “There’s never been anyone else. Not one. I didn’t touch anyone. I didn’t even look. It’s always been you, Lake. It will always only be you.”

His words knock the breath out of me. I don’t have time to recover because he leans in and kisses me. It’s slow and aching, like he’s making up for every minute we lost.

Riven’s lips are warm and hungry, but not rough. His mouth molds to mine, coaxing, claiming. His hand slides around the back of my neck, anchoring me, and his other flattens across my spine.

My knees go weak. My body responds before my mind can. I want to rise onto my toes, to press closer somehow, but my current footwear situation won’t allow it. I let him guide the pace and melt into him because there’s no other option. Riven does something to me, and I know with every nerve ending in my body that no one else could make me feel like this.

He groans softly into my mouth, and it rips through me. It’s raw and possessive. Like I belong to him. Like I always have.

When he deepens the kiss, his tongue sweeps across mine, hot and addicting. My skin is on fire. My blood feels absolutely electric pumping through my veins.

If he lowered me to the ice and took me here, I wouldn’t stop him. But he pulls back first, resting his forehead against mine, both of us breathless.

I melt into him even further for a moment, my fingers curling into his jacket. When I pull away, it’s only because I have to. My lips are swollen. My fingers tremble. My whole body feels scorched, rewired somehow in the best possible way.

I’ve wanted this kind of kiss from Riven for so long, but there was always something stopping us. Tonight? There’s no more distance. No more waiting.

I’m his and he’s mine. For the first time in what feels like forever, I actually believe it. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t make him work for it. I smile up at him and then I push off and skate away.