The city shimmered in early evening gold, a slow blur of streetlights and tail-lights as the car wound through the quieter side streets. The post-game buzz had worn off, leaving only a settled kind of silence. The kind that didn't demand to be filled.

Bennett drove with one hand on the wheel, the faint flicker of the dashboard lit his face in angles, steady, unreadable, but thoughtful. Always thoughtful.

Naomi sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window as buildings rolled past in a blur of amber. Her arms were folded, but not from the cold. She didn't feel cold. She just felt... off-balance.

In the back seat, Jordan had gone unusually quiet. His legs stretched out, head tipped back against the headrest, green eyes blinking up at the car ceiling like it held answers. Declan sat beside him, still as always, staring out the window with his arms crossed and jaw set.

They had all been quiet since leaving the arena. Not the bad kind of quiet just the full kind. The kind that came after watching something crackle and shift without quite knowing what it meant.

Naomi shifted slightly in her seat, arms tightening across her middle.

She had seen him.

Dominic Hunter.

Warm-hugging, sharp-smiling, too-charming-for-his-own-good Dominic. The boy who had known her better than anyone else in second grade. The boy who knew her favorite crayon color before she did. The one who used to carry her backpack and trip over his words when she smiled.

He was different now taller, more confident, his voice deeper but something about the way he grinned still pulled at something too soft in her chest.

He looked at her tonight like no time had passed.

Like she hadn't spent years wondering why he never came back.

Like he hadn't left with half of her still echoing in that empty swing set at recess.

Naomi hated how easily he cracked her walls with a single joke. How one raised eyebrow made her laugh despite herself.

She'd told herself she was over it.

But her chest still felt a little too tight, and her mind kept echoing his words.

"You look like you're still in charge, Naomi Lorraine."

He didn't even know what he'd taken with him when he left.

And the worst part? He might be the only person who ever really had all of her.

Bennett didn't say anything as they stopped at a red light.

His thumb tapped the steering wheel. Not out of nerves. Out of thinking.

Davina Carter had barely glanced his way but it was enough.

She'd scored the game-winning goal with a shot so clean, so fast, it had taken a second for the crowd to react. One blink and the puck was in the net, and she just skated off like it was expected. Like she'd done it a hundred times before.

She had a confidence about her, not the loud, attention-seeking kind. The kind that made people pay attention without even realizing it. She didn't move like she had something to prove. She moved like she already knew her worth.

She didn't celebrate. She didn't brag. She gave a nod to her team and tapped gloves with the goalie before coasting toward the bench like it was just another Friday night.

Her presence was magnetic.

She was the kind of girl who looked at the world like it owed her nothing but she'd take everything anyway.

And Bennett?

Bennett was intrigued.

Declan had barely breathed since the car started.

Tessa Blake was the kind of girl you saw once and remembered forever. Not because she smiled at you. Not because she tried.

Because she didn't.

Because she met your eyes across the ice like she dared you to underestimate her. Because she flung her body into every play like she wasn't afraid of pain. Because when she scored, she didn't celebrate, she just nodded and barked out something too far away for him to hear.

But Declan didn't need to hear it.

He already knew.

She was dangerous.

And he wanted to know why.

Jordan, meanwhile, was spiraling. Softly. Quietly. In the way that only happened when something hit too deep, too fast.

"I think I'm actually in love," he said out loud, mostly to himself.

Naomi didn't look over.

"You think that every week."

"Yeah, but this one skates," Jordan replied dreamily. "And yells. And threatened the referee."

Bennett smirked to himself, but kept his eyes on the road.

"Arya," Naomi guessed. Her voice was neutral. But Jordan didn't miss the slight curve of her mouth.

"She's chaos," he said. "And you know I respect chaos."

Declan gave him a sidelong glance.

"You are chaos."

"Exactly. Soulmates."

Jordan sighed like he'd seen the light and it wore a hockey jersey and a crooked grin.

"Do you think she'd like me? I made her laugh."

"You also tripped over the snack cooler," Naomi pointed out.

"That was part of the plan," he said quickly.

"Sure it was."

The car settled into silence again. Soft. A little warmer. And then Bennett said, almost absently:

"Tonight felt different."

Jordan tilted his head toward the front.

"Different how?"

Bennett didn't answer right away. Just shifted his grip on the wheel.

Declan finally offered, "Like we met people who might actually matter."

No one responded. They didn't have to.

The words sat there, echoing in the hum of the car.

Naomi glanced out the window one last time, unable to stop the flicker of Dominic's face in her mind.

Might actually matter.

God help them all if he did.