"His eyes burned steady."
Eli stepped into the dark room and immediately flipped on the light.
Silver flinched, her face still wet with tears she'd tried to hide. No point pretending now. He'd already seen.
"Why are you sitting in the dark?" He closed the door behind him, his expression shifting from concerned to determined. "And why weren't you answering your phone?"
"It's off. In the drawer."
"Silver—"
"I couldn't deal with more hate messages. More threats. More people telling me to kill myself." Her voice was flat. Empty. "So I turned it off."
Eli's jaw tightened. He crossed the room in three strides and pulled her into a hug. Silver resisted for half a second before giving in, pressing her face against his chest.
"I told you I had practice," she mumbled into his shirt. "You should be at the rink."
"I left early. Coach understood." His hand rubbed circles on her back. "Well, he didn't understand. But he let me go after I explained the situation."
