Worth The Wait

𝟏𝟎|𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓

𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓

The bar was dim, the kind of place where the noise and the smell blurred together, and it felt like I was just floating through the crowd, not really connected to anything around me. I hadn't meant to come here tonight, but there I was, needing a distraction from everything that was eating away at me. I walked in, scanning the crowd for a familiar face, but the second my eyes landed on her, I froze. Lucie. Sitting alone at the bar. She was hunched over, her eyes a little too glazed, her face flushed. I could tell she'd been drinking. A lot.

I should've turned around and left right then. But I didn't. Before I said anything, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and quickly sent a message to Kolton and Sophia: Lucie looks drunk. You should come get her.

I made my way over to her, my steps deliberate, trying to keep my presence calm despite the storm of thoughts that hit me. I didn't say anything at first, just leaned against the bar next to her.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice low and cautious, unsure how she'd respond.

Her laugh was bitter and dry, and it made my stomach turn. "Do I look okay to you?" she snapped, the words sharp and cutting. I could feel the tension in the air between us, the alcohol coursing through her veins, and I could already see it was going to be a mess.

"Callum quit. Yeah. He quit. And it's all my fault. Because apparently, I push too hard. I'm not perfect enough. He can't handle it." She said the words with a kind of raw honesty that almost made me feel bad for her. Her voice cracked slightly, and my gut twisted.

"What do you mean, he quit?" I asked, trying to make sense of what she was saying.

She took a shaky breath, barely looking at me. "Oh, you know. Just the usual. He sent me an email. Officially. Pinning it all on me. Not good enough. Never good enough. And then... Sonya... Sonya suggested you. You, River Prescott, the hockey player with the broken leg, as my new partner."

I could hear the bitterness in her laugh, but I wasn't backing down. I couldn't just stand here and let her drink herself into oblivion. Not when she was falling apart like this. "Isn't that hilarious? You can barely walk, and you don't know the first thing about skating, let alone pairs skating. And Sonya thinks you're the solution."

I didn't flinch at her words. "For the record, Lucie, I don't have a broken leg. I'm standing just fine, if you haven't noticed," I said, meeting her gaze with my own challenge.

She blinked, surprised by the sass in my tone, but I could tell she was too far gone to really let it rattle her. "Okay, okay. Maybe you can stand, River. But you still don't know anything about skating. You play hockey. This is figure skating. It's not the same thing."

I raised an eyebrow, unable to hide the smirk that tugged at the corner of my mouth. "I know the basics of balance and speed, and I know how to push myself when it counts. You don't think that counts for something?"

She scoffed, and I could see the exhaustion in her eyes. She was so damn tired. "Please. I don't even know why you're here, River. You're the last person I need right now."

I didn't flinch. "I'm here because you're making a mess of this, and I'm not going to let you drink yourself into oblivion. No one deserves that, especially you." The words came out before I could stop them, and I meant every damn one of them.

Before she could retort, Kolton and Sophia walked in. Kolton's eyes locked onto me for a second, and then I immediately found Lucie. His face fell when he saw how much she'd been drinking. Sophia didn't look much better.

"Lucie," Kolton said gently, walking toward her. "Let's go home."

Lucie didn't even try to protest. She was too far gone. And honestly, I was too tired to argue anymore.