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2026-08-25 15:08:04CHASE'S POV
WHAT HER FATHER KNEW
Ava's childhood home looks exactly like the kind of house that photographs well for campaign brochures manicured lawn, tasteful brick, the kind of understated wealth that whispers rather than shouts. Given everything, the irony isn't lost on me.
Her father opens the door himself, which surprises me slightly, no housekeeper or assistant running interference. He looks older than I remember from the handful of times I've seen him at gam
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Falling For The Hockey Captain 66
CHASE'S POVTHE OVERLAPBuried in the middle of an otherwise grueling schedule, a single, unexpected gift appears a three-day break in my team's calendar that lines up almost perfectly with a lighter stretch in Ava's Olympic pathway training, the first real overlap we've had in nearly a month."You're serious?" Ava asks when I call with the news, disbelief and excitement warring in her voice. "Three actual days?""Three actual days," I confirm. "I already checked flights. I can be there by tomorrow evening.""Chase." Her voice catches slightly. "I don't think I've been this excited about anything in weeks.""Same," I admit, grinning at my hotel room ceiling like an idiot. "I already told Coach. He actually seemed happy for me, which, considering how intense this schedule's been, feels like a small miracle."We spend the rest of the call planning the three days with the kind of meticulous, giddy attention usually re
Falling For The Hockey Captain 65
AVA'S POVQUALIFYINGThe qualifying event feels different than nationals, smaller in scale but heavier in significance, every skater in the building understanding exactly what's actually at stake not just a medal, but a genuine step toward the Olympic pathway that Ingrid's evaluators have been carefully tracking since Switzerland."Nervous?" Jess asks, finding me in the warmup area, both of us stretching through the familiar pre-competition ritual."Completely," I admit. "This feels different than nationals somehow. Higher stakes, even though technically it's a smaller event.""Because it actually determines the next stage," Jess says, understanding immediately. "Nationals proved you belonged in the conversation. This determines whether you actually advance in it."She's right, and the weight of that distinction sits heavy in my chest as I finish my warmup routine, Coach Reyes watching from the boards with her usual careful, assessing expression."You're ready," she says, once I fini
Falling For The Hockey Captain 64
CHASE'S POVREUNITED, AGAINI beat her home by exactly six hours, my own road trip wrapping up a day before her flight from Switzerland lands, which gives me just enough time to properly prepare the kind of welcome I've been planning since the moment she told me about the Olympic pathway announcement.The apartment's decorated simply but thoughtfully by the time I head to the airport small string lights I picked up on a whim, a bouquet of flowers arranged in the vase her mother had given us during the move, a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge for a celebration two weeks in the making.I spot her the second she clears customs, exhaustion evident in her posture but unable to fully mask the lingering glow of triumph still radiating off her, and when her eyes finally find mine across the crowded terminal, the same overwhelming joy from every previous reunion breaks across her face."Chase!"She closes the distance quickly, and I sweep her into a hug that lifts her briefly off he
Falling For The Hockey Captain 63
CHASE'S POVREUNITED, AGAINI beat her home by exactly six hours, my own road trip wrapping up a day before her flight from Switzerland lands, which gives me just enough time to properly prepare the kind of welcome I've been planning since the moment she told me about the Olympic pathway announcement.The apartment's decorated simply but thoughtfully by the time I head to the airport small string lights I picked up on a whim, a bouquet of flowers arranged in the vase her mother had given us during the move, a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge for a celebration two weeks in the making.I spot her the second she clears customs, exhaustion evident in her posture but unable to fully mask the lingering glow of triumph still radiating off her, and when her eyes finally find mine across the crowded terminal, the same overwhelming joy from every previous reunion breaks across her face."Chase!"She closes the distance quickly, and I sweep her into a hug that lifts her briefly off he
Falling For The Hockey Captain 62
"Might want to fix that before it becomes an actual problem," Marcus says. "Just a thought."I call Ava that night, determined not to repeat the same guarded silence that had nearly cost us weeks earlier, and when she picks up, already mid-conversation about selection camp logistics, I finally interrupt gently."Ava, can I tell you something honestly?""Of course," she says, immediately shifting focus, some concern entering her voice at my tone."I'm really excited for you about Switzerland," I say. "Genuinely. But I've also been kind of scared these past few days, and I don't want to keep pretending I'm not.""Scared of what?" she asks gently."That this is just the start of a pattern," I admit. "Opportunities pulling us in opposite directions, over and over, until eventually the distance becomes too much to manage. I know we talked about building a life together, choosing proximity where we could. But some things like this selection camp just aren't going to align neatly, no matte
Falling For The Hockey Captain 61
CHASE'S POVTAXI SQUADPracticing with the taxi squad feels like being benched in slow motion, every drill a reminder that I'm one bad week away from being cut loose entirely, watching from the stands instead of scratching for a roster spot."You're overthinking every single rep," Sanderson says, unexpectedly showing up at practice one morning, apparently in town for a charity event and stopping by out of what he claims is idle curiosity but what I suspect is Dale quietly calling in a favor."Hard not to," I admit, catching my breath at the boards. "Every mistake feels like it's being measured against whether I actually belong here.""That's the problem," Sanderson says, skating over, studying me with the same assessing focus from development camp. "You're playing scared. Same thing you were doing at camp before I told you to trust your instincts, except worse now, because the stakes actually feel real instead of hypothetical.""They are real," I say. "I got sent down two weeks into m
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