MasukChapter 34: First Public Night
The charity gala was a glittering trap wrapped in black tie and champagne.Crystal chandeliers dripped light over the ballroom of Chicago’s historic Drake Hotel. NHL players mingled with sponsors, celebrities, and old money in tuxedos that cost more than my first car. Laughter and clinking glasses filled the air, but all I could focus on was the heat of Callan’s hand resting possessively at the small of my back as we stepped into the room togetChapter 35: The First LieThe message from my father burned on my phone screen like a brand.Unknown Number:Beautiful performance tonight, son. The cameras loved it. Now prove he’s really falling. Send proof. Make him say the words. Daddy’s waiting.I stared at it until the letters blurred. My stomach twisted into knots so tight I could barely breathe. The link immediately picked up my spike of dread and sent it straight to Callan. He stirred behind me, his heavy arm tightening around my waist as he woke.“Brooks?” His voice was gravel-rough from sleep, but the captain edge was already sharpening. “What is it?”I handed him the phone without a word. He read the message in silence, his body going rigid against my back. Through the link I felt the shift protective fury rising fast, followed by that cold, calculated control he wore like armor. His hand slid up my chest, fingers splaying possessively over my heart as if he could steady the fr
Chapter 34: First Public NightThe charity gala was a glittering trap wrapped in black tie and champagne.Crystal chandeliers dripped light over the ballroom of Chicago’s historic Drake Hotel. NHL players mingled with sponsors, celebrities, and old money in tuxedos that cost more than my first car. Laughter and clinking glasses filled the air, but all I could focus on was the heat of Callan’s hand resting possessively at the small of my back as we stepped into the room together.The link hummed under my skin like a live current, amplified by the new dose they’d slipped into our systems earlier that day. Every brush of his fingers sent sparks racing up my spine. Every shared glance felt electric, dangerous. The syndicate wanted a show, and the link was making sure we delivered whether we wanted to or not.“Relax, rookie,” Callan murmured low enough for only me to hear, his voice that perfect mix of command and rough comfort. His thumb stroked once
Chapter 33: Tate’s UltimatumTate stood in the doorway like a goalie who’d just read the perfect shot coming his way arms crossed, eyes narrowed, that sharp-witted stare cutting straight through whatever bullshit I might try to feed him. The connecting door between our suites felt suddenly too wide open, and the thin walls had clearly done their damage. My shirt was only half-buttoned, and I could still feel the ghost of Callan’s hands on my skin from this morning, the echo of his grief still lingering faintly in my chest through the link.I swallowed hard. “Tate… it’s not what you think.”“Save it,” he snapped, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him with a soft click. His voice was low, but there was steel in it. “I heard enough. Grief. Sterility. ‘Choosing each other despite the cost.’ You and Cap weren’t exactly whispering sweet nothings. Sounded a hell of a lot more like two guys drowning in something way bigger than locker room h
Chapter 32: Ghost of What Could Have BeenThe grief hit like a blindside hit during morning skate.We were still in bed, the Chicago dawn painting the hotel room in soft gray light. Callan had woken me with slow, lazy kisses along my spine, his body curled protectively around mine from behind. The link was quiet but present, a warm undercurrent after last night’s raw vulnerability. His hand had slid between my legs, stroking me back to hardness while he pressed open-mouthed kisses to my shoulder.“Easy,” he murmured when I pushed back against him, needy and still half-asleep. “Let me take care of you.”There were no harsh commands this morning. Just his low voice and the steady weight of him as he slicked himself and eased inside me again, slow and deep. The stretch was familiar now, welcomed. I moaned softly into the pillow as he started to move, one arm banded across my chest, holding me close. Every thrust dragged pleasure through both of us, t
Chapter 31: Echoes of SeparationI couldn’t stop crying.The sobs tore out of me like they’d been waiting years to escape ugly, gasping sounds that made my chest ache and my throat raw. Callan’s grief wasn’t just an echo through the link anymore. It felt like my own. That hollow, endless void where a future with kids should have been. The quiet shame he’d carried alone since the injury. The way he’d buried it so deep that even he rarely touched it.I was curled against his chest, naked and trembling, while his arms locked around me like steel bands. His skin was damp with sweat and my tears. Every time I tried to pull myself together, another wave of his suppressed pain rolled through the link and dragged me back under.“Shh, Brooks… breathe,” Callan murmured against my hair, his voice gentler than I’d ever heard it. No growled commands. No “rookie” or “stress relief.” Just my name, soft and rough at the edges, like it hurt him to say it. “I’ve go
Chapter 30: Father and SonThe private lounge in the back of the upscale steakhouse smelled like aged whiskey and money. Dark wood paneling, low lighting, the kind of place where deals were made that never saw daylight. I sat across from my father, the legendary Hall of Famer Harlan Rhys, in a booth that felt more like a cage than a meeting spot. My hands were steady on the outside. Inside, the link with Callan tugged like a live wire distant but insistent, a constant reminder that he was waiting back at the hotel, feeling every spike of my anxiety as if it were his own.Harlan looked exactly like the posters from my childhood: sharp jaw, silver at the temples now, eyes that could freeze a room. He sipped his scotch, watching me over the rim of the glass like I was a rookie prospect he was deciding whether to draft or discard.“You’ve disappointed me, Brooks,” he started, voice smooth as polished ice. “I expected better from my blood.”I forced a

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