LOGINNoah did not leave the Voss villa immediately. After being reminded once again that his future seemed to rest in the hands of dangerous men, he should have gotten straight back to Ann Arbor. Instead, he wandered.The house was too large to feel like a home. Every hallway looked expensive, and even the silence felt curated. He eventually found himself in a smaller office tucked away near the eastern wing of the house. It looked similar to Adrian's office, but less imposing. A private workspace with one wall lined with bookshelves and occupied by a large desk. Most of the curtains were drawn, leaving only a narrow gap where pale moonlight spilled into the room.Noah stepped toward the window, and for a few moments, he simply stood there. Then he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his gallery, smiling at the funny pictures Eli had taken before. Then he heard a door open behind him, and he turned. A familiar figure stumbled into the room, looking slightly disheveled. Chase.His tie
The summons came on a Tuesday evening as a simple text on his phone, and Noah knew who it was before he even opened it. Just an address and a time, 7:00 PM. He stared at the message for several seconds before locking his phone and slipping it into his pocket.Across the room, Reid was bent over his desk, watching game highlights on his laptop."You look like somebody just told you finals got moved to tomorrow."Noah stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Something like that.""You coming back tonight?""Eventually."Reid nodded. "Good. Because if Coach makes us do another six a.m. conditioning skate, I'm dropping out and becoming a pizza delivery guy."Noah managed a weak smile before stepping out of the room, but the smile disappeared the moment he was outside.By seven o'clock, he found himself standing inside Adrian Voss's office. The room looked the same as every other time he had been there. Adrian sat behind the desk while Chase stood near the window. The bruise on his jaw had faded
Three minutes left. Noah got open again, and everyone could see it: a direct shot to the goal with no defenseman. He signalled to Chase, but Chase kept the puck, tried to shoot from that impossible angle again, but lost it. The opposition counteredattack immediately and scored another goal.The arena roared, and Coach Jenkins lost it."Voss!" he yelled out, and Chase turned to him."Sit down."Chase skated over, confusion all over his face. "What?""You heard me.""Coach—"Jenkins exploded. "Sit. Down."Chase looked toward the bench, expecting someone to say something, but nobody did. Not Morrison, not Callahan, and not even the assistant captains. Furious and humiliated, he gets off the ice and walks. For the first time all season, the captain is benched.And with less than two minutes remaining, the hosts scored again. Four-three. The final buzzer sounded shortly afterward, and the hosts poured onto the ice as the Michigan team slowly skated off.Inside the tunnel, they began removi
Game night Friday. The Black Ice team of Michigan rolled into Providence early.The arena was loud enough to shake the glass. He could feel it beneath his skates as he stepped onto the ice for warmups. Division One hockey always drew attention, but conference games brought something different. They had come to Providence, and the stands were packed with students, alumni, parents, and scouts. Every mistake would be seen, and every goal remembered.Across the rink, Chase stood near center ice, stick resting against one shoulder as he spoke with a referee, the captain's C sitting proudly on his jersey. When his eyes found Noah's, his mouth curved into a warning smile but Noah chose to ignore him. Tonight, he would not allow Chase get under his skin."Heyes!" Coach Jenkins called loudly and pointed toward Line One. "You're starting."Noah nodded with a smile and skated to position. He knew he had to make this opportunity count. He was a newbie and Coach Jenkins had put his trust in him. T
Two days had passed since Noah had accidentally witnessed Chase in the showers. Two days since he'd heard his own name from Chase’s lips after he released. And in those two days, he had discovered there was no good way to process information like that. At first, he had tried convincing himself that it was nothing, but if it had been any other member of the team, it might have been lighter to carry, but it was Chase Voss. The rich Hockey captain with serious daddy issues that hated him.There was no other explanation, and the result of him stumbling onto something like that was that he couldn't look at Chase the same way anymore, which was a problem because Chase Voss seemed to be everywhere. On the ice, in some classes, during film review and at team meetings. He had spent almost forty-eight hours doing everything possible to avoid him, and Chase had noticed every single time. It was Thursday. The lights were dimmed inside the meeting room as game footage rolled across the projector
Yost always felt different after practice ended. An hour earlier, it had been alive with the sound of skates, whistles, and shouted insults; now there was only silence.Noah had come back and pushed through the locker room doors and glanced at the clock mounted on the wall. 8:57 AM. He had Calculus at ten, and there was plenty of time before then; all he needed was the notebook he had forgotten in his locker.He was quiet without necessarily meaning to. His footsteps echoed softly across the empty room as he walked between the rows of benches. Most of the lockers were left open, evidence of the rush everyone had left after practice.He reached his locker, pulled it open, and saw the notebook, right where he had left it, and he had been tearing his dorm room apart earlier in search of it. He let out a sigh and grabbed the notebook, then turned to leave, but stopped when he heard something.Water. Running water came from the shower, and his brow furrowed. He thought everyone had left. He







