LOGINCHAPTER 193The landing gear hit the West Coast runway with a heavy, shuddering thud that rattled the plane, the jet tires screaming as they bit into the sun-baked tarmac. Fourteen hours of stale cabin air, cramped knees, and restless exhaustion finally dissolved into the dull, mechanical whine of the engines as the private charter taxied toward the designated hangar.Up front, Marcus unbuckled his seatbelt with a lazy, deliberate stretch, patting the breast pocket of his jacket where his phone rested. His mind was miles away, already replaying his text war with Aria and that ridiculous 4-0 shutout challenge. Further back, Liam and Raphael gathered their carry-on bags, the quiet, grounding anchor of their mid-flight conversation still holding them steady against the brewing storm outside."Alright, listen up," Coach’s voice cut through the aisle as the plane slowed to a halt, his tone flat and heavily caffeinated. "We step off this bird, we hit the tarmac, and we go straight to the b
CHAPTER 192Aria’s phone buzzed against the marble countertop with a sharp, aggressive vibration that rattled her ceramic mug and threatened to spill her carefully brewed chamomile tea. She snatched up the device, her thumb hovering over the reply field with the deadly precision of a sniper lining up a target in a wind tunnel.Aria: Who the hell do you think you are, and how the hell did you get my number?She hit send, leaning back in her barstool with a triumphant, highly defensive huff. She crossed her arms, glaring down at the screen as if she could burn a hole straight through the liquid crystals. The sheer, unadulterated nerve of the man. Absolutely unhinged. You share an apartment complex, you survive a couple of forced turkey sandwiches, and suddenly the guy thinks he has VIP security clearance to text her private line while airborne over public airspace.Three seconds passed. The little three-dot typing indicator popped up, mocking her.Bubble, bubble, bubble.Marcus: Good mo
CHAPTER 191The kitchen island was a complete disaster zone. It looked like a caffeine-addicted raccoon had broken in, rummaged through the pantry, and left behind a trail of empty coffee mugs, crumpled grocery lists, and an open laptop glowing with the harsh, soul-crushing light of a public sports forum comment section.Aria sat perched on a high barstool, her knees pulled up slightly toward her chest, scrolling through a thread where anonymous keyboard warriors were dissecting Liam and Raphael’s relationship like a cheap piece of roadkill."Unbelievable," Aria muttered to herself, her fingers flying over the trackpad as she read a particularly brain-dead comment out loud. "Oh, look, the captain's got a boyfriend, guess the whole team's soft now. There goes the season."She scoffed, leaning so close to the screen her nose practically touched the glass."Ha. Who the hell do you think you are, Greg_from_Ohio_69?" Aria mocked in a high, whiny voice, stabbing her index finger onto the t
CHAPTER 190About six hours into the fourteen-hour flight, the cabin had settled into a heavy, dim quiet. Most of the team was asleep, heads lolling against windows or travel pillows.Further back, Liam and Raphael had managed to drift off shoulder-to-shoulder, their fingers still loosely entwined across the armrest.Enter Marcus freaking Hayes.Marcus woke up completely refreshed, profoundly bored, and entirely unwilling to let anyone else experience peace. He unbuckled his seatbelt two rows up, ambled down the aisle, and loomed over Liam and Raphael's row like an overgrown golden retriever with too much energy.Without a word of warning, Marcus reached down and aggressively shook Liam’s shoulder."Hey. Wake up. You guys can't be sleeping," Marcus whispered loudly.Liam groaned, his eyes fluttering open behind his eyelids as he shoved Marcus's hand away, burying his face deeper into his travel pillow. "Dude, Marcus, really? We have a long day ahead of us and we're just trying to get
CHAPTER 189The bus ride to the private airport tarmac was suffocatingly quiet.Miller didn’t say another word. After Big Mike and Kowalski had pinned him to the bus panel, he spent the entire drive slumped against his window, muttering petty, low-volume complaints under his breath. But his venom was completely gone. Nobody even bothered to look at him, letting his sour, pathetic mummerings fade into the background noise of the engine.Further back in the bus, the air felt entirely different.Liam sat by the window, his shoulders finally dropping away from his ears. Beside him, Raphael didn't hesitate. Without a single word of hesitation or fear of who might be watching from the front rows, Raph reached across the gap between their seats.His fingers slid smoothly over Liam’s, their hands completely entwined together, resting right on the cushion in plain sight.Liam let out a long, shaky breath he felt like he’d been holding for weeks. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, plugged i
CHAPTER 188The heavy leather duffel hit the blacktop with a dull, hollow thud.Liam stood by the open trunk of the SUV, his hands glued to his bag, staring down the quiet crowd gathered by the bus. Nobody was moving. Nobody was loading gear. Different pairs of eyes were locked dead onto him and Raphael, the air between them stretched so tight it felt like a single wrong breath would snap it.Liam swallowed hard, the knot in his throat burning as he took a step forward into the clearing. He needed to handle this like the Captain he was supposed to be."Look," Liam started, his voice rough, raspy, and completely stripped of any defensive armor. "I'm so sorry, guys. I'm sorry I brought all this noise onto you. As your Captain—and as your friend—I shouldn't have let my personal life affect your chances of being scouted, especially going into an international showcase game like this. I ruined the focus, and I brought this media hell to your doorsteps. I'm really, really sorry."He looked
The arena lights hummed overhead as the team took the ice for morning practice. The cold air bit at Liam’s exposed skin, but he welcomed it. it sharpened his focus. He skated out first, stick tapping against the ice, calling out positions for the warm-up drills. Captain’s job. Always had been.Raph
Liam’s eyes snapped open at 4:07 AM, the same time his internal alarm had gone off for years. The room was still dark, the city outside the window quiet except for the occasional distant hum of traffic. He lay there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, before the weight of the new realit
Liam paced the length of his apartment like an animal on heat, the city lights glittering mockingly through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The victory high from last night had curdled into something sour and heavy in his chest. Every time he closed his eyes, he heard Raphael’s voice, low, mocking, f
The locker room smelled like sweat, icy gel, and adrenaline. Liam Lannister sat on the bench, lacing his skates with sharp, precise tugs, jaw tight as he listened to the distant roar of the crowd filtering through the tunnel.Frostbite Wolves versus Shadow Reapers. The biggest rivalry in the league







