LOGINCHAPTER 196Marcus Hayes flat-out refused to leave the hotel room.He stayed planted right there on the edge of the mattress, acting like a stubborn hostage negotiator wrapped in a white hotel duvet, refusing to budge an inch until he extracted a binding, dead-serious oath from both of them. He made them swear—cross their hearts, hand on hockey history—that the defensive lines would lock down a clean 4-0 shutout. He stayed right up until the final floor warden came by to hustle the players down to the lobby, hovering like an anxious neon ghost to make sure his demand was the last thing echoing in their skulls.By the time the Frostbite Wolves' charter bus rolled up to the loading dock of the West Coast showcase arena, the air inside the cabin was heavy enough to chew.They filed off the bus in dead silence. No laughing, no cheap shots, no headphones blasting music. They moved as a tight, interlocking wall of red and white through the concrete bowels of the arena loading bay.Once the
CHAPTER 195Raphael was deep in a dream about going on a month long vacation with Liam when the rhythmic, violent thumping started.Thump. Thump. Thump-thump-thump.In the hazy blur of half-consciousness, his brain tried to rationalize it. It wasn't in the dream. It was right outside. Someone was hammering on wood with the kind of aggressive, relentless enthusiasm usually reserved for law enforcement serving a warrant at four in the morning.Please let me find a heavy, blunt object so I can slowly kill whoever is standing on the other side of this door until their ancestors feel it.He had planned on sleeping. He was supposed to get at least eight uninterrupted hours of unconscious bliss before the absolute circus of tournament day began. Instead, some brain-dead, unhinged moron was trying to beat the door off its reinforced steel hinges.With a low, gravelly groan that sounded like a dying bear, Raphael forced one heavy eyelid open. He didn't move to get up yet. Instead, his gaze d
CHAPTER 194The hotel room was dead quiet, save for the low, rhythmic hum of the wall unit struggling against the West Coast humidity. The heavy, light-blocking velvet curtains were drawn tight across the glass, sealing out the neon glare of the strip, the lingering noise of the street, and the entire hostile outside world that had tried to swallow them whole a few hours ago.On the king-sized bed, a literal battlefield of room service containers lay scattered like debris after a storm: three empty, grease-stained plates of club sandwiches, a bowl of cold garlic fries, a cardboard container of half-eaten wings, and a plastic cup holding a puddle of melted chocolate ice cream.Liam sat propped up against the padded headboard, his knees pulled up to his chest, wearing a faded grey t-shirt and grey sweatpants. He stared blankly down at a stray french fry he was rolling back and forth between his thumb and forefinger. The blinding, jagged adrenaline of the airport gauntlet had finally ble
CHAPTER 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
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
The bass thumped through the walls of The Icehouse, the team’s favorite upscale club downtown. Neon blue and white lights pulsed across the crowded dance floor, reflecting off glass tables and mirrored columns like shards of ice. The Wolves had reserved the entire VIP section — bottle service flowi







