Chapter 10 - Winners, officially

Asya's POV

The atmosphere in the locker room felt less like a victory celebration and more like the tense, quiet breath before a storm. We had secured the top seed. Blackwood was officially the team to beat for the regular season, a reality that should have had the rafters shaking with cheers.

Instead, there was only the quiet, and somewhat frantic packing of gear. The campus was rapidly emptying out; the two-week winter break was starting, and almost everyone seemed eager to escape the freezing northern hills for the comfort of their homes.

I stood by my locker, slowly zipping up my massive duffel bag. My ribs still throbbed with a dull ache, but it was nothing compared to the heavy, complicated weight settling in my chest. I couldn't go back to my aunt's house, they were very clear with the "get out" order. But I had saved enough to be able to stay at a cheap motel for the two weeks, and I could probably find something to do while--

"Hey, Anastasia."

I turned abruptly to the source of the sound to see Chloe standing a few feet away, her coat already zipped to her chin. She offered me a smile that seemed tentative, maybe almost apologetic. "Great game yesterday, seriously."

I offered her a humble smile before replying, "it was team work, Chloe. I couldn't have done it alone."

She grinned, turning her tentative expression into a more relaxed and cheerful one. "Some of us are heading to the diner down the highway before we catch our flights. Do you maybe... want to join?"

Before I could answer, a shadow fell over the bench. Saraya stepped into the row, her heavy winter coat slung over her arm, her eyes flashing with a cold, triumphant light. She didn't look like the same captain who had been humiliated and benched just twenty-four hours prior. Instead, she looked like a predator who had finally scented blood.

"Don't waste your breath, Chloe," Saraya said, her voice dripping with a sharp, mocking sweetness. "I’m sure the Ice Queen has far more important private appointments to keep on this empty campus. After all, she’s so good at getting individual attention."

Chloe flinched, flashing me an apologetic glance, before giving Saraya a quick, nervous nod and hurrying toward the exit.

I slowly stood up, strapping my heavy bag over my shoulder, and faced Saraya. "You’re pushing your luck, Saraya. The tournament is over, and you're still looking for a fight you can't win on the ice."

"Oh, the ice isn't the only place to play, Volkov," Saraya whispered, leaning in as the last of the players filtered out of the room. A slow, venomous smirk stretched across her face. "You think you’re so clever, hiding behind your fans and your talent. But I’m boarding my flight in an hour, and I'm going to spend my entire break setting you up for failure and perhaps the humiliation you deserve. And when I get back? I’ll make sure you don't have a single safe place left to hide."

"Good luck with that," I retorted, keeping my voice utterly flat, refusing to let her see the spike of anxiety in my chest.

"I won't need luck," she sneered. After which she spun on her heel, her boots clicking sharply against the tiles as she marched out of the locker room.

Thirty minutes later, the parking lot was a bleak, desolate expanse of gray ice and swirling snow.

I dragged my duffel bag toward the edge of the lot, my breath blooming in thick white clouds in the freezing air. I pulled my phone out, staring at the empty screen. My aunt and uncle—the people who had managed my career and subsequently exiled me the moment the scandal broke—hadn't called. I knew they wouldn't. I was completely on my own for the holidays, left behind in an empty, frozen town while the rest of the world went home to their families.

A low engine rumbled nearby.

I looked up. Vance's heavy black truck was idling near the equipment shed. He was standing outside the driver's side, adjusting the tie-down straps on a stack of training boards in the truck bed. He was wearing his heavy canvas jacket, his dark hair dusted with a fine layer of snow.

I hesitated, then slowly walked toward him, the crunch of my boots on the gravel drawing his attention.

He paused, his hands resting on the edge of the truck bed as he turned his head. His dark eyes locked onto mine, intense and instantly burning away the biting cold of the afternoon.

"You're still here, Volkov?" He asked. "The last shuttle to the airport left ten minutes ago."

"I'm not taking a flight, Coach," I said, stopping a few feet away. I tried to keep my tone casual, but the sheer isolation of the empty parking lot made every word feel incredibly intimate. "My family... isn't expecting me. I'm staying in the dorms for the break."

His brow furrowed, his eyes scanning my face, searching for the vulnerability I was trying so hard to hide. A sudden, deep softness crossed his severe features, a look he only ever allowed me to see when we were completely shielded from the world.

"The dorms are going to be freezing, Anastasia," he murmured, his voice dropping into a rough, quiet register. "They shut down the central heating in the residential wings during the holidays to save on utilities."

"I'll manage," I said, offering him a faint, defiant smile. "I'm the Ice Queen, remember? The cold doesn't bother me."

He let out a low, breathy chuckle, his eyes darkening as they drifted to my lips. "Stubborn. Always so damn stubborn."

We stood there for a long, quiet beat, the space between us humming with a heavy, magnetic tension. He was so close. I could smell the leather of his jacket and the crisp, clean scent of the winter air on his skin. I wanted nothing more than to step into his space, to feel the protective warmth of his arms around me, but we were still out in the open.

"Well, be careful, alright?" He murmured to me as his gaze swept me over. I nodded, and turned to resume my journey to the dorm.

I returned to my dorm room as the afternoon light died, leaving the halls in a creepy, suffocating silence. The pipes groaned in the walls, the cold already starting to seep through the window panes. I sat on the edge of my unmade bed, staring at the blank walls, the reality of my isolation finally settling over me like a heavy blanket.

Then, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

My heart leapt. I pulled it out, my eyes widening as I saw the name on the caller ID: Vance.

I pressed the phone to my ear, my breath catching in my throat. "Um, hello?"

"The ice is completely clear, Anastasia," his deep, rough voice rumbled through the speaker, instantly sending a wave of electric warmth straight to my toes. "The campus is dead. Nobody is here to watch us. Get your skates and meet me at the rink."

A breathless, radiant smile broke across my face in the dark room. "I'll be there in five minutes, Coach."

"Don't keep me waiting, kid," he whispered softly before the line went dead.

I grabbed my skates, the heavy weight of the world completely vanishing as I ran down the empty, silent corridor. The winter break bubble was finally about to begin.