All Chapters of Slapshot Awakening: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Jaxon POVMy body still tingles with the aftershocks of what just happened, but cold reality is rushing in fast. I can feel sweat cooling on my skin, my heart hammering against my ribs.“This was a mistake,” I mutter, more to myself than to him. “This can’t happen.”Ryker shifts closer, careful not to touch me now. “Look at me.”I don’t want to. Meeting his eyes means acknowledging what just passed between us, what I let happen. What I wanted to happen.“It wasn’t a mistake,” he says, voice low but firm. “You know it wasn’t.”Anger flares suddenly, defensive and hot. “What do you want me to say?” I hiss, keeping my voice down, eyes darting to Erin’s sleeping form. “That everything I thought I knew about myself is wrong? That I’m going to throw away my relationship because you decided tonight was the night to—to— Fuck sake Ryker, she’s your sister, and you just…”“To show you what you’ve been missing?” Ryker finishes, his jaw tight. “To finally be honest after years of pretending?”His

Ryker POVFor once, I don’t try to fix it. I don’t reach for him. I don’t say anything more. Because I’ve already said everything that matters. Whether or not he can face it… that’s on him now.Standing here, for a moment, I think he might break. I see the tightness in his shoulders, the flicker of doubt in his eyes when I tell him not to lie, to me or to himself. It’s there, hovering just beneath the surface, close enough to touch.Suddenly, something shifts. His jaw sets, his eyes shutter, and just like that, the wall goes up. “I’m not gay.”The words land like a blow to the gut, not because I didn’t expect them, but because of how empty they sound. Like he’s already said them to himself a thousand times and he’s hoping that saying them again, louder, will finally make them true.I stay quiet, waiting, giving him the space I shouldn’t, because I already know where this is going.“I was pissed off,” he continues, voice tight and rehearsed, “I was tired and drunk and upset, and you ca

Ryker POVI finally look at him. He’s standing a few feet away, arms folded across his chest like he’s cold or trying to keep himself together. His eyes won’t meet mine for more than a second. He shifts his weight like he wants to disappear.“I’m not gay,” he adds, as if that’s the key to making this less painful. “I was drunk. I wasn’t thinking. It was a mistake.”A mistake. God, that word. I feel my throat tighten, and I push off the counter, shaking my head with a bitter smile. “Right. A mistake. Of course.”He exhales like he’s relieved I’m not yelling, like I’ve made it easier for him to walk away clean. “But that doesn’t mean I want to lose you,” he says, softer now. “You’re still my best friend, Ryker. I don’t want this to ruin what we have.”My fingers curl into fists at my sides, and I laugh, but there’s no humor in it, just frustration, just the sheer exhaustion of having to play this part again. “You’ve made your point, Jaxon. Loud and fucking clear.”He flinches slightly.

Jaxon POVShe wraps her arms around my neck and leans in. “I was thinking,” she murmurs, kissing my jaw, “our four-year anniversary is coming up. Why don’t we do something different this time?”“We do something every year,” I remind her.“I know. But I mean something really different. No skating. No training. Just twenty-four hours of us being us.”Thirty seconds ago she was lecturing me about daily training and now she’s skipping another day. I don’t even have the energy to question it.“Fine. Whatever you want.” Because right now, I don’t have the strength to argue anymore. I’m just exhausted.Her fingers trail lightly over the back of my neck, slipping into my hair, nails dragging just enough to make me exhale through my nose. She leans in, pressing her body fully against mine, and when her lips meet mine, it’s soft at first, slow, familiar, and practiced. I respond without thinking, my hands finding her waist, gripping it as she pushes up onto her toes and deepens the kiss.Her ha

Jaxon POVI ride until the roads blur, until the ache in my back is almost numb from the cold and the way I’ve been leaning. The town’s mostly quiet, streets half-asleep, the sky still holding onto that early gray light that makes everything feel heavier.Eventually, I cut down a side street and pull into the old car park behind the train station. It’s been shut down for years, cracked concrete, broken lights, weeds splitting through the lines that once meant something. No one comes out here anymore, which is exactly why I do.I kill the engine and sit for a second, helmet still on, hands gripping the handlebars like I’m waiting for a sign to move. But there’s nothing. Just silence. No shouting, no guilt, no one staring at me like they’re waiting for an answer I don’t have.I finally pull off the helmet and let it drop onto the floor beside me. My hands drag down my face, rough and slow, trying to rub the mess out of me, but it sticks. The fight with Erin. Ryker. The way it all unrave