All Chapters of Boys Don’t Play Fair: Chapter 61 - Chapter 69

The rink was basically empty, apart from the sound of Jay’s skates slicing through the ice.He pushed himself, way harder than necessary. Legs burning, lungs tight.Practice wasn’t for another twenty minutes, but he’d already been grinding alone for half an hour. Drills. Just relentless repetition, until his muscles screamed because honestly, this was the only thing that worked anymore. The only time his mind stopped buzzing and let him breathe.He lined up six pucks by the blue line, started launching them one after another. Top corner, bottom corner, five hole. He nailed them all. The net stayed empty, but he pretended someone was in goal. Pretended it was a high pressure game, scouts in the stands with their notebooks. Every shot landed exactly where he wanted.Jay stopped, breathing hard, staring at the net.Six perfect shots.He felt nothing.“You’re here early.”Jay turned to see Coach, standing at the entrance, holding his clipboard, whistle dangling around his neck.“Wanted to

Liam spotted Jay waiting under the front steps, out by the parking lot. The rain was coming down hard, thundering against the pavement just beyond the awning, so loud it drowned out everything else. People dashed past, backpacks over their heads, making runs for buses and cars.Jay leaned on his car, hockey bag at his feet, scrolling through something on his phone. Just waiting. God, Liam hadn’t expected that to hit him as hard as it did. Jay was still waiting for him. He slowed down as he got closer.Jay glanced up right away, eyes landing on the stack of folders Liam had clutched under his arm.“You carried all that by yourself?” Jay said.Liam gave a little shrug. “I’m surviving.”“You’re stupid.”Without asking, Jay moved towards him and grabbed the folders and Liam’s bag, the way he always had. Like muscle memory.Liam let him. And honestly, that was the risky part. He liked how Jay took care of him. Liked someone noticing him, looking at him closely. It quieted something rest

Morning light slipped into the kitchen, painting pale gold stripes across the marble floor.Too clean.Too polished.Way too quiet.Jay sat slouched at the big dining table, hoodie on, still in his school uniform pants. He had one ankle hooked under the chair. His mom scrolled through emails on her tablet, coffee cooling untouched at her elbow.Only sounds? Silverware clinking on porcelain. The gentle tapping of her nails on the screen.She finally spoke, eyes on the tablet. “You have scouts Friday, right?”Jay gulped down his orange juice. “Yeah.”“Your father said Harvard’s coming again.”“Mhm.”“That’s good.”Another tap, another email.Jay stared at his eggs. He tried to remember the last time they’d really had breakfast together.Not some rushed meal with his dad.Not with schedules, charity stuff, hockey banquets, or calls interrupting halfway through.For a second, a tiny, dumb hope flickered in his chest maybe she came downstairs just to see him.Then she goes, “How’s your con

Jay missed the next pass.Not by a lot.Most people wouldn’t even catch it.But Liam noticed.Mark whipped the puck across like always during the reset, and Jay caught it just a split-second late, had to adjust before shooting.A tiny hesitation.A split distraction.Noah.Coach’s whistle sliced through the air. “Again, Vale.”Jay reset right away.His jaw clenched harder now.Up in the nosebleeds, Noah shifted in his seat.“I think he saw us,” Joe mumbled.Noah kept his eyes on the ice. “Yeah.”Down below, the scrimmage kicked off again.Ryan charged hard down the left while Mark sliced through center. Jay jumped in halfway, snapping up the puck clean and turning up ice.Fast.Way too fast.Like he wanted to run away from something.Two defenders crashed in on him by the boards.Jay forced himself through anyway.Shoulder slammed.Blades screeched across the rink.Nearly lost the puck, but Jay managed to grab it again, flinging a shot at the net...Blocked.The rebound skipped wide.

The drive back to Liam’s felt different this time. The air was heavy, not like the easy quiet at the diner earlier this silence just pressed down between them. Streetlights washed across the windshield, pale and streaky, while the heater hummed. Jay kept his hands tight on the wheel, eyes straight ahead.Liam sat beside him, staring out the window. But every so often, he glanced back at Jay small, quick looks. Like he was checking on something, or like he’d misplaced something important. Jay noticed. He always noticed Liam’s looks, especially when Liam wanted answers nobody wanted to say out loud.Noah’s memory felt wedged between them now, like a third body occupying all the space and none of the comfort.Jay stopped at a red light. For a second, the signal’s reflected glow painted Liam’s face red before fading. "You missed your turn," Liam said, voice low.Jay blinked once, then looked up. He really had missed it. The street to Liam’s