All Chapters of Ice In His Veins: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

(Julian's POV - The Camp)The first time Julian Frost saw Sebastian Cruz, it was 5:47 in the morning and the weight room smelled like sweat and old towels.Julian had not slept. Again. The bunkhouse was too loud, too hot, too full of boys who talked in their sleep and kicked their blankets and made him feel like he did not belong. He had slipped out before dawn, telling himself he would get a head start on conditioning. Telling himself that was what his father would want.Every moment you are not working, someone else is.Richard Frost's voice lived in Julian's head. It had been there for as long as he could remember, whispering that he was not good enough, not fast enough, not strong enough. That was why he was at this camp. To prove his father wrong.The weight room was supposed to be empty. That was the point. Quiet. Alone. A place where no one watched him struggle.Instead, there was a boy.He was already mid-set when Julian pushed through the door, bench pressing more than Julian

(Before the present)The first Sunday dinner after the wedding was the worst.Sebastian showed up late on purpose. He parked his old truck next to Julian's new car, the one Richard had bought him as a graduation gift, and sat there for a full minute before getting out. The mansion loomed above him, all stone and glass and money. He hated it. He hated the way it made him feel small.His mother answered the door. She was wearing a dress he had never seen before, something expensive, and her hair was done up in a way that made her look like a stranger."You are late," she said, but she was smiling."Traffic."She kissed his cheek and pulled him inside. The house smelled like pot roast and flowers. Sebastian followed her to the dining room, where Richard was already sitting at the head of the table, a glass of wine in his hand."Sebastian. Good of you to join us."Richard's voice was smooth, the way it always was. He never raised it. He never had to."Sorry," Sebastian said. He did not me

The arena was loud.Sebastian stepped onto the ice for warmups and felt the energy buzzing through the stands. The Vancouver crowd was hungry for a win. The Storm had lost three of their last four, and the fans were getting restless. A win against Calgary would quiet some of the noise.But Calgary had Julian Frost.Sebastian had not spoken to Julian since the wedding. Five years of Sunday dinners had ended when Sebastian stopped coming. He told himself he was busy with hockey. But the truth was simpler. He could not sit across from Julian anymore without feeling something he did not want to feel.Now Julian was on the other side of the ice, wearing a red and white jersey, his dark hair tucked under his helmet. He looked the same. Tall, lean, quiet. But there was something different about the way he moved. A slight hesitation in his left leg. Sebastian noticed it because he had been watching Julian for years, even when he pretended not to.The puck dropped.The first period was fast an

The coffee shop was small and quiet.Sebastian got there early. He sat at a table by the window, the one with the best view of the street, and watched people walk by. His knee bounced under the table. He could not sit still.He had not slept. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Julian's face in the tunnel. The way his voice cracked. The way his eyes looked wet but he did not cry.You do not remember me at all, do you?The words had been haunting him all night.The door opened. Julian walked in.He was wearing a grey sweater and dark jeans, nothing like the suits Sebastian was used to seeing him in. Without the armor of expensive clothes, he looked younger. Softer. More like the boy in the memory that Sebastian could not reach.Julian spotted him and walked over. He sat down across from Sebastian, folding his hands on the table. His bandage was gone, but his knuckles were still red and raw."You came," Julian said."I said I would.""I know. I just. I was not sure."Sebastian did not

The press conference was scheduled for 10 AM.Sebastian had done hundreds of them. Stand at a podium, answer questions, say nothing important, leave. But this time was different. This time, the questions were not about the game.The night before, his phone had not stopped buzzing. Reporters. Teammates. His mom. All of them asking the same thing. What is going on with you and Julian Frost?Someone had leaked a video. Not of the fight. Something worse. A clip from the coffee shop security camera. Sebastian and Julian sitting close, holding hands across the table. The date was from weeks ago, before everything got complicated.The video was grainy, but it was clear enough. Two men. Hands intertwined. Smiling at each other like no one else existed.Sebastian had not known about the camera. Julian had not known either. But someone had found the footage and sold it to a sports blog. Now it was everywhere.---Sebastian stood in the hallway outside the press conference room, his back against