All Chapters of On Thin Ice With You: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Mia clicks the final box of medical swabs into the cabinet, the metallic thud of the door serving as a period to her long, grueling shift.They had landed this morning. The team had returned like wilted plants under a frost, drained of the manic energy that fueled their victory in Calgary.Coach Danny granted them a half-day of sanctuary.The directive was simple. Sleep, recover, and show up at sunset for the post-game post-mortem and the mandatory physicals.Mia had barely spared a glance for Elias before fleeing to her apartment. She slept with the intensity of the dead until the evening shadows began to stretch across her floor.Now, standing in the training center, she feels the familiar hum of adrenaline."They're back," Dr. Anderson says, not lifting his eyes from the clipboard. "Let's move. Mia, I want you focused on Elias. Check for any abnormal muscle tension or joint effusion around that old shoulder injury. We can't afford a delay in his recovery."Mia nods, her fingers tig

The VIP corridor is still half-empty when they arrive.Their footsteps echo off the polished concrete, the sound bouncing back at them in the low amber light. Then the tunnel ends—and the arena opens up like a held breath finally released.Mia squints instinctively. The ice is blinding, white and sharp even before the overhead lights have fully powered up.She hears the crowd before she fully sees it."Wow." The word slips out before she can stop it.She'd assumed they were early.But the stands are already packed. Thousands of people filling every tier, a sea of red and white on their side, deep McGill blue rippling across the opposite end like a slow wave.The three of them find their row. Dead center, directly above the Raiders' player bench. Close enough to hear the scrape of blades on ice.Lisa grips Mia's arm. "I've never sat in the stands before. Not once.""Neither have I." Mia means it completely.She's been courtside a dozen times as staff, watching the game through a clinic

Lisa whips around so fast she nearly knocks her drink over."Mia. What did you just say?"Ellie is already wearing the expression of someone who has waited a very long time for exactly this moment.Mia clears her throat with great dignity and looks back at the ice. "I said I trust him. Watch the game.""We have time—""I will follow your love story to the ends of the earth," Lisa announces, pressing one hand to her chest. "I will carry the banner. I will—""Lisa, you're not even this excited about Tyler."That lands. Lisa blinks, recalibrates, and then carries on as if Mia said nothing.Ellie reaches across Mia to shake Lisa's hand. "I called it months ago.""You two are impossible." Mia looks between them. "Nothing has even happened.""Something happened," Ellie says. "You said you trust him. That's not nothing, that's actually a lot for you specifically, sweetie."Mia has no comeback for that. She faces forward and drinks her water."Okay but—" Ellie leans in, pivoting smoothly. "Cl

Claire doesn't drop the smile. She just adjusts it."Must be exhausting," she says, her voice going softer. "Working so hard as team physio. All that...service." A small pause. "You're really not picky, are you?"Mia keeps her expression neutral."Actually—" Claire tilts her head, as though something just occurred to her. "After the last home game, Elias came back to the locker room with all that energy, you know how athletes get. He called me in. Barely even made it through the—""Claire."The voice is low. Flat. Carries no heat because it doesn't need any.Elias is standing three feet away, and Mia has no idea how long he's been there. His expression doesn't change as he looks at Claire."Coach is asking for you."Claire's smile falters for half a second. Then it's back, bright and unaffected."Of course." She lets the words stretch.Then she reaches out, fingertips angling toward his sleeve, but Elias steps back. Her fingers touch nothing.He looks at the spot on his arm where she

Elias isn't finished."The angle of that photo. The timing." He keeps his voice level. "An unauthorized photographer doesn't just wander onto a private hotel terrace and happen to frame only Claire and me. Someone let him in. Someone pointed the camera."The PR director's pen stops moving."The terrace has cameras," Elias continues. "So does the corridor leading to it. This isn't complicated." He glances toward the door as Coach Danny steps in and takes a seat—gives him a beat to catch up, then carries on."If the team has an internal security gap, or someone inside is manufacturing situations like this, the damage doesn't stop at my reputation. This time it's me. Next time it's someone who doesn't have the resources to manage it."Danny leans forward slowly, elbows on the table. "He's right. We can't keep patching the leak without finding where it is."The PR director sits with it.He knows what the investigation will find. The shape of it is already clear. What he doesn't know is ho