All Chapters of THE ICE WE BREAK :Fake dating the ice king : Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

209 Chapters

Chapter 122: National Obsession

Maya POVThe morning after the championship opener should have been dominated by hockey analysis, because Northridge had just played one of the most important games in program history and the entire country suddenly seemed interested in college hockey, yet somehow the conversation had drifted away from defensive adjustments, scoring opportunities, and championship strategy and settled instead on something far more ridiculous, creating a reality where Leo and I had become almost as newsworthy as the series itself.I discovered that unfortunate fact before I even reached campus.My phone began vibrating before sunrise and continued doing so with such consistency that I eventually considered turning it off completely, while notifications flooded every application I owned and messages arrived from classmates, production staff, distant acquaintances, and even relatives who rarely contacted me under normal circumstances, creating the kind of digital chaos t

Chapter 123: The Pocket

Leo POVThe problem with routines was that they became invisible after a while, because habits repeated often enough eventually stopped feeling like choices and started feeling like necessities, which was why it took me several days to realize that reaching for the letters had become as automatic as checking my hockey gear before practice, while the folded pages remained tucked safely inside my pocket or equipment bag no matter where I went, creating a dependence I would have mocked relentlessly if I had seen it happening to anyone else.The morning after the network announcement began with practice.At least that part was normal.Everything else felt increasingly complicated.Championship preparation consumed most of our schedule, while coaches dissected video footage from Game One and adjusted strategies for the next matchup, creating an atmosphere where every mistake was examined repeatedly and every decision seemed capable of inf

Chapter 124: Championship Travel

Maya POVThe public only saw championship hockey when the lights came on and the cameras started rolling, because what appeared on television was always the dramatic part that fit neatly into highlight packages and emotional montages, while the endless hours spent traveling between cities, waiting inside airports, sitting through meetings, recovering from games, and maintaining routines under constant pressure rarely attracted attention despite forming the foundation of everything that happened on the ice.That reality became impossible to ignore during the first away trip of the Championship Finals.The team left campus before sunrise.Players moved through the athletic center carrying equipment bags and half-finished coffees while coaches reviewed schedules and support staff checked travel arrangements for the third time, creating the familiar chaos that seemed to accompany every major road trip regardless of how carefully everything had be

Chapter 125: Game Two

Leo POVThe hours leading into Game Two felt heavier than they should have, because losing the opening game of a championship series did not end a season and every player in our locker room understood that fact logically, yet logic rarely carried much weight inside the mind of an athlete who had spent an entire night replaying mistakes and imagining different outcomes, while every television segment, social media discussion, and sports article seemed determined to analyze our shortcomings from every possible angle, creating the kind of pressure that could either break a team apart or force it to become stronger than it had ever been before.Coach made his expectations clear long before we stepped onto the ice, while video sessions focused on details rather than panic and leadership meetings centered around adjustments rather than blame, creating an atmosphere that felt noticeably calmer than the outside world despite the fact that we were preparing for one of the m

Chapter 126: Couple Duties

Maya POVThe most frustrating part about the fake relationship was not the lying, because the lie itself had become so deeply woven into daily life that pretending in front of cameras often required less effort than explaining the truth would have, nor was it the constant attention from students and reporters, exhausting as that had become, but rather the fact that every new level of success seemed to generate an entirely new collection of obligations that neither Leo nor I had agreed to and yet somehow remained expected to fulfill as though public ownership came included with popularity.The championship finals had elevated everything.Every interview attracted more viewers.Every photograph generated more discussion.Every appearance created another wave of speculation.What had started as a simple arrangement designed to solve specific problems now felt less like a secret agreement and more like a machine that continued g

CHAPTER 127: Captain Under Fire

Leo POVWinning Game Two should have quieted the criticism for at least a few days, because championship series were supposed to be judged by results rather than narratives and Northridge had done exactly what was required after dropping the opener, yet the moment I opened my phone the following morning I discovered that public opinion had already found a new angle to dissect, while analysts debated leadership qualities, sports networks compared performances, and social media accounts treated every shift of the championship as evidence supporting whichever conclusion they had already decided to believe.The comparison with Jax had returned.Again.Louder this time.More persistent.More public.Everywhere I looked, someone seemed eager to ask the same question in a different form, while television panels discussed offensive production and hockey podcasts analyzed advanced statistics and journalists published article

CHAPTER 128: Chloe’s Version

Maya POVThe championship had a strange way of consuming entire weeks without warning, because every day arrived carrying its own collection of practices, interviews, travel schedules, editing deadlines, sponsor obligations, and unexpected crises, while the constant movement left very little room for reflection and even less room for personal relationships, creating an environment where friendships either adapted to the chaos or slowly disappeared beneath it.Lately, however, Chloe seemed determined not to disappear.The realization crept up on me gradually.Not through dramatic gestures.Not through emotional speeches.Through consistency.She showed up.Again and again.Whenever production problems emerged, Chloe somehow found a solution before the issue became catastrophic, while stressful days that should have ended in frustration often became manageable simply because she was willing to help without being asked, creating a version of our friendship that felt increasingly familiar

Chapter 129: Game Three

Leo POVChampionship hockey always reached a point where skill stopped being enough on its own, because every team remaining at that stage possessed talent and preparation and confidence in equal measure, while the differences separating victory from defeat often came down to endurance, discipline, and the willingness to continue competing after every muscle demanded rest, creating a version of the sport that felt less like a game and more like a prolonged test of stubbornness.Game Three arrived carrying exactly that atmosphere.The series stood tied.The pressure continued growing.The margin for mistakes continued shrinking.Neither team seemed willing to give anything away.From the opening faceoff, the intensity felt different.Not louder.Not faster.Heavier.Every collision carried extra force, while every battle along the boards lasted a little longer than necessary and every contested puck became an opportunity for players to remind opponents that the championship would not b

CHAPTER 130: Recruiting Records

Maya POVThe championship finals had a way of consuming every available hour, because hockey dominated campus conversations and documentary deadlines multiplied alongside national attention while sponsor obligations continued expanding at an alarming rate, creating a schedule so crowded that most days ended before I had time to think about anything beyond the next interview, the next edit, or the next crisis waiting around the corner, yet despite everything demanding my attention the mystery surrounding Leo’s mother remained impossible to ignore completely because every unanswered question seemed determined to linger in the background of my thoughts.I had promised myself not to become obsessed.That promise felt increasingly difficult to keep.The photograph still bothered me.The anonymous email still bothered me.The former staff member still bothered me.None of it fit together cleanly.None of it made sense.And the more I looked, the more inconsistencies seemed to appear without

CHAPTER 131: The Conversation

Leo POVThere was a point where coincidence stopped feeling like coincidence and started feeling like evidence, because one connection could be ignored and two could be explained away while three or four might still leave room for doubt, yet after months of anonymous letters containing observations, phrases, and details that seemed to circle back toward the same person repeatedly, the possibility that Maya was somehow involved had grown large enough that I could no longer pretend it wasn’t occupying an unreasonable amount of space inside my head.The problem was that I couldn’t ask directly.Not really.I had already tried once.The conversation about handwriting during the sponsor event had produced nothing except confusion and a look that suggested Maya was reconsidering every life decision that led her into my presence, creating exactly the opposite outcome I had hoped for because instead of clarifying anything it simply left me with more uncertainty than before.Unfortunately unce

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