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Home / YA/TEEN / He choose the ice, now he wants me / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of He choose the ice, now he wants me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

13 Chapters

Chapter 1

Maxine’s POV“Get it together, Max,” I muttered under my breath, pressing my palms against the sink.The woman staring back at me from the mirror looked composed, professional and strong but it was the opposite underneath. My dark hair was pulled into a sleek low bun, not a single strand out of place. My white blouse was crisp and tucked perfectly into a fitted black skirt. I wore minimal makeup which was just enough to make me look alive and hide everything else.Biting the corner of my lip, I exhaled slowly, dragging in a breath that felt too heavy for my lungs.After three years of living in Oregon, I was back in Las Vegas. If I was told I would come back someday, I would have said never, but here I am. My fingers curled slightly against the edge of the sink as his name slipped into my mind like it never left.Hex Mercer.Thinking of him alone made my heart constrict against my chest. Pressing my lips into a thin line, I straightened abruptly, shaking my head like I could physi

Chapter 2

Maxine’s POV“…and then he took a hit to the boards,” the athletic trainer was giving me details about his injury. I heard every word he said but I processed none of it because my eyes were completely locked on him. After three years of being apart, he was sitting six feet away from me now, looking exactly the same way I had remembered him. No, that wasn’t entirely true.He looked older and sharper now like life had carved something deeper into him.His jaw was more defined, a faint shadow of stubble lining it like he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning. His dark hair was slightly longer than I remembered and pushed back messily like he had been running his hands through it. And those gray eyes of his were intense like they always were and right now, they were staring straight at me.My heart kept slamming violently against my ribs.Breathe, Maxine, breathe.“Dr. Max?”The sound of my name cut through the haze, and I blinked, forcing myself back into the room.The trainer was

Chapter 3

Hex’s POVThe moment the door opened and I saw her, I forgot how to breathe.It had been three years but somehow she looked exactly the same and completely different all at once and that hit me harder than any check I had taken on the ice.She was still beautiful.No, beautiful didn’t even cover it.Maxine had always been the kind of girl people noticed, but she wasn’t loud about it. The sharpness of her cheekbones was more defined now, like life had carved discipline into her. Her soft lips were pressed into a firm line, like smiling wasn’t something she allowed herself to do anymore.And her eyes which used to light up when she saw me were now guarded and professional like I was just another patient.That stung more than the cut on my forehead but I didn’t let it show.Years of training had taught me how to take a hit and keep moving, and how to mask pain like it didn’t exist. She didn’t see me at first but the instant the recognition hit, everything in her froze because there was

Chapter 4

Maxine’s POVThe second I stepped out of that room, I couldn’t breathe as everything hit me all at once.I didn’t stop walking because if I did, I would fall apart right there in the middle of the hallway, and I refused to give him that kind of power over me again.My heels clicked too fast against the polished floor, my vision slightly blurred as I tried to focus on anything but the sound of his voice echoing in my head.The way he had called three years like it was three days made my throat tighten painfully as I swallowed hard. Turning a corner blindly, I barely registered where I was going until I saw the restroom sign ahead.Without thinking, I pushed the door open rushing straight to the sink but I didn’t make it.I dropped to my knees, gripping the edge of the toilet as everything I had forced down came rushing up.My stomach twisted violently as my body betrayed me in the worst way possible.I hated that after everything, after three years of rebuilding myself piece by piece,

Chapter 5

Maxine’s POVIt had been two weeks, fourteen days and three hundred and thirty-six hours of carefully avoiding one person in a building that suddenly felt too small for both of us.Leaning back in my chair, I exhaled slowly as I stared at the stack of files on my desk. The fluorescent lights hummed faintly above me, the distant echo of skates against ice drifting through the walls like a constant reminder of where I was.I was finally living my dream but while I was trying to build something for myself, I had also, unknowingly, signed up for a full-time job of dodging Hex Mercer like my sanity depended on it.Which, honestly, it did.If he noticed, he didn’t say anything but I knew he noticed.Hex had always been observant in ways that were inconvenient.My phone buzzing softly on the desk was what pulled me out of my thoughts.Thinking it was a check in text from Adeline, I reached out to it quickly only for a frown to spread across my face. It was an unknown number.For a second,

Chapter 6

Maxine’s POVDinner should have been a distraction, a clean break from everything that had been clawing at my sanity for the past two weeks.But yet, even as I sat across from Davian in one of the most expensive restaurants in Las Vegas, with soft golden lights hanging above us and the low hum of quiet conversations filling the air, all I could think about was him and I hated it.I hated that no matter how hard I tried to push him out of my head, he found his way back in like he had unfinished business with my thoughts.“Maxine?”I blinked, my gaze snapping back to Davian.He had been watching me closely but not in a creepy way though. He was just observant like he had been studying me for a while now.“Hmm?” I murmured, forcing a small smile.“You’ve been quiet,” he said, leaning back slightly in his chair. “Is everything alright?”“Yes,” I said quickly.I picked up my glass, taking a sip of water like it would give me time to gather myself.“I’m just tired,” I added another lie.He

Chapter 7

Hex’s POVI didn’t sleep all through the night because every time I closed my eyes, I saw her.The way she stood beside him, the way she looked at him and the way she said, “Let’s go,” like I didn’t exist.For a greater part of the night, I was staring at the ceiling of my apartment with my jaw tight and hands clenched into fists against my sides. The memory kept playing over and over again in my head like some kind of punishment I couldn’t escape.Out of everyone, she chose Davian D’Amato. The thought made something twist in my chest. It was jealousy and I hated that I felt it because I had no right.I lost that right the moment I let her walk away three years ago but still that didn’t mean I had to like it.Exhaling roughly, I dragged a hand down my face before pushing myself off the bed.We had a home game in two nights so I had to be at the rink for practice. I didn't want to but if I stayed here any longer, I was going to lose my damn mind.***The rink was already buzzing whe

Chapter 8

Maxine’s POVThe moment I stepped back into the exam room, everything in me went on high alert.After assuring the trainers it was nothing serious, I shifted my gaze back to Hex only for my eyes to fall on my phone in his hand.My heart dropped so fast that it felt like it hit the floor.Just yesterday, I took off Creed's picture as my wallpaper and now today, he was holding my phone. “What the hell are you doing?” I snapped, my voice coming out sharper than I intended as I rushed towards him. Before he could say anything I grabbed it from him, my fingers tightening around the device like it was something that could ruin everything.I shoved it into my pocket immediately, like hiding it would undo whatever he had already seen but it was too late.The second I looked up and met his eyes, I knew he had seen something.His gaze was locked on me now, intense, and searching, like he was trying to piece together a puzzle that suddenly didn’t make sense anymore.“Who’s Creed?”The question

Chapter 9

Maxine’s POVThe rest of the day passed in a blur. It was not the kind that came with productivity or focus, it was the kind that left you hollow while moving from one task to another without truly being present. My hands worked on autopilot as I updated charts, checked vitals, and responded to questions, but my mind kept circling back to one thing.Hex, more specifically, what almost happened.The image wouldn’t leave me; him holding my phone, his eyes scanning the screen and then that question.I tightened my grip on the file in my hand as I exhaled slowly, trying to steady myself. It had been hours, but yet the panic still lingered under my skin, crawling, suffocating, and refusing to settle.He was too close to finding out about Creed and Hex Mercer was not the type to let something go once it caught his attention.That was what scared me the most. It was not his anger or presence, it was his persistence.I had spent three years building a life where he didn’t exist. A life whe

Chapter 10

Hex’s POVThe only thing running through my head was simple.“Get him away from her.”It wasn’t logical, calm or even remotely reasonable but it was loud.It was louder than the pain in my knee, louder than the echo of Maxine’s voice telling me to stay away and louder than the image of her stepping toward him like he was the safe option.I hated the way Davian stood too close to her like he had a right and I didn’t.A bitter laugh almost left my lips, but I swallowed it down, my chest tightening with something that felt dangerously close to anger.No, not anger, it was something worse. Jealousy.It was raw, ugly and unfamiliar because I had never had to compete for her before.Back then, there was no doubt about us. She was mine and I was hers.But now everything felt like a battlefield I didn’t understand.“Hex.” Her voice snapped me out of it.I looked at her and for a second everything else faded.“Take your meds,” she said, her tone professional and detached. “And don’t put press

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