All Chapters of Lessons For The Hockey Captain : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Noah Pov :I woke to grey morning light bleeding through unfamiliar curtains, my neck stiff, my head pounding in the same dull, relentless way it had every morning since the accident. For a moment I didn't know where I was. Then the pieces settled…Ivy's apartment, her couch, the blanket she must have draped over me sometime in the night.She was curled up in the armchair across the room, asleep, her phone still loosely gripped in her hand.I sat up slowly, careful not to wake her, and reached for my own phone on the coffee table. The screen lit up with a notification, and my stomach dropped the second I read it.Ask her what really happened the night before the accident. Ask her why she was the last person seen with you before you hit the ice.I stared at the words until they blurred, my pulse hammering painfully against my skull. Across the room, Ivy stirred, her eyes fluttering open, and the moment she saw my face, alarm flickered across hers."Noah? What is it?"I turned the phone

Ivy Pov:The world seemed to narrow down to the sound of my own heartbeat, loud and frantic in my ears, as every eye in that parking lot turned toward me."Ivy?" Noah's voice had gone quiet, careful, like he was almost afraid of the answer. "What acceptance letter?"I opened my mouth, but the words caught somewhere in my throat. Morgan watched me with a satisfaction that made my skin crawl, clearly savoring every second of my hesitation."It's not what she's making it sound like," I finally managed."Then tell me what it actually is," Noah said, and there was no anger in his voice yet, just a raw, aching confusion that hurt worse than fury would have.I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet his eyes. "The week before the accident, I got an email. A summer research fellowship, out of state, one of the most competitive biochemistry programs in the country. I'd applied months earlier, before we'd even gotten close, and honestly I never thought I'd hear back. When I did, I didn't know ho

Ivy POV:Lockwood's office had the particular stillness of a room braced for impact. He stood behind his desk instead of sitting, arms crossed, his weathered face harder than I'd seen it yet."I didn't authorize that suspension," he said the moment Noah and I walked in. "I want you both to hear that from me directly before you hear a different version somewhere else.""Then who did?" Noah's voice was tight, exhaustion and fear bleeding through the composure he was clearly fighting to hold onto."Dean Whitfield, apparently acting on a recommendation from university legal counsel." Lockwood's jaw worked like he was chewing on something bitter. "Which normally wouldn't move this fast without going through me first. Somebody applied pressure, and I intend to find out who.""Could it be related to the article?" I asked. "The leak about the cover-up?""Maybe." Lockwood exhaled heavily, dragging a hand down his face. "Or maybe someone wanted this to happen quickly, before anyone had a chanc

Ivy Pov:The woman crossed the waiting room with the kind of purposeful stride that made my stomach drop before she'd even said a word. Her press badge caught the fluorescent light as she stopped a few feet from us, phone already raised like she meant to record."Ivy Sullivan?" she said, her voice pleasant in a way that felt entirely rehearsed. "Dana Michaels, campus correspondent for The Daily Ledger. Mind if I ask you a few questions about your relationship with Noah Carter?""This isn't the time," Noah said, stepping slightly in front of me, his voice hard in a way I hadn't heard since the office with Morgan. "Her grandmother's in the hospital right now. You need to leave.""I understand this must be difficult," Dana said, not moving an inch, her phone still angled toward us. "But given everything circulating about the accident, the leaked messages, and now footage of the two of you here tonight, our readers deserve some clarity. Miss Sullivan, is it true you withheld a fellowship

Noah POV:I stared at the message until the words blurred, my thumb hovering uselessly over the screen. Ivy watched me, waiting, her arms wrapped tightly around herself like she was holding herself together by sheer will alone."What does it say now?" she asked.I read it aloud, and something in her expression shifted the moment I got to the last line. Ask Lockwood who really requested tomorrow's early morning slot."That's oddly specific," she said slowly. "Whoever this is knows something concrete…not just guessing.""Or wants us to think that." I pocketed the phone, frustration knotting tighter in my chest. "I'm not falling for another manipulation. We already watched Morgan orchestrate an entire campaign out of half-truths and manufactured panic.""I'm not saying go meet them," Ivy said carefully. "I'm saying maybe it's worth asking Lockwood directly. Not because some anonymous number told us to, but because we deserve to know who actually pushed for that hearing to move, regardles