All Chapters of Falling For The Hockey Captain: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

CHASE'S POVTAXI SQUADPracticing with the taxi squad feels like being benched in slow motion, every drill a reminder that I'm one bad week away from being cut loose entirely, watching from the stands instead of scratching for a roster spot."You're overthinking every single rep," Sanderson says, unexpectedly showing up at practice one morning, apparently in town for a charity event and stopping by out of what he claims is idle curiosity but what I suspect is Dale quietly calling in a favor."Hard not to," I admit, catching my breath at the boards. "Every mistake feels like it's being measured against whether I actually belong here.""That's the problem," Sanderson says, skating over, studying me with the same assessing focus from development camp. "You're playing scared. Same thing you were doing at camp before I told you to trust your instincts, except worse now, because the stakes actually feel real instead of hypothetical.""They are real," I say. "I got sent down two weeks into m

CHASE'S POVREUNITED, AGAINI beat her home by exactly six hours, my own road trip wrapping up a day before her flight from Switzerland lands, which gives me just enough time to properly prepare the kind of welcome I've been planning since the moment she told me about the Olympic pathway announcement.The apartment's decorated simply but thoughtfully by the time I head to the airport small string lights I picked up on a whim, a bouquet of flowers arranged in the vase her mother had given us during the move, a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge for a celebration two weeks in the making.I spot her the second she clears customs, exhaustion evident in her posture but unable to fully mask the lingering glow of triumph still radiating off her, and when her eyes finally find mine across the crowded terminal, the same overwhelming joy from every previous reunion breaks across her face."Chase!"She closes the distance quickly, and I sweep her into a hug that lifts her briefly off he

AVA'S POVQUALIFYINGThe qualifying event feels different than nationals, smaller in scale but heavier in significance, every skater in the building understanding exactly what's actually at stake not just a medal, but a genuine step toward the Olympic pathway that Ingrid's evaluators have been carefully tracking since Switzerland."Nervous?" Jess asks, finding me in the warmup area, both of us stretching through the familiar pre-competition ritual."Completely," I admit. "This feels different than nationals somehow. Higher stakes, even though technically it's a smaller event.""Because it actually determines the next stage," Jess says, understanding immediately. "Nationals proved you belonged in the conversation. This determines whether you actually advance in it."She's right, and the weight of that distinction sits heavy in my chest as I finish my warmup routine, Coach Reyes watching from the boards with her usual careful, assessing expression."You're ready," she says, once I fini

 AVA'S POVSIX WEEKS, DONEThe final week before the evaluation event passes in a blur of relentless rehearsal, Coach Reyes and the choreographer refining small details with the kind of exacting precision that leaves my whole body aching by the time each session ends, but something steadier has settled beneath the exhaustion since Chase's surprise visit  a renewed conviction in the program itself, in what it's actually meant to become."You've transformed this piece," Ingrid tells me during a final check-in, two days before the evaluation, something rare and genuinely approving in her usually clinical expression. "This is exactly the kind of artistic development we needed to see.""Thank you," I say, gratitude and lingering nerves tangling together. "It didn't feel possible a few weeks ago.""Six weeks is a brutal timeline," Ingrid acknowledges. "But you rose to it. That matters, going forward. Olympic-level competition demands ex

CHASE'S POVPLAYOFF PUSHThe team's record climbs into legitimate playoff contention over the following weeks, every game carrying increasing weight as the regular season winds toward its consequential final stretch, and somewhere in the demanding rhythm of back-to-back games and careful, protected calls with Ava, I find myself settling into the particular intensity of a genuine playoff push for the first time in my professional career."This is different," I tell Ava during one of our calls, still catching my breath after a grueling overtime win. "College playoffs felt intense, but this is a whole different level. Every single game actually matters for postseason positioning.""How are you holding up?" she asks, genuine concern evident despite her own visible exhaustion from an intensive training block."Good, actually," I say, and mean it. "Better than good. I feel like I'm actually playing my best hockey right when it matters most.""That