Lahat ng Kabanata ng Falling For The Hockey Captain: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

AVA'S POVTHE FREE SKATEThe short program two days earlier had gone better than I'd dared hope, a clean, controlled performance that left me sitting in third place heading into the free skate, close enough to podium contention that Ingrid's usually measured praise carried genuine, unrestrained warmth for the first time all season."Third place after the short program," she'd said. "Now we see what you're actually made of."The free skate arrives with a weight unlike anything I've experienced in my entire career, the arena packed with tens of thousands of spectators, cameras broadcasting to what I know is a global audience of millions, the accumulated pressure of an entire remarkable year's journey settling heavy in my chest as I wait backstage for my name to be called.Chase finds me during the final moments before I have to head toward the ice, his steady presence cutting through the overwhelming nervous energy that's been building since I woke this morning."Hey," he says, taking m

Chase squeezes Leon's shoulder and leaves.Leon doesn't. He drags a hand across his face and looks up, and our eyes meet through the doorway.I see it all in one breath: longing, anger, regret.Then he walks upstairs and doesn't turn around.Ava is folding towels in the laundry room after dinner. I close the door behind me."Chase got to him.""About what?""About me, obviously." I lean on the dryer. "At breakfast, Leon couldn't stop looking. Now he acts like I'm a stranger. Chase said something.""What do you think it was?""That I need a man who stays. A man with a normal job and a normal life." I laugh, and it stings. "Not Leon. And honestly? He's right.""Is that what you want? Normal?""No." My back slides down the machine until I hit the floor. "I want Leon. I've always wanted Leon. Since I was fifteen. I watched him bring girls home, then leave town, again and again, and every time I told myself this would be the last. I'd be over it. But he walked in this house, and I'm right

Leon POVChase had one rule for me: stay away from his sister. By nine that morning, I had already broken it twice in my head.Chloe's singing woke me. My shoulder ached, but Kira was the bigger problem. Last night I held her face and nearly kissed her. I told myself it was a mistake. My body disagreed.The kitchen was a mess of noise. Marcus burned pancakes. Ava argued with Chase over who got the last of the coffee. Kira sat in the middle of it wrapping presents, glasses slipping down her nose. She saw me and looked away fast, but not before her ears went red.I took the seat farthest from her. Our knees found each other under the table anyway."Did you two sleep?" Chase asked."Yes," she said."No," I said.Ava choked on her coffee. Chase put his fork down. "Okay. What's going on?""Nothing," we said together. Worst lie of my life.Then Chloe climbed into my lap with a picture book. "Uncle Leon, read." I could have hugged her. I took her to the couch, and she was asleep before the s

He kissed me again, and this time he was hungry. His hands slid down my sides, and I pulled him closer. His fingers caught the hem of my sweater, and I leaned into him.Outside, a car door slammed.We flew apart. My lips tingled. His hair was wild from my hands."I should go," he said. "Before someone recognizes the truck.""Probably."Neither of us moved. We stayed there, caught in each other's space, waiting for the other one to leave first."Thank you," he said, quieter now. "For being brave enough to say it.""Thank you for being worth it."He kissed me one last time, fast and hard, and slipped out the back.I stood alone in my empty shop, heart racing, mouth still warm from his.I had done it. I had reached for something instead of sitting there hoping to be picked. Whatever came next, whatever pain was waiting down the road, in that moment I felt proud.No more shrinking. No more crumbs. No more asking for permission to want things.My name is Kira Rivers. I run my own business.

 “We should go back,” she murmured into my shoulder.“Kira, there’s something I need to...”“Tomorrow.” She kissed my jaw. “Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow. Tonight you’re mine.”I let her have it. It was the first lie I’d ever told her. It was only a delay, and I was ashamed of it anyway.We dressed by the dying fire. When I picked up the key from the table, I found a folded note underneath it that I’d missed earlier. I opened it with my back to Kira.Took you boys long enough. Lock up when you leave. And Leon, you can’t outrun the truth. She knows.Kira read it over my