All Chapters of The Pucking Match: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

20 Chapters

The Rink of My Nightmares

The air inside the Crestview Arena didn't just freeze your skin; it bit straight into your lungs, tasting of chemical frost and old leather. Two years ago, that smell meant safety. It meant the warm fleece of a varsity jacket wrapped around my shoulders while a boy promised me forever.Tonight, it just made me want to throw up.I tugged the hem of my red cheerleading skirt down, a useless gesture against the draft shaking my bare legs. My entire body throbbed with a deep, systemic exhaustion. My alarm had blared at five a.m. to nurse Caspian, pack his tiny diaper bag, and sprint across town to drop him at Freya’s apartment before my microeconomics lecture. After that, it was a blur of three back-to-back classes, a three-hour shift scanning IDs at the campus gym, and a brutal cheer practice that left my calves screaming.And now, I had to stand under these blinding floodlights, forcing a plastic smile for a stadium full of rich kids who didn't even see me."Liv, snap out of it," Freya

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Mess He Left Behind

The third-period buzzer didn't just signal the end of the game; it sounded like a countdown to my execution. The Wolves won five to one, and the stadium was practically vibrating with the stomping feet of drunk college students. While the rest of the cheer squad headed to the campus diner to celebrate, I swapped my pom-poms for a heavy industrial mop and a yellow bucket of bleach water.My shift had officially started."I still think this is a terrible idea," Freya muttered, leaning against the concrete wall of the back hallway. She was holding her car keys in one hand and her phone in the other. "He knows you're here now, Liv. Entering that locker room is like walking straight into a lion's den.""The lion doesn't know I’m the one cleaning it," I replied, forcing my voice to sound steadier than I felt. I adjusted the straps of my oversized gray hoodie, hiding the cheer uniform underneath. "The athletic director assigns these shifts blindly. Casper thinks I’m just a student he saw on

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Morning After

I didn’t get to bed until three in the morning. By the time I finished re-mopping the locker room, walking to Freya’s to carry a heavy, sleeping Caspian back to our basement apartment, and washing the smell of bleach from my skin, the stars were already fading.Now, at eight a.m., the harsh morning light of the lecture hall felt like needles behind my eyes."Mama, look!" Caspian babbled, his chubby fingers pressing a plastic blue dinosaur against my notebook."Shh, sweet boy," I whispered, keeping my head low as the professor droned on about supply chain logistics.Crestview University didn't have a daycare open this early, and Freya had a mandatory senior thesis seminar across campus. I had no choice. I sat in the absolute back row of the massive hall, hiding Caspian behind my heavy backpack. He was being an angel, happily chewing on a piece of toast, but my nerves were fried. If the professor caught me with a toddler, I’d be kicked out of the lecture. I couldn't afford to miss a sin

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Price of Silence

The moment the lecture ended, I didn't wait for the professor to pack up. I scooped Caspian into my arms, shoved his toys into my bag, and bolted out the back doors before Casper could even untangle himself from Chloe. I ran down the concrete stairwell, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs until I burst out into the chilly autumn afternoon."Liv! Over here!"Freya was waiting by the campus fountain, her sleek black SUV idling at the curb. The second she saw my face, she leaped out of the driver's seat and grabbed the heavy diaper bag from my shoulder."Get in," she ordered, buckling a sleepy Caspian into his car seat with practiced speed.I collapsed into the passenger seat, my trembling hands clamping over my face. The scent of Freya’s expensive leather seats usually made me feel guilty, but right now, it was a sanctuary."He almost saw him," I whispered, my voice cracking as Freya climbed back in and slammed the door shut. "Caspian dropped a toy. Casper looked down. I

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Weight of the Night

By nine o'clock that night, my cheer uniform was stuffed inside my backpack, and I was wearing a faded aprons over a plain black t-shirt. The smell of ice and bleach had been replaced by the greasy, heavy scent of burnt espresso and frying grease.I was standing behind the counter of the 24-hour campus diner, my fingers flying across the touch screen of the cash register."That’s one double cheeseburger, large fries, and a vanilla shake. Your total is twelve-fifty," I said, my voice sounding robotic even to my own ears.The student handed me a crumpled bill. I gave him his change, wiped down the sticky counter for the hundredth time, and checked the clock. Three more hours until my shift ended at midnight. Three more hours before I could sprint back to Freya’s apartment, collapse into bed, and hold my son.My thighs felt like lead from the afternoon cheer drills. My lower back throbbed from scrubbing the mildew out of the hockey showers. Every time I blinked, my eyelids felt like sand

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Weight of My Crimes

The morning sun didn’t feel like a new beginning; it felt like an interrogation light.By the time I staggered back to our cramped basement apartment, the clock on my cracked phone read three-forty in the morning. My shoulders were stiff from scrubbing the diner counters, my legs throbbed from the cheer routine, and my skin still smelled faintly of bleach and cheap espresso. I didn’t even bother changing out of my oversized t-shirt. I just crawled into bed next to Caspian, pulling his small, warm body against mine, and let his steady breathing anchor me to the earth.I only got three hours of sleep before his tiny hands were patting my cheeks, demanding breakfast."Mama, juice," Caspian mumbled, blinking up at me with those big, unmistakable silver-blue eyes."Coming, sweet boy," I croaked, my voice thick with exhaustion.Every movement felt like moving through wet cement. I dragged myself to the tiny kitchenette, pouring him a cup of milk and slicing up the last apple from our plasti

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

Lines in the Sand

My hands didn't stop shaking until I reached the back exit of the athletic complex.I didn't wait for the team to return from the ice. I shoved my cleaning supplies into the locker room closet, grabbed my backpack, and practically sprinted past the heavy double doors into the stinging autumn air. Every breath tasted like ice and regret. Casper’s words kept bouncing around my skull, a brutal loop of accusations I wasn't allowed to defend myself against. “You left me broken... you completely destroy the only person who ever gave a damn about you.”He was right. I did destroy him. And the worst part was, I had to keep doing it every single day just to keep him safe."Liv! Over here!"Freya’s horn honked twice from the drop-off lane. I dragged my heavy feet down the concrete steps, my thighs burning from the afternoon conditioning circuit, and yanked the passenger door open.The moment I slid inside, the warm blast of the heater hit my face, but it couldn't touch the freezing numbness in

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Viper’s Strike

The shift at the diner usually felt like a slow crawl to the electric chair, but tonight, the grease and the hum of the refrigerators were a relief. They drowned out the sound of my own thoughts. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Casper pulling Chloe against the glass, his silver eyes drilling into mine while he kissed her.It was a game, I reminded myself, slamming a stack of clean ceramic plates onto the shelf under the counter. Just a cruel, pathetic game to see if I’ll bleed."Order up, Liv!" the cook shouted, sliding a basket of chili-cheese fries onto the metal pass-through.I wiped my hands on my apron, grabbed the basket, and walked it over to booth four. My calves felt like blocks of concrete. The muscles in my back were screaming from the afternoon routine. I just needed to make it to midnight.The bell above the door jingled, its cheerful chime cutting through the low murmur of the late-night crowd.I didn't look up immediately. I was too busy wiping down a sticky table, m

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Fuse is Lit

Christian’s warning echoed in my head for the next twelve hours. “If Casper Vance finds out Marcus was breathing near you, this campus is going to burn.”I tried to convince myself it was just locker room posturing. Hockey players loved drama; they loved territorial wars. But as I pushed the rolling laundry bin into the Crestview training facility the next morning, the thick, heavy tension in the air told me the fire had already started.The hallway outside the main rink didn't just smell like ice it felt like a pressure cooker about to blow."Liv, don't go in there," Freya whispered, suddenly materializing from the athletic department's breakroom. She snagged my forearm, her face pale beneath her makeup. "Seriously. Turn around. Call out sick. I’ll give you the money for the shift.""I told you, Freya, I'm not running," I said, peeling her fingers off my sleeve. "What’s going on?""Marcus Vance posted a picture on his private story last night. A picture of you at the diner counter,"

Last Updated : 2026-10-03

The Bloodbath on Ice

The Crestview Arena didn't just feel full tonight; it felt like a colosseum before a slaughter. The stands were a chaotic blur of red, black, and white banners, the student section already screaming themselves hoarse before the teams even finished their warm-ups. The air tasted heavy with grease, stale beer, and the biting, chemical chill of the fresh ice surface.My arms ached as I shook my red and black pom-poms on beat, my feet moving through the opening cheer routine on pure muscle memory. I wasn't watching the crowd. My eyes were locked onto the home team tunnel."And now, your Crestview Wolves!" the announcer's voice boomed, rattling the metal rafters.The double doors blew open. A wall of sheer, aggressive energy spilled onto the ice as the Wolves skated out, their blades slicing into the surface with sharp, echoing cracks. Leading the pack was number seventeen.Casper looked massive. His broad chest was heaving under his black jersey, his face hidden behind the dark cage of hi

Last Updated : 2026-10-07

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