Novel & Cerita Booktok Hockey Player

I took my things. "...Yes?" "Elias Desmond." He said it like I was just supposed to know his name or at least who he was. "I play hockey. NYU team." He paused. "Noah Warren's your friend." "Noah." I said the name and the pieces clicked. Noah had mentioned a hockey player once, maybe twice. my teammate, absolute menace on the ice, somehow also a decent human being. I hadn't retained much beyond that. "Right. Yeah. He's mentioned you."

##Chapter 10: Cassidy Book One: Stay "This is going to be so much fun! Thanks again for coming with me tonight." Snuggling into her jacket, Brooklyn bounces excitedly on the bleacher seat as her gaze tracks the hockey players skating by the Plexiglas that surrounds the ice. "That's him, number fifty-five." A dreamy look fills her large green eyes. As she sighs, her warm breath escapes into the frigid air of the rink. I roll my eyes even though she isn't paying me the slightest bit of attention.

I pull back, linking my arm through my fake boyfriend’s. “Yes, this is my man. You know him?” Sylvia’s gaze bounces between me and Harlan, her eyes narrowing in obvious displeasure. “He’s the captain of the Vancouver Titans, the most successful hockey team in Canada. He scored forty-three goals last season. Who doesn’t know him?” I stiffen in shock, turning slowly to meet Harlan’s gaze. Captain of the most successful hockey team in Canada? Good Lord, what have I gotten myself into? “You seem to know a whole lot about him, babe,” Drake growls, his jaw tightening as he slides a hand around Sylvia’s shoulders.

“Just your brain being stupid.” But the feelings from the dream wouldn’t leave. The way his lips felt. The way he said my name. It scared me more than any big hit on the ice. I couldn’t like Toby that way. I was Alan Voss. Hockey captain. Going to the NHL. Guys like me didn’t have dreams about other guys. I needed to prove it. To myself and to everyone. The next morning I texted Sarah, one of the girls who had been asking me out for months.

I took a deep breath and gripped the edges of the podium to steady my shaking hands. "My name is Derek Stone," I started, my voice coming out stronger than I expected. "Most of you know me as a hockey player. As someone who transferred here and immediately started winning games. As the guy who beat Ryan Richmond and took his spot as team captain." I paused, letting that sink in. "But that is not who I really am. That is just the mask I wore because I thought that was what everyone wanted to see. The confident athlete who never struggled. The guy who had it all together. The person who made everything look easy."

She was hiding something, burying herself under the crushing weight of that architecture program, and my father’s enforced isolation had completely shattered my ability to reach her. "Head in the game, Evans!" Leo yelled, snapping a hard pass across the blue line. I caught the puck on the blade of my stick, my jaw clenched. I didn't want to play hockey. I wanted to get on a plane, fly to Chicago, and kick the door of her dorm room down. I accelerated toward the offensive zone, my eyes tracking the goalie. I didn't see the blindside coming. Hayes, the massive senior defenseman I had humiliated earlier in the week, had been waiting for his shot. He didn't play the puck. He didn't aim for my ch

“I know this team. It’s from the human realm.” I turned it around and froze. The name printed there was one I recognized too. A famous hockey player. A very famous one. I stared at it, then slowly looked toward Ella. “Dax plays hockey?” Ella looked just as surprised as I felt. “Apparently.” Of course he did. Because why wouldn’t the terrifying Alpha King of Shadowfen also have a mysterious human-realm hockey life? That man was a walking locked folder with abs but despite everything, I smiled. A real one this time

My phone buzzed again—this time a call. Aunt Kate. I answered immediately. “Hello, Aunt Kateee!” “How’s my favorite niece doing?” “I’m great. I actually met my second mate.” “What?” she yelled. “When did this happen?” “Like… three days ago.” “That’s amazing! Who is he?” “Um. Hades Deolle. School hockey player. Total playboy,” I sighed. “What did he say when he saw you?” “Nothing. He was at the rink about to play, and I left. I don’t want anything to do with a playboy.” I scoffed. “I’m sure he’s fucking someone right now.”

“Walk in late, act like you own the place, then disappear when real responsibility is mentioned.” I glanced at him. “I didn’t disappear,” I told him calmly. “I left to pursue my dream.” “That’s the same thing!” Adrian shot back. Our mother raised her hand slightly. “Please—can we not start like this?” But no one listened. My father began. “You think hockey is a career worth building an empire on?” My jaw tightened. “It already is.” A cold laugh from Adrian. “Sports?” he said. “You’re betting your entire life on sports?”

Someone had anonymously supplied doctored financi⁠al recor⁠ds that th‌e league later det‌er‌mined were falsified. Someone with ac‍cess to both her father's accounts and en‌o‍ugh hockey l‌eague‍ influence to make the accusa⁠t⁠ion s‍tick lon⁠g enough t⁠o end⁠ a‌ career, even after it w⁠as quietly cleared.