Chapter 128 Chapter 127
Logan POV
The locker room after practice smells like sweat, tape, and bad decisions.
Pretty standard.
Guys are scattered around the benches—some still half-dressed, others already in the showers, the constant noise of chirping and locker doors slamming bouncing off the tile.
Normally I’d be right in the middle of it.
Today I’m just… listening.
Cole drops onto the bench next to me, pulling off his shoulder pads.
“You’re still flying out there,” he says casually.
“Practice was good.”
“That’s one way to put it,” he snorts. “You were skating like someone insulted your mother.”
I shrug, unlacing my skates.
Maybe someone did.
Just not my mother.
“Seriously though,” he continues, lowering his voice, “whatever mental hurricane you had going on last week? Keep channeling it like that.”
I chuckle faintly.
“Noted.”
Across the locker room Marco tosses a towel at someone.
“Yo Shaw!” he shouts. “Five thousand dollars, man! You planning on auctioning off your truck next?”
A few guys laugh.
Another voice calls from the showers.
“Captain’s got expensive taste!”
I roll my eyes but don’t take the bait.
Cole smirks beside me.
“You walked right into that one.”
“It was for charity.”
“Sure it was.”
I shove his shoulder lightly and start stuffing my gear into my bag.
Then Cole’s phone buzzes.
He glances down and grins immediately.
“Oh man.”
“What?”
He turns the screen toward me.
Campus gossip page.
Of course.
Front and center is the same photo everyone has been circulating.
Me on stage.
Harper beside me.
My hand wrapped around hers.
The headline reads:
“Campus Power Couple? Hockey Captain Drops $5K On Sorority President.”
I sigh.
“Fantastic.”
Cole grins.
“You’re trending.”
“I hate that word.”
“Too late,” he says. “You’re famous.”
I grab my hoodie and pull it over my head.
“People will move on.”
“Oh they will,” he says casually.
“But not before they talk about it for a while.”
I sling my bag over my shoulder and head toward the hallway outside the locker room.
The corridor is quieter here, the sound of skates echoing faintly from the ice below.
For a moment I think I’m alone.
Then I hear voices.
Female voices.
I slow slightly as they come around the corner ahead.
Three girls.
Two I recognize vaguely from campus.
The third—
My stomach tightens.
Sophia.
The same Sophia who was sitting on my lap the night Harper walked into my room.
Sophia notices me immediately.
Her eyebrows lift slightly.
“Well,” she says.
Her friends glance over.
“Oh,” one of them murmurs. “Speak of the devil.”
I stop walking.
Sophia crosses her arms.
“So,” she says lightly, “congratulations.”
“On what?”
“Your little auction stunt.”
Her tone makes it clear she doesn’t mean it as a compliment.
“It was for charity,” I say evenly.
One of her friends laughs.
“Yeah, that’s what everyone says.”
Sophia tilts her head.
“You really made quite the show.”
I don’t respond.
She continues anyway.
“I saw Harper earlier.”
My attention sharpens instantly.
“Oh?”
“She’s getting a lot of attention today,” Sophia says casually.
Her friend snorts.
“Not all of it good.”
My jaw tightens.
Sophia studies me carefully.
“You know,” she adds, “I told her something.”
Something cold settles in my chest.
“What?”
“That you get bored fast.”
Cole steps up beside me.
“Wow,” he mutters. “Someone’s feeling bitter today.”
Sophia ignores him.
Her eyes stay locked on me.
“I mean, it’s not exactly a secret,” she says.
“That’s your reputation.”
My patience thins.
“Are you done?”
She shrugs.
“I’m just saying.”
Her voice softens slightly.
“You made it look like she’s special.”
A pause.
“But everyone knows how this usually ends.”
The implication hangs in the air.
I take a slow breath.
Then I look directly at her.
“You’re right about one thing.”
Her eyebrow lifts.
“Oh?”
“My reputation.”
The hallway goes quiet.
“People think they know exactly how I operate.”
Sophia smiles faintly.
“Don’t they?”
I step closer.
Not aggressive.
Just enough that my voice carries clearly.
“They don’t.”
Her smile fades slightly.
Cole watches beside me like he’s witnessing a rare animal in the wild.
Sophia recovers quickly.
“Well,” she says lightly, “I guess we’ll see.”
She turns and walks away with her friends.
Their laughter echoes faintly down the hall.
For a moment the corridor is silent again.
Then Cole exhales slowly.
“…That was interesting.”
I rub the back of my neck.
“She talked to Harper?”
“Apparently.”
Cole studies me.
“You look like you’re about to go start a war.”
“Maybe.”
He chuckles.
“Relax, Romeo.”
I glance toward the exit doors leading outside.
Because the image of Harper dealing with that kind of attention doesn’t sit well with me.
“She can handle herself,” Cole adds.
“I know.”
But that doesn’t mean I like the idea of people testing her.
Cole bumps my shoulder.
“You realize something, right?”
“What?”
“You started this.”
I sigh.
“Yeah.”
“Five thousand dollars,” he says.
“Pretty loud statement.”
I glance back down the hallway Sophia disappeared into.
Then I look out the window toward the main quad.
Somewhere out there Harper is walking around campus dealing with the same gossip.
The same looks.
The same whispers.
Because of me.
Cole watches my expression carefully.
“You regret it?”
The answer comes faster than I expect.
“No.”
He nods once.
“Good.”
I grab my bag and head toward the door.
“Where you going?” he asks.
“Class.”
He smirks.
“Sure.”
Then he adds knowingly,
“Just try not to start another campus headline today.”
No promises.
Because something tells me Harper is already dealing with enough of those without me adding fuel to the fire.
And for the first time in my life—
I care more about that than my reputation.