Chapter 215 Chapter 214
Chapter 215 Chapter 214
Harper POV
There are certain sounds that become part of your life when you spend enough time around hockey.
The sharp scrape of skate blades carving into fresh ice.
The crack of a slap shot hitting the boards.
Coach Daniels’ whistle.
Marco complaining.
Okay… maybe that last one wasn’t technically part of hockey, but it certainly felt like it.
I smiled to myself as I climbed the stairs to the arena seating with a stack of charity formal flyers tucked under my arm. Alpha Chi had been given permission to leave them near the concession stand for tomorrow night’s game, and since my last class had ended early, I figured I’d swing by before heading back to the house.
Practice was already underway.
The second I stepped through the doors, the familiar chill of the rink wrapped around me, raising goosebumps across my arms.
No matter how many times I came here, it always amazed me how different this place felt from the rest of campus.
Outside, students hurried between classes with backpacks and coffee cups.
Inside…
Everything revolved around the ice.
The rhythm.
The speed.
The sound.
It was its own little world.
“Well, look who finally escaped Alpha Chi.”
I turned toward the voice and found Lila already sitting halfway up the stands with two coffees balanced beside her.
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
She handed me one of the cups.
“I got bored.”
“So you came to hockey practice?”
“I came to watch attractive men skate.”
She shrugged.
“I refuse to apologize.”
I laughed as I sat beside her.
“At least you’re honest.”
“Always.”
She looked out over the ice.
“I’ve also learned way more about hockey than I ever intended.”
“You still call icing ‘the frozen penalty.’”
“It’s descriptive.”
“It’s wrong.”
“It’s adorable.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been told.”
We settled into comfortable silence, watching the team run through another passing drill.
My eyes automatically found Logan.
They always did.
I didn’t have to look for him anymore.
I just… knew.
He caught a pass cleanly along the boards, spun away from a defender, and threaded the puck between two sticks with the kind of effortless precision that made difficult things look easy.
Coach barked something I couldn’t hear.
The line reset.
Another drill.
Another rush.
Another shot.
This time the puck rang loudly off the post before finding the back of the net.
Marco threw both arms into the air like Logan had just scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal.
Even from the stands, I could read his lips.
About time!
Logan laughed.
Actually laughed.
Not the polite little grin he’d been wearing lately.
Not the forced smile he used whenever he insisted everything was fine.
This one reached his eyes.
I frowned.
“What?”
Lila looked over.
“Nothing.”
“No.”
She followed my gaze to the ice.
“You’re doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The Harper thing.”
I sighed.
“What Harper thing?”
“The one where you stop watching hockey and start watching Logan.”
“I am watching hockey.”
She looked back toward the ice.
“Really?”
I nodded.
“Then who just stole the puck from him?”
I blinked.
“…I don’t know.”
She smirked.
“Exactly.”
I nudged her shoulder.
“I hate how observant you are.”
“You love it.”
Maybe.
A little.
Because she wasn’t wrong.
I wasn’t watching the drills anymore.
I was watching Logan.
Not because I cared whether he scored.
Because…
Something felt different.
He wasn’t playing tense.
The last few weeks, every movement had looked forced somehow. Every shift had carried this invisible weight, like he was trying to prove something every second he was on the ice.
Today…
He looked free.
He was talking.
Laughing.
Even chirping at Marco after one particularly bad pass.
I couldn’t hear the words, but I saw Marco dramatically clutch his chest like he’d been mortally wounded.
Corey skated by and shoved Marco hard enough that he nearly lost his balance.
Marco retaliated immediately.
Within seconds, the three of them were arguing while Coach skated toward them with the expression of a man questioning every career decision that had led him to coaching college hockey.
Lila burst out laughing.
“They’re basically oversized golden retrievers.”
“They’re worse.”
“I believe you.”
Coach blew his whistle.
The three hockey players instantly straightened like elementary school boys caught talking in class.
I laughed into my coffee.
“That never gets old.”
“No.”
Lila grinned.
“It really doesn’t.”
Practice shifted into battle drills.
The mood changed immediately.
This wasn’t about fancy passing anymore.
It was about winning puck battles.
Fighting through contact.
Digging along the boards.
Coach dumped a puck into the corner.
Logan and Cole took off after it.
The collision echoed through the arena.
I sucked in a breath as Logan slammed shoulder-first into the glass.
The impact rattled the boards.
For one terrifying second, I forgot to breathe.
“Logan…”
Before I could even finish whispering his name, he pushed himself back upright.
Cole held out a hand.
Instead of looking annoyed…
Logan started laughing.
Actually laughing.
He smacked Cole lightly on the helmet.
“Again.”
Cole’s grin spread beneath his cage.
“That’s better.”
Marco banged his stick against the boards.
“There he is!”
Corey joined in.
Finally!”
Even Coach…
Coach smiled.
Just for a second.
It was small.
Easy to miss.
But I caught it.
The next battle looked completely different.
Logan attacked the puck instead of waiting for it.
He wasn’t thinking.
He was reacting.
Playing.
Enjoying himself.
The difference was impossible to miss.
“What happened?”
I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud until Lila answered.
“What do you mean?”
I kept my eyes on the ice.
“He’s different.”
She studied him for a moment.
Then nodded slowly.
“He is.”
“I don’t know what changed.”
Neither did she.
But whatever it was…
It had given me back the Logan I’d been missing.
The captain who played with joy instead of pressure.
The boy I’d watched from the bleachers in middle school when hockey was just another after-school activity and not the weight of his entire future.
The whistle blew, signaling the end of practice.
Players drifted toward the tunnel, laughing and shoving each other like they always did.
I gathered my bag.
“You waiting for him?” Lila asked.
I smiled.
“When have I ever not?”
She laughed.
“Fair enough.”
The hallway outside the locker room smelled faintly of detergent, hockey gear, and whatever industrial-strength cleaner the arena staff used.
I leaned against the wall, absentmindedly scrolling through emails while I waited.
The locker room door finally swung open.
Marco walked out first.
His hair was still damp from the shower.
The second he saw me, he stopped dramatically.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss President.”
“Hello, Marco.”
“You waiting for Captain Grumpy?”
I smiled.
“I don’t think Captain Grumpy exists anymore.”
Marco’s eyebrows shot up.
“Oh.”
He looked back toward the locker room.
“She noticed.”
“Noticed what?”
He opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, Cole appeared behind him carrying his equipment bag.
“Leave it alone.”
Marco frowned.
“But—”
“Leave it.”
Cole’s tone wasn’t harsh.
Just… knowing.
He looked at me and smiled.
A real smile.
One filled with relief more than anything else.
“You’ll see.”
Before I could ask what that meant, Logan walked through the doorway.
His hair was still damp.
His Titans hoodie hung open over a gray T-shirt, and his equipment bag rested easily over one shoulder.
The moment he spotted me…
His entire face lit up.
There it was again.
That smile.
Without thinking, I crossed the hallway and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He caught me instinctively, laughing as I nearly knocked the equipment bag off his shoulder.
“What was that for?”
I pulled back just enough to look at him.
“What happened to you?”
He blinked.
“What do you mean?”
“You.”
I smiled.
“You looked different today.”
His expression softened.
“I did?”
“You looked…”
I searched for the right words.
“…happy.”
For a second, he didn’t answer.
He just looked at me.
Then a quiet smile spread across his face.
“I think…”
He glanced back toward the ice.
“…I finally remembered why I fell in love with hockey.”
My heart squeezed.
I didn’t know what had happened.
Didn’t know who he’d talked to.
Didn’t know what had changed.
I only knew the man standing in front of me looked lighter than he had in weeks.
So I did the only thing that felt right.
I reached up, cupped his face, and kissed him.
It wasn’t long.
It wasn’t dramatic.
Just enough to tell him how proud I was without saying a single word.
The hallway erupted immediately.
“Oh, come on!”
Marco groaned loudly.
“Some of us are single!”
Corey walked out behind him carrying his stick.
“At least buy us dinner before making us watch this.”
Anthony, who had apparently wandered over again from the football facilities, leaned against the wall with a smirk.
“I’ve seen football celebrations less affectionate than that.”
Logan laughed against my forehead.
“Ignore them.”
“I was planning to.”
Marco pointed dramatically.
“Coach! They’re creating a hostile work environment!”
Coach Daniels walked past carrying a clipboard.
He glanced at us.
Then at Marco.
“Maybe if you spent as much energy on your backcheck as you do complaining, we’d all get home earlier.”
The hallway exploded with laughter.
Even Marco couldn’t argue with that.
As everyone started filing toward the parking lot, I noticed Cole hanging back for just a moment.
He looked at Logan.
Then at me.
A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“So…”
Marco called from farther down the hall.
“You two coming, or are we giving you another five minutes?”
Logan rolled his eyes.
“We’re coming.”
He slipped his hand into mine.
As we followed the others out of the arena, I looked up at him one more time.
Whatever had happened over the last twenty-four hours…
I was grateful for it.
Because for the first time in what felt like forever…
The boy I’d fallen in love with wasn’t carrying the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.
He was simply carrying his hockey bag.
And somehow…
That looked a whole lot lighter.