Chapter 20 The Big Reveal
The morning of the qualifier started with a silence that felt like a blade. When I walked into the campus dining hall, the usual noise of clinking trays and morning chatter stopped instantly. Heads turned. People whispered behind their hands.
My phone vibrated so hard it nearly fell out of my pocket. It was a group chat notification from the university’s main student page. I clicked it, and my heart stopped.
It was a photo. Not a blurry one this time. It was a high-definition shot of me and Jaxson, his hands on my waist, my eyes closed as we leaned into each other.
The caption read: The Captain’s Sister and the Rookie? A Viper Betrayal.
Shit!
I ran to the arena, my breath hitching in the cold morning air. I had to find Leo before he saw it. But when I reached the locker room hallway, I saw him.
Leo was standing by the equipment trunk, his phone gripped so tightly in his hand that I thought the screen would shatter. He wasn't yelling. He wasn't throwing things. He was just staring at the wall, his face a mask of cold, white rage.
"Leo," I whispered, stepping forward.
He didn't look at me. He didn't even acknowledge I was there. He simply tucked the phone into his pocket, picked up his helmet, and walked past me. The air around him felt like it was freezing over. He didn't go to Jaxson. He didn't start a fight. He just walked toward the ice for the pre-game skate.
"Elena, don't," Chloe said, grabbing my arm from behind. She looked terrified. "The whole squad has seen it. Marcus is already telling the freshmen that Jaxson is a dead man walking. Leo hasn't said a word to anyone, and that’s the scariest part."
"He’s going to kill him on the ice, Chloe," I said, my voice trembling.
The arena was packed. Usually, the crowd was there to cheer for a win, but today, they were there for the drama. You could feel the eyes of students shifting between me in the stands and the two men on the ice.
The Vipers were playing the Midwest Lions, a team they usually beat easily. But today, the Vipers were a mess.
Jaxson was playing like a man possessed, trying to prove he was still focused. He took the puck down the wing, weaving through defenders with a speed that was breathtaking. He looked for the open pass, he looked for Leo in the slot.
Leo was there, but he didn't lift his stick. He just stared at Jaxson. The puck slid harmlessly into the corner because Leo refused to take the pass from him.
"What is he doing?" Toby yelled from the bench. "Leo, take the shot!"
The Lions took advantage of the confusion. They intercepted a weak pass between the Vipers' defensemen and scored.
The buzzer sounded 1-0, Lions.
The tension on the ice was so thick you could see it in the way the players stood. During the next shift, the Lions dumped the puck into the Vipers' zone. Jaxson and Leo both raced back to get it. Usually, they worked like a machine, one taking the body, the other taking the puck.
But as they reached the boards, Leo didn't play the puck. He leaned his shoulder in and slammed Jaxson into the glass. It wasn't a hockey play. It was a teammate hitting a teammate.
The crowd gasped. The referee blew the whistle, looking confused.
"Watch it, Cap!" Jaxson yelled, pushing himself up from the ice.
Leo skated right into Jaxson’s face, their cages clinking together. "Don't call me that," Leo hissed. I could hear him even from the front row. "You don't get to call me anything."
"Leo, we're losing the game!" Jaxson shouted back, his voice cracking.
"Since when do you care about the game!" Leo roared.
The two of them began to shove. It wasn't the rival team they were fighting, it was each other. The Vipers’ coach, Coach Reed, slammed his hand against the glass and called a timeout.
"Get over here! Now!" Coach screamed.
The team gathered at the bench, but Leo and Jaxson stayed on the edge of the circle. The other players stood back, looking at each other in shock. Marcus looked smug, while Cooper looked like he wanted to cry.
"You think you’re smart?" Leo grabbed the front of Jaxson’s jersey, bunching the fabric in his fist. He pulled Jaxson so close their visors touched. "I let you into my space. You ate my food. You let me tell you my secrets while you were touching my sister?"
"Leo, please," Jaxson whispered, his hands down. He wouldn't fight back. "We have a game to win right now."
"Fuck this game" Leo growled. His voice was loud enough for the first few rows to hear. The crowd went silent. "You stay away from my sister. If I see you near her after this game, the NHL won't want you because you'll be in a hospital bed. Do you hear me?".
Jaxson didn't blink. "I'm not leaving her, Leo."
Leo let go of the jersey with a shove that sent Jaxson stumbling back. "Then we are done. You're off this line or I will be off this team."
Leo turned his head and looked directly at me through the glass. His eyes weren't angry anymore, they were filled with a deep, crushing disappointment. It was the look of a brother who realized he didn't know his sister at all.
I stood up, my hands pressing against the cold glass. "Leo, stop it!" I shouted, though I knew he couldn't hear me clearly.
I started to walk down toward the players' gate. I had to stop this. I couldn't watch them destroy each other. As I reached the edge of the ice, the security guard tried to stop me, but I pushed past him.
The buzzer sounded for the end of the timeout.
The players started to head back to their positions, but the Vipers were broken. They weren't a team anymore.
Jaxson stood in the center circle, waiting for the face-off. He looked lonely. The teammates who used to cheer for him were now whispering on the bench. Leo stood at the defense line, his back turned to Jaxson, refusing to even acknowledge his existence.
The Lions won the face-off and immediately went on the attack. Jaxson tried to play defense, but Marcus "accidentally" tripped him as they raced for the puck. Jaxson hit the ice hard, and the Lions scored again. 2-0.
The crowd started to boo. Not at the Lions, but at the Vipers.
"This is a disaster," Chloe whispered, standing next to me by the gate.
I looked at Jaxson. He was slow to get up this time. He looked over at me, and for the first time in a week, he didn't look through me. He looked at me with a goodbye in his eyes. He knew his career at this school was over if he didn't choose right now.