Chapter 31 Chapter 31
Nobody expected Jace to skate out again.
Not after yesterday.
Not with the bruise still dark on his face.
Not with Marvin acting like the rink belonged to him.
But there he was.
Quiet. Focused. Skates cutting the ice like he’d been born on it. His jersey wasn’t the gleaming captain’s one like Marvin’s, but somehow Jace looked more dangerous. His eyes weren’t angry. They weren’t tender. They were something else entirely sharp, unreadable, a storm that had finally made up its mind.
Cass stood with the crowd, her heart beating too loudly in her chest. Lena gripped her arm, whispering, “Cass, he looks terrifying.”
And he did.
But not in a way that made her afraid.
In a way that made her feel something she didn’t have a name for.
The whistle blew and everything exploded into motion.
Marvin surged forward, cocky and fast. He liked the spotlight, liked the noise, liked the way people shouted his name like a battle cry.
Jace didn’t care about any of that.
He didn’t even look at the crowd.
His gaze stayed locked on the puck as if nothing else existed.
The moment Marvin got control, Jace intercepted him so quickly the entire arena gasped.
Marvin stumbled.
Jace didn’t stop. He moved with this cold, elegant precision that made every other player look like they were scrambling. Even Coach Stark stood frozen, eyes wide.
“Who is that?” someone whispered behind Cass.
“That’s Marvin’s brother.”
“No freaking way.”
The teams clashed. Sticks hit the ice. Sharp turns. Opposing players tried to block Jace but he slipped through every gap like smoke.
And then…
He went for the goal.
The crowd didn’t even breathe.
Jace lifted his stick.
Swung.
Struck.
The puck shot toward the net with a speed that didn’t look human.
It slammed inside.
The arena fell silent.
Black-hole silent.
For a full five seconds, nobody moved.
Nobody cheered.
Nobody spoke.
Even the scoreboard seemed stunned before it flashed:
GOAL – JACE WOODS
Cass’s breath hitched. She hadn’t realized she was shaking until Lena grabbed her hand again.
“Holy. Shit,” Lena whispered.
Marvin’s team stared at Jace like they were seeing him for the first time. Marvin himself looked… terrified. Angry. Confused. Betrayed. His jaw clenched so tightly Cass could see the muscle twitch from the stands.
Jace didn’t react.
Didn’t smile.
Didn’t celebrate.
He skated away like he hadn’t just broken the world open.
The rest of the game blurred into chaos. Marvin tried to retaliate, tried to reclaim control, but the crowd had shifted. Every time Jace touched the puck, the hush deepened, as if everyone knew something extraordinary was unfolding.
And it was.
Jace didn’t just win.
He dominated.
With a calm that felt almost unnatural.
When the final whistle blew and the scoreboard crowned him the match’s star, the crowd didn’t erupt. They didn’t shout. They didn’t chant.
They stared.
Wide-eyed.
Speechless.
Because Jace Woods the boy everyone ignored, the quiet shadow next to the golden captain had become something else entirely.
A storm.
A threat.
A legend.
Marvin didn’t shake his hand.
He shoved past him and stormed off the ice.
And that was how Friday ended.
Or at least, that was how it ended publicly.
The private endings were worse.
The second the boys stepped into the house, the chaos erupted.
Marvin slammed the door so hard the walls trembled. He whirled around, pointing at Jace like he wanted to stab him with his finger.
“You think you’re better than me?” Marvin shouted. “You think you can embarrass me like that? In my sport?”
Jace didn’t respond. He tossed his bag aside and walked toward the stairs.
Marvin shoved him.
Hard.
“Answer me!”
Jace steadied himself, his eyes colder than the ice they’d just skated on.
“I didn’t embarrass you,” he said softly. “You did that yourself.”
Marvin lunged.
Miss Carway, their nanny, rushed between them, shouting, “Stop this! Both of you!” Her voice shook. “Your father will hear…”
“He doesn’t care,” Jace said.
And Marvin went still, because they both knew he was right.
Miss Carway pushed Marvin back. “Enough.”
Marvin’s glare could’ve burned the house down. “Stay away from her.”
Jace froze. “Who?”
“Cass.”
Jace didn’t blink. “You don’t control me.”
Marvin grabbed his jersey, yanking him close. “She’s nothing. She’s pathetic. She’s…”
Jace slammed Marvin’s hand away.
“Say her name again like that,” he said quietly, “and I won’t stop.”
Marvin opened his mouth but Miss Carway stepped between them again, panicked.
“Upstairs. Both of you.”
Jace didn’t fight it. He just walked away, ignoring Marvin’s venom, ignoring the pounding in his chest, ignoring the echo of Cass’s face in his mind.
In his room, he sat on his bed, pulled his hoodie over his head, and let himself breathe.
He didn’t know why he’d played like that.
He didn’t know why he’d snapped.
He didn’t know why Cass broke through every wall he had.
He only knew one thing.
He was falling.
Hard.
And it terrified him.
On Sunday,Jace woke to noise.
Marvin yelling.
Their father arguing back.
Miss Carway crying again.
It was exhausting.
He shoved a pillow over his head but the noise seeped through like poison.
He grabbed his jacket and walked out of the house without telling anyone. He walked for an hour. Maybe two. His mind replayed Cass’s face over and over again, especially the way she looked when Marvin taunted her.
He shouldn’t care.
He knew he shouldn’t.
He had spent years training himself not to care about anything.
But Cass cracked through every wall.
She made him angry.
Made him soft.
Made him reckless.
He hated that he liked the way she said his name.
He hated that he replayed her laugh.
He hated that the image of her smiling made something bloom in him.
He hated that falling for her felt inevitable.
By noon, he found himself walking past her street without meaning to. He stopped himself from going closer. The temptation was ridiculous.
He shook his head and walked away.
He didn’t know what he wanted from her.
He didn’t know what she wanted from him.
But he knew one truth.
He couldn’t avoid her forever.
And the way their worlds were colliding?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to.