Chapter 37 Locker
Liam Carter
The locker room was buzzing with pre-game energy, sticks tapping against the floor, skates scraping against the tiles, the air was thick with the sharp scent of menthol and sweat. This was it. My first public match since my injury. Since my fall. Since I almost lost everything.
I should’ve been hyped. Ready to step onto that ice and prove that I wasn’t just some has-been who got knocked down too hard to stand back up. But all I could focus on was her.
My Snowflakes.
She sat on the bench in front of me, her fingers pressing into my calf as she helped me stretch. Her touch was firm, almost professional, but I knew better.
“Breathe,” she murmured, pressing my leg down just a little further.
“I am breathing.” I exhaled sharply.
She huffed out a laugh, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “You know what I mean. You’re tense.”
I clenched my jaw, flexing my fingers before relaxing them.
“It’s my first real match since…” I swallowed hard. “Since the accident. Yeah, I’m a little nervous.”
Her hands stilled against my leg, and she looked up at me, something unreadable in her gaze. “You’ll be fine. You’re still Liam Carter. The hockey star.”
Something about the way she said it made my stomach tighten. Like she was trying to remind me of something, something bigger than us.
I sat up, watching her carefully. “Ava.”
She didn’t look at me. Just shifted back, putting a little more space between us like she had been all week.
No. Not today.
I reached for her wrist, gently but firmly.
“If I win, the distance ends.”
Ava blinked, finally meeting my gaze. “What?”
I tilted my head, holding onto that small bit of contact like it was the last thread tethering us together.
“If I win, you stop pulling away. You stop pretending like we don’t have something going on here.”
She let out a small breath, lips parting slightly. “Liam…”
“I mean it, Ava.” I leaned in, voice dropping lower, keeping it between just the two of us. “You think I haven’t noticed? You’re avoiding me, shutting me out like I did something wrong when all I’ve done is want you.”
Her jaw tightened, her fingers curling into her lap.
“I just…” She shook her head, exhaling sharply. “You should focus on the game.”
“This is me focusing,” I shot back, my grip tightening just slightly before I let go. “You help me stretch before every game, right? It’s our thing?”
She nodded warily.
“Then let’s add this to our thing.” I smirked, trying to tease a little lightness back into the conversation.
“If I win, you stop whatever the hell this is. Deal?”
She stared at me for a long moment. I could see the war behind her eyes, the hesitation, the doubt. But then she let out a soft laugh, shaking her head.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Maybe.” I grinned. “But you’re still gonna agree.”
She exhaled, rolling her eyes but with the smallest smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Fine. You win, this distance ends.”
“Good girl,” I murmured, satisfaction curling in my chest.
Her breath hitched, but before I could say anything else, she shot up to her feet, shaking her head.
“You should get your head in the game, Captain.”
I watched her go, my smirk widening.
Oh, my head was in the game, alright.
And so was my heart.
And after tonight, Ava wouldn’t be able to run from it anymore.
Ava Reed
The energy in the arena was electrifying. The roar of the crowd, the sharp cuts of skates against the ice, the deafening slam of bodies colliding, it was chaos, but all I could hear was my own heartbeat hammering in my ears.
Liam was everywhere.
He moved like he belonged on that ice. Fast, aggressive, unrelenting. His body weaved through defenders, muscles tight as he controlled the puck with precision. Every pass, every sharp turn, every hit, he was alive out there, and I was terrified to look away.
I clutched my bottle, fingers gripping it so tight I swore the plastic was going to give out under my touch. My breath stayed lodged somewhere in my throat, refusing to come out until the last play. Until the last shot.
It was tied. Overtime. One last push.
Liam skated hard, cutting past defenders like they weren’t even there, his stick moving in perfect sync with the puck. And then, he took the shot.
The world slowed. The puck soared.
The net rippled. A heartbeat. Two.
The arena exploded.
Liam’s team won.
The crowd erupted around me, a deafening wave of cheers and screams and chants of his name. The other players mobbed him, lifting him off the ice as they pounded on his helmet, celebrating their star player’s return.
He had done it. He was back.
Liam Carter was freaking back!
I should’ve been screaming with them. Should’ve been running down to meet him, throwing my arms around him the way I wanted to.
But I couldn’t move.
Because even in the chaos, even with a sea of people celebrating around him, I saw it, I felt it.
Liam was looking for me.
His gaze skimmed over the stands, searching, desperate. His chest heaved, sweat dripping from his hair, his lips slightly parted as he scanned the crowd for one person. For me.
And I couldn’t do it.
I turned.
I didn’t know if I was running from him, from myself, or from the deal we had made, but my feet moved before I could think, carrying me toward the nearest exit.
“Ava?”
The voice cut through the noise just as I reached the hallway. I turned, blinking up at a familiar face.
Nathan.
The rival captain.
The same one who had been watching me earlier from across the rink.
“Can I have a moment of your time?” he asked, voice smooth, steady.
I hesitated. My mind was still spinning, my body still buzzing from watching Liam win.
Nathan tilted his head slightly, eyes scanning my face. “Just a moment,” he said, as if sensing my need for an escape.
I nodded. “Yeah… okay.”
And I walked away with him.