Page 18 of Cold Carnage

I paused, chewing on my lip. Would he actually say this? Would he even mean it? My fingers hovered over the keys, hesitating before continuing.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and am committed to making amends. I apologize to my teammates, our fans, and the organization for any embarrassment or disappointment this incident has caused.”

I sighed.

I needed the truth.

Why had they been in a fight in the first place?

I pinched my nose, sighing again.

Would Ryker even tell me?

And, even if he did, could I trust it to be the actual truth?

Chapter 6

Ryker

Ipaced the locker room, the weight of the PR disaster gnawing at me. Paige was in charge of managing the situation. Paige, who barely knew the players, who’d only been here a few days, was now telling them how to handle the media. It grated on me—this wasn’t just about the scandal; it was about control.

Mycontrol.

As captain, it was my responsibility to lead the team, both on and off the ice, but now it felt like everything was slipping through my fingers, and Paige was steering the ship.

She’d been too smooth, too calm during the crisis. Paige had immediately launched into PR mode, crafting statements and organizing media responses. I didn’t trust it. I needed to know more about her, about her past. I had a gut feeling there was something off—something more behind that polished exterior.

"Looks like we’ve got our very own crisis manager now." Asher Lawson lounged on one of the benches, a smirk playing on his lips. With his dark eyes and tousled hair giving off a roguish charm, he couldn’t resist a dig.

Dominic Soric leaned against his locker, eyes narrowed. With his platinum hair and sharp features, he had an edge to him. He crossed his arms and glanced at Asher.

"Yeah, maybe Ash over here was too busy dicking around to notice things going south," Dominic said with a sneer. "Considering he hasn't there when we jumped at the foray."

Asher bristled at Dominic’s insinuation and shot back immediately. "You're one to talk! Weren’t you caught with your pants down last season? Literally?"

The tension in the room spiked as Dominic pushed off from his locker and took a step toward Asher.

"That’s rich coming from you," Dominic said through gritted teeth. "At least I didn’t drag the whole team down with me."

Asher clenched his fists, ready for a fight. "You want to say that again?" he growled.

Before things could escalate further, I stepped between them.

"Enough!" My voice cut through the tension like a blade. "This isn’t helping."

The room fell silent as both players backed down but continued glaring at each other. The chaos around us was bad enough without internal squabbles making it worse.

I stood there, feeling the weight of my own mistakes pressing down on me. The tension between Asher and Dominic mirrored the conflict inside my head. I was frustrated, not just with them but with myself.

The summer fight haunted me more than I'd care to admit. It wasn’t like me to lose control, especially not in public. But that night, I’d let my guard down—something I rarely did. I'd been drinking, and that was mistake number one.

We weren’t making the playoffs; that much was clear. So when this supposed fan started mouthing off about my decisions during one of the final games, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. He criticized my strategies, saying I’d let the team down.Deep down, I agreed with him. I’d been pushing too hard, demanding perfection from everyone, including myself.

But then he crossed a line. He dragged Dominic’s personal life into it, spewing out details he had no right to know or judge. That’s when something inside me snapped. All the pent-up frustration, all the self-doubt—it boiled over.

I remembered lunging at the guy, shoving him against a wall as if it would silence his words and somehow erase my own failures. Security had to pull me off him. The whole incident had been a mess—one that could’ve easily cost me my career.

Since then, I made sure never to let my emotions get the better of me again. But seeing Asher and Dominic at each other’s throats brought back those memories with a vengeance. It was a stark reminder of why keeping control mattered so much.

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