Page 54 of Off the Ice

I barely got the door shut behind me before the words were spilling out. “You should have told me.”

She exhaled, rubbing at her temple. “Logan—”

“No.” I took a step closer, my voice sharp. “You should have warned me, Ava. You should have given me a chance, you promised it would be when I said so,”

She looked up then, her hazel eyes flashing with something that wasn’t regret—it was conviction. “And if I had? What would you have done, Logan? How long would I have to sit with it? To hold off while Darren kept getting dragged deeper into this mess?”

I clenched my jaw. “I could’ve protected him.”

“No, Logan,” she said quietly. “This was so much bigger than what you or your money could fix. This wasn't a party in need of a new dress.”

I flinched like she’d hit me.

“You don’t get to be angry at me for doing my job,” she continued, her voice softer now but no less firm. “I didn’t name you. I didn’t name Darren. But this story was never just about the Hellblades. It’s bigger than that. And if I didn’t put it out there, someone else would have. I protected you from it as much as I could,”

I stared at her, my chest rising and falling, everything in me screaming to argue. To tell her she’d ruined everything.

But the worst part?

I wasn’t sure if she had—or if she’d just done what I was too much of a coward to do myself.

I swallowed hard.

“I don’t know if I can forgive you for this. Darren didn't show for practice, this is my life. Where do we go from here?” he gestured between the two of them, hands flying off the handle.

Ava’s expression didn’t change, but something in her eyes flickered—like she’d been expecting that.

She nodded once, then whispered, “I don't know but, your anger isn’t more important than the truth, Logan. ”

And that was it.

No apologies. No defenses. Just the brutal reality of what stood between us.

I turned and walked away.

And this time, she didn’t try to stop me.

Twenty Nine

Logan

WhenIgotbackto the rink, Darren still wasn’t at practice.

Not in the locker room. Not in the weight room. Not even on the goddamn scratch list.

I tried not to let the panic set in too fast. Maybe he was late. Maybe he slept through his alarm, or maybe—

“Anyone hear from Rivers?” Connor’s voice cut through the tension already brewing in the locker room. He stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, his usual calm slipping at the edges.

I pulled out my phone, dialing Darren’s number again. Straight to voicemail. “Nothing,” I muttered, shoving it back into my pocket.

Jaymie frowned, leaning against his stall. “Didn’t answer my texts either.”

I grabbed my stick and slammed it against the floor, frustration buzzing through me. “We need to find him.”

Connor nodded, already pulling on his jacket. “We check his place first.”

Jaymie was right behind us. “And if he’s not there?”

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