Page 64 of Off the Ice

“They’re sending a crew to film the segment tomorrow,” I told Logan, pacing in front of his kitchen counter. “It’ll air on primetime the night after. They are probably reviewing thumbdrive was we speak”

Logan sat at the table, flipping through a thick stack of printed documents—emails, financial records, damning evidence pulled from the thumb drive, incase it all went sideway. Atleast we had a back up drive, smart thinking on Ava's part and the hardcopies. His face was unreadable, his jaw tight. “Two days,” he murmured. “That’s all we’ve got.”

“We need to tell the team,” I said carefully. “The people we trust, at least.” Logan closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

That night, we gathered everyone at Logan’s apartment.

Connor and Jaymie were the first to arrive, followed by a handful of Logan’s teammates, guys he trusted, guys he knew wouldn’t turn on him. Darren sat in the armchair near the window, quiet, but more present than I had seen him in days.

Logan stood in front of the group, arms crossed, expression hard. “Thanks for coming,” he started, then blew out a breath. “I’m just going to get to it. The league is covering up something big. And in two days, we’re exposing it.”

He laid the printed papers on the coffee table, spreading them out for everyone to see. The emails, the money trails, the evidence of threats against Darren.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then Jaymie picked up one of the papers, skimming it quickly. “Holy shit,” she breathed.

Connor crossed his arms, his expression unreadable. “How did you even get this?”

“I had sources,” I said. “And Darren had the rest.”

At his name, Darren lifted his head. His voice was steady, but I could see the tension in his hands where they rested on his knees. “It’s all real. I know I got drunk and ranted, but its all true.”

That was when the mood shifted.

Up until that moment, there had been disbelief. Doubt. But hearing it from Darren, seeing the exhaustion in his face, the raw honesty in his voice—changed everything.

Some of the guys swore under their breath. Others just shook their heads, as if trying to process how deep this all went.

Connor, always the level-headed leader, asked the hardest question.

“What happens next?”

I swallowed, glancing at Logan before answering. “Once the accounts go public, there’ll be investigations. Maybe even arrests. At the very least, people are going to lose their jobs. The Hellblades might never be the same.” I looked around the room, at every face watching me. “And Logan’s reputation is going to take a hit. There’s no avoiding that.”

Connor’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “And if we don’t do this?”

Logan spoke this time. His voice was sharp, certain. “Then we let them keep getting away with it. Abusing young players and pushing US, around. There would be no league without the players”

No one argued.

Because even if this meant destroying everything Logan had built, even if it meant shaking the foundation of the league itself, there was no other choice.

***

Later, after everyone had gone home, Logan and I sat on the couch in the dim light of the living room.

For the first time all day, the weight of it pressed down on both of us.

He was quiet, his hand resting on my thigh, fingers absently tracing circles against my leggings. “Ava?”

I turned my head toward him. “Yeah?”

He stared down at his hands, expression unreadable. When he spoke, his voice was lower, more raw than I’d ever heard it.

“If I lose hockey… if I lose this life… do I still know who I am?”

My chest ached at the vulnerability in his voice.

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