Page 18 of The Pucks We Freeze
Now this?
This wasn’t just a gut feeling anymore. Kade had been watching for a while. Carefully. Quietly. He said he didn’t want me involved, probably to protect me. But now Talon was part of it too. Whatever they were chasing, it was real. Even if it was reckless, I couldn’t pretend I didn’t see it too.
My gaze drifted back to the paper in my hands.
I could bring it up casually. Maybe tonight. Or… perhaps I could take a picture and start figuring it out myself.
Either way, I wasn’t just going to stand on the sidelines.
Not with playoffs looming and everything on the line. Not when the one person I was starting to care about, more than I expected, was taking all the risks.
I tossed the paper onto the nearby counter. My thoughts swirled as I finished the last of the towels, stacking them neatly. Maybe I was reading too much into it. Perhaps none of this would amount to anything. But the tension in Kade’s eyes, the call I overheard, the pages in his notebook… none of it felt random.
Still, I didn’t say anything when I passed him on my way out of the lodge. He was talking with one of the managers, eyes flicking over a clipboard.
I slipped out before he could spot me.
Back at my cabin, I wiped off my makeup with a towelette, too tired to stand under the shower yet. I’d just pulled off my socks and was debating whether to heat the leftover pizza from the night before or collapse straight into bed when someone knocked.
I froze.
Half a second later, I cracked the door open. “Kade?”
He leaned in the frame, his hoodie swapped for a Rixton Wolves tee and a grin that made my stomach flip. “You busy?”
“Just finished my shift. About to crash.”
“Not yet, you’re not.” He held out a hand like this was totally normal. “There’s a party tonight. You should come.”
I blinked. “It’s Wednesday.”
“So?” He smirked. “The hockey house doesn’t care what day it is.”
I quickly changed into a pair of jeans that still held a faint scent of lodge laundry detergent and a loose-knit top that dipped off one shoulder, then added a fresh swipe of mascara to conceal how tired I felt. The mirror in the cabin fogged slightly from the heater kicking on, and for a second, I hesitated. Was I really doing this? Going to a party with Kade?
The knock still echoed in my ears.
I tucked the folded note into my pocket, then grabbed my jacket and stepped out into the night.
Outside, the ground was still slick from last night’s rain. The kind that rolls in fast and disappears before you realize it’s come. Tennessee weather had been all over the place. Snow one day, sun the next—like the seasons were fighting for attention. A lot like how I’d felt since coming back to Rixton.
Kade walked a step ahead, then slowed, slipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. His knuckles brushed against mine, just barely, but he didn’t pull away.
“Your dad doing okay?” he asked, voice low and unexpectedly soft.
“Yeah,” I said, blinking at the shift in him. “The procedure went well, and he’s recovering better than expected. He’s supposed to be home tomorrow.”
He nodded once, the headlights from a passing car casting a fleeting glow across his face. “Good.”
A pause stretched between us. Then, quieter this time, he asked, “I guess that means you’ll be heading back to Braysen soon, huh?”
His words stayed with me. Not casual, not accusing. Just heavy in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Like he already knew goodbye was coming.
I looked away, out toward the dark line of trees beyond the lot. “That was always the plan.”
Neither of us spoke after that. Not when we climbed into his truck. Not when he started the engine and music hummed low through the speakers. The silence was padded with things neither of us knew how to say.
Halfway there, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the folded paper. The creases were softer now from where my fingers had traced them over and over again.
