Page 104 of The Players We Hate
“Pierce,” one reporter called, his tone too polished to be casual, “how much did the off-ice controversy play into your team’s focus in tonight’s semifinal?”
I gave them what they wanted. A safe line about staying locked in, about giving it everything we had, about how proud I was of the guys in the room.
But I could feel the shift building. The kind of pause that settles over a room before the real question lands.
“Given your relationship with Wren Perry… do you feel like that complicated your commitment to the team this season? Especially considering her alleged involvement with the compliance leaks?”
I drew in a slow breath through my nose, steadying myself. I could’ve played it safe, given them some canned line about focus and professionalism, but I made a promise that I wasn’t going to hide anymore. I certainly wouldn’t hide what I have now with Wren.
I leaned toward the mic, elbows braced on the table, eyes locked on the rows of cameras and flashing bulbs.
“If you’re asking whether my relationship with Wren Perry made this season harder…” I let the words hang, made them wait. “Yeah. It did.”
The room shifted. Murmurs rippled out, thin and sharp, like glass starting to crack.
“Except it’s not for the reason you think.”
My pulse hammered against my ribs. I didn’t glance at the moderator. Didn’t wait for anyone to shut me down.
“Her name isn’t the problem,” I said, my voice steady. “The system is.”
The room went still. Reporters stopped writing. A camera jerked as someone rushed to zoom in. The moderator started to speak, but I kept going.
“I’ve worn this letter on my chest all season.” My hand pressed flat to the captain’s patch. “I’ve played through injuries, through the noise, through threats. But none of that came close to learning the truth—that the game we’ve bled for was being sold off behind closed doors. That players were being bribed, silenced, and tossed aside.”
My gaze swept the room. I wasn’t speaking just to the press anymore.
“Wren didn’t ruin our season. She didn’t distract me from my team. She’s the reason we held it together at all.”
I pushed back from the table, the chair legs scraping against the tile like a door slamming shut. “So if you want something worth writing, write this. She told the truth when no one else would.”
The shouts followed me down the hall, sharp and impatient, but I didn’t give them the satisfaction of looking back.
Because in the far corner of the room, just beyond the glare of the cameras, I saw Wren. She wasn’t slipping away, hiding like the media wanted to believe she would. She was here, standing at the back of the media room, her arms wrapped around herself like she wasn’t sure if she belonged.
Our eyes caught, and for a second, the noise of reporters and cameras faded into nothing.
When I said her name, when I told them she wasn’t the problem and that the system was, I saw it hit her. Not with quiet tears, but with something deeper, the kind of break that comes when you’ve been holding it all in for too long.
She hadn’t cried when her father’s administration dragged her through the mud. She hadn’t cried when the threats poured in, or when the team kept her at arm’s length. She hadn’t even cried the first time she stood up to her parents and told them she wouldn’t be their shield anymore.
But when I said her name like it mattered, she let go.
And at that moment, I knew we had already won something bigger than a season. Bigger than a trophy or a title.
We had won a truth that couldn’t be buried again. And I would fight for it, fight for her, every single time if it came to that.
Chapter Thirty
Talon
The door cracked open, and there she was.
Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, sleeves tugged down over her hands. Her eyes were tired, rimmed with exhaustion, but they still locked on mine like she’d been waiting.
I’d only been gone half a day, and I’d missed her every second I was away.
She stepped aside without a word and let me in. The room smelled faintly of the cherry blossom lotion I’d bought her. Her laptop was still open on the bed, a handful of tabs glowing on the screen.
