Page 90 of The Players We Hate
“And why he faked an injury,” Kade muttered. “Probably why Coach has been off, too.”
Talon hesitated, his jaw tightening. “Yeah. He knows more thanhe’s letting on.”
Talon set the phone on the table, his gaze sweeping the room. “They’re betting on our silence. Counting on us being too afraid or too divided to do anything about it.”
Kade’s nod was slow but certain. “They’re wrong.”
“With what you’ve shown us, it’s a start,” Reed said, his tone firm. “But I need copies of everything if I’m going to dig deeper. I’ll check into Gavin while I’m at it, see what he’s up to now that he’s walked away. If he knows more, I’ll find out.”
Talon tilted his head at me, then back at him. “She’ll bring it on a drive. First round of playoffs is in Braysen. I’ll make sure Wren has it with her.”
The “us” in his voice caught me off guard. “The playoffs are in Braysen?”
Talon nodded, and Reed cut in. “First round. Home ice for us. I’ll be there.”
I turned toward Talon, still processing the idea of being pulled further into his world.
The others murmured their agreement, but it was Talon’s voice that cut through everything. “I want you there,” he said, leaving no room for debate.
The room went quiet. I could feel their eyes on me, weighing every move, deciding if I was a risk they could afford.
Rowdy leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms with that guarded look he always wore when he didn’t buy what he was hearing. Owen’s frown stuck, like he was working through an equation that refused to add up. Even Reed’s voice had a harder edge, each word clipped and deliberate, as if he was waiting for me to slip.
Talon shifted forward, his voice cutting through before the silence turned into something worse.
“She was never the enemy,” he said. “I just didn’t know how to stop treating her like one.”
The weight of his words landed heavier than the suspicion in the room.
Kade let out a breath, dragging a hand over his jaw. “If she’s the one who gave us the evidence, then we don’t get to second-guess her. She wouldn’t risk this unless she was looking out for us.”
The others stayed quiet, the tension easing just enough to hold. Reed’s voice came through the speaker. “Then we keep moving. Be careful, stay quiet. We do this together.”
One by one, they left, the hum of the fridge and the thud of Talon’s leg filling the quiet.
I sat frozen, still trying to process him defending me—especially to his teammates.
I was still reeling when his hand brushed my arm.
“Hey.” His voice was quiet, careful. “Come with me.”
I didn’t ask where. I followed, every step carrying me back into the room that still held the weight of our first night together. The same bed. The same scent of him woven into the air. Only now it felt heavier, thicker, like the walls remembered what we’d done here just as vividly as I did.
He closed the door and leaned against it, his eyes tracking me like he was torn between holding back and giving in.
“I know that couldn’t have been easy,” he said finally. “Standing in front of them, laying everything out.”
I crossed my arms tight over my chest. “It wasn’t about them. It was about you.”
His jaw flexed, but something in his eyes softened. “You didn’t have to come.”
“I did. I’ve been carrying this too long, and keeping quiet wasn’t protecting anyone. I was scared—scared that if I was right, I’d lose everything. And if my father is behind this, rigging games and pulling strings, then he’s not just a liar. He’s dangerous. I couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt, and I didn’t want to be the reason you stopped trusting the people around you.”
He pushed away from the door, closing the distance between us. His gaze pinned me in place, unreadable but burning. “You still came. That tells me more than your fear ever could.”
His hand came up, brushing my hair back, fingers skimming my cheek. “I know I already apologized, but… can you forgive me? Can we move past it?”
The question lingered in the space between us, demanding an answer I wasn’t sure I could give. When my eyes locked on his, I saw more than the guarded man he showed the world. I saw the boy who’d been fighting battles on his own for too long. The ache in my chest sharpened into something certain. “Yeah…” I nodded. “I want to see where this goes.”
