The arena felt like a cathedral built for secrets.
I returned the next night, unable to stay away. My ribs still ached with every breath, the deep bruises a constant reminder of Kane’s promise to finish what he started with Lila. But the ice had always been my sanctuary, the one place where the noise in my head quieted and the world made sense again. I laced up under the low emergency lights, the familiar ritual steadying my trembling hands.
I had barely completed my first lap when the side door opened.
Caleb stepped onto the ice like he belonged to the shadows themselves. No helmet. No pads. Just dark sweats and a fitted thermal that clung to every line of muscle he had earned carrying this team. His eyes found me instantly across the vast sheet, grey and stormy and full of the same co
