(Kane)
The championship arena had gone quiet hours ago, but the weight of the game still pressed on my chest like I was trapped against the boards.
I sat alone in the dim locker room long after my teammates had left for the team bus. The flowers I’d given Danica haunted me more than the final score. She had kept them. Held them. Looked at me with something that wasn’t pure hatred for the first time. That small crack in her armor had widened the fracture inside me until I could barely breathe.
My phone rang. Father. Again.
I answered on the third ring, leaning back against the cold metal locker.
“Dad.”
Victor Harlow’s voice cut through the line, sharp and commanding as always. “Excellent pressure tonight, Kane. The scouts noticed how you targeted Jones. One more game like that and the
