Into the storm.
Chapter 26
Hades
The ice felt like home—cold, sharp, honest. It was the one place I could lose myself without apology.
Every stride cut through the rink like a blade, each turn driving harder, faster, deeper. My muscles burned, breath steady, but my blood? It was on fire. The puck was just an excuse—what I really needed was contact.
And I got it.
I slammed into another body during the scrimmage, shoulder to chest, the crack of it echoing like a shot. The guy stumbled, swore. I didn’t slow down.
This was how I kept myself in check.
This was how I didn’t think about her.
Her lips. Her legs. The way she’d clung to me last night like she’d finally stopped fighting the inevitable.
The way she’d let me have her—not just her body, but everything.
“Easy there, Sinclair!” Jeremy’s voice rang out, teasing but cautious. “You’re going to break someone before game day.”
I grunted, barely glancing at him.
“Maybe he’s just excited about something,” James added, smirking as he skated past. “Or someone.”
I shot him a look that could’ve snapped bones, but my lips twitched before I could stop it.
“Shut it,” I barked, but even I knew I didn’t sound pissed. Not really.
I was buzzing. Still tasting her on my tongue. Still hearing the way she moaned when I told her she was mine.
They didn’t get it—couldn’t. This wasn’t about getting laid. It wasn’t even about the sex.
It was about the way she let me have her. The way she looked up at me like I was something more than violence in a suit. The way she whispered my name like it meant safety.
That did something to a man.
“Come on,” Jeremy called, leaning on the boards like he had all day. “You’ve been in a weirdly good mood lately. What gives?”
I shrugged them off, turned back to drills, but they kept circling like sharks that smelled blood.
Then James laughed. “You finally get laid or something?”
I didn’t even bother answering. Just let the smirk curl across my mouth and turned away. My silence said enough.
Jeremy nudged him. “Guess love really does soften a man.”
That made me stop.
I turned back to them, cold and slow. “I’m not soft.”
They laughed like it was a joke, like I wasn’t two seconds from breaking my stick in half.
“I’m just not angry at the world right now,” I said. And that was the truth.
Because for once?
