My throat tightened. "Jax..."
"He's right," Luca said, taking my other hand. "This is going to be messy. Complicated. Maybe even dangerous. But the alternative is walking away. And I can't do that. Not again."
I looked down at our joined hands. Both of them holding me. Both of them choosing this despite everything.
"What about your careers?" I asked. "If this gets out, if people know about the bond..."
"Let them know," Jaxon said.
"You can't mean that. The media would have a field day. Your teams, the league..."
"I don't care."
"Jax, you'd lose endorsements. Probably your captaincy. They'd say you were compromised, that you couldn't be objective..."
"And they'd be right." He squeezed my hand. "If it comes down to you or hockey, I choose you. Every time."
"Luca?" I turned to him. "You're the Ice King. Mr. Perfect. Your reputation matters to you."
His jaw tightened. "It does. But you matter more."
"You don't mean that."
"I do. I spent twelve years building this career, this image. Being the controlled, perfect captain. And I've been miserable. Because none of it meant anything without you."
Tears burned my eyes. "You can't just throw away everything you've worked for."
"We're not throwing anything away," Luca said. "We're just... adding something more important."
"We'll be careful," Jaxon added. "Discreet. Keep it private as long as we can."
"And when you can't? When someone figures it out?"
"Then we deal with it," Luca said. "Together."
The word hung between us.Together.All three of us.
It was terrifying.
But it was everything I'd wanted and been too afraid to hope for.
"I need time," I said. "To think about this. To process."
"How much time?" Jaxon asked.
"I don't know. A few days? A week?"
He looked like he wanted to argue, but Luca squeezed his shoulder.
"Take the time you need," Luca said. "We'll be here when you're ready."
"What if I'm never ready?"
"Then we'll deal with that too."
Jaxon clearly didn't like that answer, but he nodded. "Yeah. What he said."
They both let go of my hands, and the loss of contact felt like a physical ache.
