"Dude, you just took a puck to the face during a simple drill, and you look simultaneously traumatized and satisfied." He grins. "You slept with her."
"I'm not discussing this."
"You absolutely slept with her. Was it good? It was good, wasn't it? I bet it was good." He's enjoying this way too much. "And now you're freaking out because you caught feelings and you don't know what to do about it."
"Has anyone ever told you you're annoying?"
"Frequently. But I'm also right." He sits on the bench across from me, expression turning serious. "Look, man. I don't know what's going on with you two, but something's clearly off. Either commit to this thing or end it, but stop torturing yourself in the middle."
"It's not that simple."
"It never is. But you're the guy who runs into burning buildings for a living. Pretty sure you can handle an honest conversation with a girl you're clearly crazy about."
Before I can respond, someone knocks on the locker room door. Jax gets up to check, and returns with an amused expression.
"You've got a visitor. Big guy, looks like he could bench press a moose."
Gage.
I find him in the hallway, looking exactly like Jax described—six-foot-three of solid muscle and questionable life choices. He's wearing his usual flannel and work boots, sawdust still clinging to his jeans.
"Heard practice didn't go well," he says.
"News travels fast."
"Tessa's in a group chat with half the town. Apparently you took a puck to the face." He studies me with the same assessing look he probably uses on wood grain. "That why you're bleeding, or is there something else going on?"
I should tell him to mind his own business. Should say I'm fine and send him on his way. Instead, what comes out is: "I slept with her."
Gage doesn't look surprised. "And?"
"And I don't know what I'm doing. I started dating Piper, and it was supposed to be simple. Good for both of us. But now—" I stop, frustrated. "You did this. You chose Tessa over everything else. How did you know it was the right choice?"
"I didn't." He leans against the wall, arms crossed. "When Tessa showed up in Ashwood Falls, I was convinced I couldn't have both. The business was struggling, I had responsibilities, and getting involved with someone felt like a distraction I couldn't afford."
"So what changed?"
"I realized I was making decisions for her. Deciding what she wanted, what she could handle, what was best for both of us—without actually asking her." His expression softens. "Turns out, she didn't need me to protect her from the hard stuff. She needed me to trust her enough to face it together."
The words hit harder than I expect.
"Piper has her own career," I say. "Her brand is taking off, she's got opportunities?—"
"And you think your NHL dreams are going to get in the way of that?"
"I think if I go to the NHL, I'm asking her to give up everything she's built here. And if I stay, I'm giving up everything I've worked for. Either way, someone loses."
Gage shakes his head. "You're doing it again. Making decisions for her."
"I'm trying to be realistic."
"You're trying to control an outcome you can't predict. Maybe she wants to follow you to the NHL. Maybe she doesn't. Maybe there's a third option you haven't thought of yet. But you won't know unless you talk to the woman."
He makes it sound so simple. Like having an honest conversation could solve everything, when in reality it could destroy everything.
"What if talking about it ruins what we have?" I ask.
"What if not talking about it does?"
