He nodded, jaw tight with determination. “I'll be ready.”
“Maybe. Or maybe you'll need more time. Either way, we follow Tess's protocol. No pushing past your limits just because prelims are coming.”
“I know.” But his eyes said otherwise. Said he'd push as hard as he needed to in order to make that roster.
We sat in silence for a moment. The kind of comfortable quiet that came from knowing someone well enough that you didn't need to fill every gap.
“Grant,” he said finally. “Thank you. For letting me practice today. For trusting me.”
“I didn't have much choice. You and Tess clearly had this planned.”
“Maybe. But you could have said no anyway. Could have made it an order.” He met my eyes. “You didn't. So thank you.”
“You're my player. Of course I want you back on the ice.”
“I should go,” he said, standing. “Tess wants me back for recovery work in an hour.”
“Jace—”
He stopped at the door, turned back.
“You really did do well today,” I said. “The team needed to see you out there.”
His smile was small but genuine. “Good. Because I needed to be out there.”
He left, and I sat staring at the closed door for a long time.
My phone buzzedtwenty minutes later.
June:
My office. Now. Bring Hartley.
My stomach dropped. June didn't summon people to her office unless something was wrong. And the fact that she wanted both of us meant it was something that involved both of us.
Fuck.
I found Hartley in the training room with Tess, ice packs strapped to his shoulder and leg. “June wants to see us. Now.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Both of us?”
“Both of us.”
Tess looked between us, frowning. “What's this about?”
“I don't know yet. But we need to go.”
Hartley stripped off the ice packs and followed me down the hallway.
June's office door was open. She was sitting behind her desk with her tablet, expression carefully neutral in a way that made my chest tighten.
“Sit,” she said.
We sat.
She closed the door, moved back behind her desk, and pulled up something on her tablet. Then she turned it around to face us without a word.
Photos. Grainy but unmistakably clear. Jace and me at the cabin—one showed us sitting on the porch, shoulders touching. Another caught us on the trail, my hand on his lower back as I guided him over rough terrain. A third showed us through the cabin window, close enough that there was no innocent explanation for the proximity.
