Instead of panicking like I want to, I ask, “What do you mean?”
“The tone online is shifting: it’s less about the team right now.”
“Okay…” I say.
“More aboutyou. Things like, ‘The forbidden-romance vibes between Team Blane are better thanBridgerton.’”
My stomach sinks like a ship that was hit by a meteorite. Fuck. I knew there was some romantic speculation out there because of the Challenge, but I hadn’t realized it’d become the main noise.
“Or, ‘There’s no way her players aren’t into her. Looking at you, Kane.’”
Jesus. What would it take to get a rumor about Larsen having a crush on me? Shit, I’d take the whole team at this point. Calling out Kane makes it worse.
“Anyway,” Sabrina continues like she’s not blowing up my entire world, “that’s the gist of it. Though there is one picture circulating where you’re on the bench and Kane’s on the ice. It looks like you two are sharing a moment, but the majority of comments are pushing back because it’s clearly just a weird angle or something.”
“I… I wouldn’t—”
“Oh, I know,” Sabrina thankfully cuts me off. “You’ve worked really hard to keep your focus where it belongs: the team. And I know we asked you and Kane to do The Great Yeti Challenge and give it your all. You know we all value how disciplined you are in putting the team first and always upholding the professional boundaries required of your position.”
“Thank you,” I reply slowly, despite my heart rate speeding up as she reminds me of all the ways I’ve drifted from who I was. Who I need to be.
“It’s just that, as you saw last spring, when the narrative starts to shift, it can do so quite fast, and it’s hard to get back. I’d hate to see the focus pulled from the Yeti team and back on the topics we finally moved away from.” Sabrina wipes her hands on her legs, standing as she does it. “Anyway, if you and Kane can just limit your time together for the next few weeks until things cool down, we’ll make sure The Great Yeti Challenge focuses primarily on the other teams. I know you’ll do what you’re supposed to—you always have.”
Oh God. I didn’t. For the first time in my life, I didn’t do what I was supposed to.
“I… Yes. Yeti first,” I agree. “Of course.”
“And just so you know, I didn’t escalate this at all, even if I maybe should’ve. I know how seriously you take your role.”
My breath hitches as a lump forms in my throat.
If only she knew.
“Thanks, Sabrina.”
“Of course. And good luck this week. It’s showtime!”
And as I walk out the door, I know she’s right. I cannot afford any more mistakes, especially not as we enter the most important two weeks of my life.
Chapter 34
Beckett
“You’reback!”Iyell,yanking open my door when I hear Finley coming down the hall later that afternoon.
I went to the arena to work with the PT team on my rehab today and then hung around for a few hours while the other guys practiced and got their workouts in, but I have been home for a few hours. And I’ve almost lost my mind.
How do people stay home and just… do nothing? I want to be skating. Lifting. Fucking Finley until she cries out my name.
I need to be moving. Staying still is how you get slammed into the boards. How you get left behind. How you miss your dreams when they go skating by at a sprint. Plus, when I’m forced to be inactive too long, I start to think about things best left unexplored.
Like my future… and my past.
I watched some film, but even that seems lonely now when I don’t get to analyze it with Finley. Though, thoughts of her are what have anchored me during this injury recovery. Knowing Ineed to be ready to come back mentally and physically so I can help her get the wins she and the team need. I’m not sure what I’ll hold on to if the end of the Yeti Challenge is the end of… whatever this is between us.
“Hey, Kane,” Finley replies, still moving toward her apartment.
The hair on the back of my neck stands at the way she uses my last name. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but something doesn’t feel quite right.
