Chapter SIXTEEN Noah

I'm tapping my stick against the boards in a steady rhythm, a habit I've picked up when I'm deep in thought. Each tap echoes the cadence of my heartbeat, which seems to spike every single time Lexi flashes across my thoughts—the way she lights up when she talks about hockey, or how her laugh sounds like the perfect melody after a game-winning goal. Lexi Turner isn't just any girl; she's become the axis on which my world spins, and that terrifies me.

Cassidy has noticed—in fact, she’s ignoring my calls at the moment because of it. Not that I could have taken a return call. I’ve spent the last two hours on the phone with my dad, and there’s a new complication in life. One that makes it imperative that The Aces win the championships this year.

"Hey, Noah, you going to practice that puck handling, or are you planning on serenading the ice with your stick all day?" Dean quips as he sails by, breaking my trance.

"Very funny, Hartley," I shoot back, trying to plaster over my internal chaos with a smirk. But his words don’t sting as much today because my head’s too full of Lexi and what might be slipping through my fingers. And of what my dad had said today.

Son, the farm’s too much to handle on our own. No good help to be found. If hockey doesn’t work out this year, you’ve got to come home…

My mind if a jumbled mess, and I just want to talk to Lexi. We’ve shared moments that felt so intense, they could melt this very ice—and it's those fragments of time that linger with me, heavy with what-ifs and could-bes. But Wes...he's a force to be reckoned with, not just on the ice but in the messy game of emotions as well. The guy's got this magnetic pull that even I can’t deny—and Lexi's caught right in the middle. Every time I see them together, something tightens in my chest, a cold fist that clenches with the fear of losing her to him.

Moreover, I’m afraid that I’m about to lose my very place here, at school.

But if my family needs me…

Then, as if I’ve conjured her, she’s here—across the rink, searching the arena. My hands shove into the pockets of my jeans, curling into fists around nothing. I stand up, setting my stick aside.

"Lexi," I call out before I can stop myself. She turns, and something about the way she looks at me—expectant, a little hopeful—has words tumbling from my lips before I can think better of them. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." She jogs around the rink to me. Her voice is guarded, and I’m suddenly aware of every inch of space between us, itching to close the distance but rooted to the spot by the weight of what I'm about to say.

“Have you seen Wes?” she asks, and it makes my gut twist.

Tell her.

I have to know if there’s even a chance. If not, maybe the farm’s my fate. Or maybe I can play with her at rinkside without feeling my heart in my throat, as long as there’s closure.

"No. Listen, I just... need you to know something." I draw in a breath, steeling myself against the vulnerability, clawing its way up my throat. "This thing between us, it's been more than just..." I trail off, struggling to put into words emotions that feel too big for any language.

"More than just what?" she prompts, tilting her head slightly, the movement sending a ripple through me.

"More than just teammates, more than just friends." I lock eyes with her, letting the truth of it shine through.

Her brows furrow, confusion and maybe a flicker of something else crossing her features. I push on, even as my heart thuds a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

"Look, I know Wes is... he's in the picture," I say, the name tasting like stale coffee on my tongue. "And I get it, I do. He's got this way about him that draws people in. But I'd be lying through my teeth if I said it didn't scare the hell out of me—the thought of losing a chance with you to him."

"Is this you trying to make a play, Noah Bishop?" Lexi's attempt at lightness doesn't quite mask the tremor in her voice.

"It's me being honest." I take a step closer, driven by a force I can't name. "It's me saying that whatever decision you make about... us, I want it to be yours. Fully and completely. But I also want you to know that you mean more to me than just a line on a roster or a partner in practice drills."

"More to me, too," she whispers, and hope flares bright and hot in my chest.

"Good, because..." I pause, swallowing past the sudden tightness in my throat. "Because I'm pretty sure I've fallen for you, Lexi Turner. And damn if that isn't the most terrifying and best feeling I've ever had."

There's a beat of silence, the kind that stretches out long enough to make me second guess every word that's just left my mouth. But then she steps into my space, closing the gap until I can feel the warmth radiating from her.

"Your timing could use some work, Captain," she says with a shaky laugh, but there's no mistaking the sincerity in her eyes. "But I can't say I haven't felt it too—the pull, the connection. It's just..." Her gaze drops to where her fingers are absently playing with the hem of her jersey.

"Complicated," I finish for her, and she nods.

"Complicated," she echoes.

“What about Cassidy?” she asks.

I smile. “It’s complicated.”

My hand lifts, almost of its own accord, to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't need easy, Lex. I just need real. Whatever that looks like."

"Real." She tests the word. Her eyes search mine, looking for any sign of insincerity. I make sure she finds none. "You're a good man, Noah Bishop. Too good for your own good sometimes," she says with a small, wry smile.

"Maybe," I concede, the corner of my mouth ticking up despite the ache in my heart. "But I meant what I said earlier about needing real. This—talking to you, being honest even when it hurts—that's as real as it gets for me."

“And if I’m being honest, my mind is on something else—something possibly life-changing—that’s not a romance-related decision. And you have the game tonight. Can we…can we put this on the back burner for now?”

I nod, but I can’t put the thought of her decision out of my head. Because no matter how tonight’s game ends, it's the one off the ice that has the highest stakes—the one for Lexi's heart. And that's a game I'm playing for keeps.