Knot me on ice, Captain(BL) Chapter 196: Tied and Torn

Rhys

The second period ended with the score still locked at zero, and the frustration was already starting to settle deep in my bones.

No matter how hard we pushed ourselves out there, we just couldn’t seem to break through the Bears’ defense.

Their positions kept changing every few minutes, making it almost impossible to predict where the openings would be, and Damian was everywhere at once — blocking passing lanes, forcing turnovers, and generally making it feel like we were skating uphill the entire ti.

By the ti we entered the third period, the ga was still sitting at 0-0.

This felt like our last real chance to avoid heading into overti, but every ti we managed to get near their net, either our shots were sailing wide or their goalie swallowed them up without much trouble.

Everything about tonight felt off, like the universe was conspiring against us. The brutal back-to-back practices we’d been running all week, the strange distance that had grown between Kayden and lately, and Damian’s constant presence on the ice like so kind of ghost I couldn’t shake no matter how hard I tried.

My head was spinning with all of it, but none of those things quite explained why I was falling apart out here on the ice, why my legs felt heavier than usual and my focus kept slipping at the worst possible monts.

"Rhys!" Kayden’s voice suddenly cut through the noise of the crowd and the scraping of skates as he flew past in a blur of motion.

I sucked in a sharp breath, dug my skates hard into the ice, and pushed forward with everything I had to catch up to him.

He was already closing in fast on one of Southbridge’s defensen, positioning himself perfectly to shut down the play.

Without thinking twice, I lowered my shoulder and delivered a solid hit that sent a deep, jarring thud echoing against the boards.

The impact rattled through my entire body, but Kayden was right there beside in an instant, scooping up the loose puck and passing to Jaxson.

We worked together like we had done so many tis in practice — our blades slicing across the ice in perfect sync, our sticks moving in that familiar coordinated dance as we completely shut down their montum and prevented them from building any real threat.

When the whistle finally blew and the imdiate danger was neutralized, we glided back toward the face-off circle, both of us breathing hard from the effort.

"That was so solid defense out there, Valder!" Miller shouted across the ice, raising his stick in approval. "You two really looked great together on that play."

I managed a quick, tired smile and gave him a nod, grateful for the encouragent even if it felt a little hollow in the mont.

Kayden pulled up right beside and let out a long, exhausted sigh of relief.

"Good ga so far," he muttered, his voice low enough that only I could hear it over the noise of the arena.

"Yeah... good ga," I replied, forcing a small smile as I glanced up at the Jumbotron hanging above the ice.

The score was glaring back at : 0-0.

"I really hope the penalty shootout ends up favoring us tonight."

" too," Kayden said quietly, his tone carrying the sa mix of hope and uncertainty that I was feeling.

Before I could add anything else, I felt it. A heavy unmistakable stare was burning into the side of my face from across the ice. I turned my head just slightly and caught Damian watching directly, his expression completely unreadable but the intensity in his eyes strong enough to make my chest tighten uncomfortably.

What the hell was going through his mind right now? I wondered, quickly looking away again. And why was he staring at like that, like I still ant sothing to him after everything that had happened between us?

The final buzzer sounded loud, bringing out of my thoughts. Since the scoreboard was at 0-0, it was ti for the penalty shootout to decide the winner of Ga 4.

During the short break, Coach Reddick gathered us quickly and assigned the three shooters who would represent us: Kayden, Miller, and .

As I stood there at the bench waiting for it all to begin, my lungs were still burning from the third period and my heart was hamring hard against my ribs like a trapped bird desperate to break free.

My hands had started shaking noticeably, and the entire atmosphere in the arena suddenly felt suffocating, the noise of the crowd pressing in from all sides.

What if we lost tonight? What if all of this effort ended in disappointnt because Damian and his team were simply better than us?

Then I felt a familiar, reassuring hand rest gently on my shoulder.

"We’re going to win this," Kayden whispered close beside , his voice steady and calm in the middle of all the chaos.

I didn’t say anything in response. I just gave him a small nod, not trusting my voice enough to speak. I didn’t want him to know how scared I really was deep down — that I was afraid we would fail, that Damian might actually be the stronger, better hockey player than .

"You’re breathing really hard, Rhys," Kayden pointed out as we started lining up for the shootout. "And you’re shaking pretty badly. If sothing is bothering you or if you need to talk about—"

"I’m fine," I cut him off before he could finish, my voice coming out sharper than I had intended. "We have a ga to win right now. We can talk about this later."

"But—" he tried to argue, concern clear in his tone.

"Just drop it," I said, the words sounding harsher than I ant them to. The mont they left my mouth, I regretted it and let out a heavy sigh, turning to face him for a brief second. "Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t an to snap like that. Let’s just focus on the ga for now, alright?"

Kayden gave a confused and clearly hurt look, but he didn’t push any further. Instead, he simply turned away toward Miller without another word.

Sha burned in the pit of my stomach as I lowered my head. I shouldn’t have spoken to him that way, especially not tonight when tensions were already running so high. Not after the way Damian had spoken to earlier and especially not when we’d been struggling in so many recent gas.

"Oh, Rhys," I murmured to myself, rubbing my forehead in frustration.