XAVIER’S POV

Hockey practice had been brutal.

The kind of brutal that left your body buzzing, muscles screaming, and your brain running on autopilot. My legs were still heavy from all the drills, my shoulders sore from too many slap shots, and the faint scent of the rink’s frozen air seemed stuck in my skin no matter how many times I scrubbed. Coach had been in one of those moods—pushing us like the playoffs were tomorrow, barking at every missed pass. I lived for that intensity, but ...