Kayden

We lost again in Game 2. Losing in Game 1 wasn’t that bad, but when we lost in Game 2, I started having doubts about winning the Cup.

But Coach Reddick and Rhys still had hope as they continued to push us, and after losing, the practice continued.

That evening, after the rigorous session, we were all relaxing for a moment. Everyone looked tired. Their faces were drawn, their movements slower than usual when we were pushing through drills.

Rhys, who had continuously given words of assurance, seemed worn down by it all.

I could feel the toll the games had taken on him just by watching the way he skated, the way his usual steady confidence had a quiet edge of frustration underneath.

If it were in the past, he would have screamed at everyone because I know he hates failure, but even after the second loss, he still hadn’t blamed anyone.

I heaved a deep sigh where I stood, then Soren screamed my name, and I looked toward him. He had come to the practice rink with Starlight to watch our practices.

He stood quietly along the boards, holding Starlight in his arms. They had bonded quite well over the past couple of days, and she seemed perfectly content being close to him.

I skated over to him since we were on break. I wiped the sweat trailing down my face as I leaned against the boards.

"Hey," I said softly, trying to keep my voice light even though I was on the verge of losing it. "How do you find our practice? I know it’s boring, which is why you didn’t have to come all the way out here."

Soren shrugged gently, careful not to disturb Starlight. "I wanted to. Besides, Starlight seems to like the cold air."

I looked at Starlight, who purred at the mention of her name.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked Soren, who held his gaze on me as if something was wrong.

"You should not look at what is trending right now, Kayden. I saw some headlines a few seconds ago, and more are being uploaded. Just stay off social media for now."

I let out a small, tired laugh and pulled my phone out of my pocket. "How bad can it be?" I scoffed. "I’ve had worse," I told him, scrolling quickly before he could say anything else.

The headlines were truly crazy. Loud and unforgiving.

"Romance or Distraction? Calder and Vale’s Relationship Under Fire as Avalanche Drop First Two Games"

"#RhysAndKayden Trending Again — But Is Love Costing the Northern Avalanche the Cup?"

"Avalanche’s Power Couple Struggling: Personal Life Overshadowing Play in Stanley Cup Finals"

"Two Straight Losses — Are Calder and Vale’s Heads in the Relationship Instead of the Game?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

These were just a few of the headlines that were posted online, and the comments were even harsher.

"Don’t..." Soren tried to speak again, but I continued scrolling.

"They’re too busy staring at each other instead of the puck. Romance ruined their focus."

"Kayden Vale comes back from his drama with the Falcons only to bring new drama. Nice."

"If they keep losing because they’re dating, maybe they should bench one of them. Team first, not couple goals. If Rhys Calder’s head is still in the game, they wouldn’t have lost two times."

"I used to root for the Avalanche, but this relationship stuff is distracting the whole team. Focus on hockey!"

"Rhys as captain should know better. Can’t lead if your mind is on your boyfriend during shifts."

"Valder was cute until it started costing games. Time to break up or break the streak."

Everything online was all about our relationship. Everyone was already condemning it as if we had done something wrong.

I closed the phone and placed it back into my pocket.

My hands started shaking by my side, and Soren, who was standing opposite me, seemed to notice. He took a step toward me and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Don’t let whatever you saw online make it seem like you are not doing great," he told me. "From the two games that I have watched, you have been doing exceptionally well."

"But the Southbridge Bears are better," I argued, running a hand through my hair. "We need a better strategy," I told him quietly and turned around, watching the rest of the team skating around even though we were on break.

"If we don’t work harder and smarter, we are going to fail. Two games down already... if the Bears win two times, they’ll take the Cup. It feels like everything is slipping."

Soren nodded slowly, adjusting Starlight in his arms, his other hand still on my shoulder. "In my world, when the routine feels off and the ice feels too heavy, I stop thinking about the whole program at once. I focus on one element at a time. In figure skating, the judges see the big picture, but you build it piece by piece. Maybe for you it is the same," he squeezed my shoulder.

"Stop carrying the whole series in every shift. I don’t know much about hockey like figure skating, but take it slowly, one step at a time. The mind gets loud when the body is tired, so I’ll advise you to quiet it down before it shuts down. If you are tired, rest and don’t push yourself too much. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

Even though his words sounded simple, it was just the advice I needed at that moment.

I gave him a small smile. "Thank you. I needed that."

Before I could say more, Coach Reddick blew his whistle and gathered everyone near center ice.

"Alright, listen up. I know the last two games have been tough. The Bears came out strong, and we did not respond the way we know we can. But we are still the Northern Avalanche. We still have five more games to take the Cup. So back to practice. Try to support each other, communicate, and leave the outside noise where it belongs — outside. We have hockey to play, so whatever is trending online shouldn’t define us."

The team murmured in agreement, tapping their sticks lightly against the ice.

"I should go back to practice," I told him.

"I will be watching," Soren responded and removed his hands from my shoulder, going back to caressing Starlight.

I skated toward the center of the ice to join practice.

Later, when Rhys and I were paired up running defensive drills together, I skated closer to him during a brief pause.

He looked exhausted up close, sweat dripping down his face. His blue eyes were focused on the puck between us, but I knew that deep down Rhys was not fine.

"Are you alright?" I asked, keeping my voice low so only he could hear. "I know you’ll probably lie to me, but I can see that these games have taken a lot out of you."

Rhys met my eyes for a moment, his expression softening just a little beneath the frustration. He ran a hand through his damp hair and let out a low, pained groan. "I will be. We both will. But yeah... it has been a crazy game."

Yeah. Right. We had barely spoken any words to each other ever since the finals started. It was practice, game, and practice.

"Is that all?"

Rhys shook his head. "I am not going to lie — it has been hard. The pressure to keep winning... it is not the same as before. I know we can’t be winners forever, and we could be easily taken over by other teams. But then I remembered why we need to win this Cup. You said it’s your dream to lift this Cup as the first omega, and I want to win this with you. I want us to lift that Cup together, the way we have talked about. That’s why..." His voice cracked, and he lowered his head, sighing heavily.

"Oh Rhys," I muttered as I embraced him tightly, not caring if our teammates were watching.

They already knew about us, so there was no point hiding it.

"We will win. I have faith in us — in this team, in you, in what we have built together both on and off the ice. We are going to turn this around. I know it."

Rhys said nothing and only nodded in response. He then raised his hands and wrapped them firmly around my waist.

We remained like that for a few seconds until we heard a loud throat clearing from a few feet away.

It was Coach Reddick.

Both of us turned to face him, and he was glaring at us really hard, which made me want to hide behind Rhys.

"Back to practice!" he shouted.

We chuckled and pulled away immediately.