Chapter 104: The letter

Chapter 104: The letter

Kayden

After the moment on ice, we walked past the reporters screaming my name for an interview, but I ignored them all and sprinted down the rubber-matted tunnel heading to the locker room in search of Rhys.

My body felt like it was on fire now that the adrenaline was cooling and the pain was coming in waves.

My shoulders felt like they were being pierced by hot needles, my blistered palms throbbed inside my gloves, and every breath sent a sharp ache through my ribs where Leon had slammed into me.

But I didn’t care about that; I just wanted to get to the locker room and see Rhys again.

I pushed the heavy double doors open as I entered, expecting the usual chaos, and my teammates didn’t disappoint.

The room was loud with some of the trainees and the few guys who hadn’t played; they were shouting, throwing towels, and blasting music.

Jaxson and the others hadn’t returned because they had granted the interview with the reporters while I had rushed in here.

My eyes immediately darted around toward the back corner, to the shadows near my stall, hoping he would be there. But... he wasn’t there.

I frowned, my heart sinking faster than a puck, shocked that he wasn’t there. I didn’t give up as I looked around, checking the restroom, thinking he had hidden inside because he was avoiding being seen by the league officials. But when I opened the doors wide, he wasn’t there.

"Hey, Vale! Hell of a game, kid!" one of the backup goalies shouted, slapping my sore shoulder as he walked by.

I winced, the pain shooting down my arm, but I managed to fake a smile as I replied to him. "Thanks. Hey... have you seen Rhys? Was he in here?"

The guy shrugged, already pulling his jersey over his head. "Calder? Nah, haven’t seen him. Did he come to watch the game?"

I sighed and turned around without replying. The backup goalie didn’t know, so it meant that he hadn’t shown himself to anyone except for me. I didn’t know if I should be happy about it or not.

I stood there for a moment, my chest heaving, feeling the heavy silence of Rhys’s absence. Where the hell was he? I had expected that he would be here waiting as soon as the games were over, but he just disappeared.

"Ugh!" I let out a groan as I ran a hand through my hair.

While thinking about him, the heavy double doors suddenly burst open and I heard Jaxson’s screams sounding behind me.

"Vale! Vale!"

Jaxson came charging in like a maniac, his helmet gone and his hair sticking up in every direction. He jumped onto the bench, pumping his gloves in the air. "Alright guys, now that the games are over, get the music up because we are going to the Conference Finals! The coach said tonight we will use it to recover, but tomorrow? We do the teammates’ party until we drop, until Iron City runs out of drinks!"

He clapped his hands and stood up, then pulled me hard into his arms.

"It’s all thanks to our newbie who isn’t a newbie anymore!" he yelled as he pulled me tighter into his arms.

The rest of the team piled in behind him screaming. They swarmed me, ruffled my hair, and slapped my back. Every touch sent a winced jolt through my bruised ribs, but I forced a smile onto my face. I laughed when Jaxson tackled me and I nodded when Luca gave me a proud, silent fist bump.

I had to be happy because, after all, this was what we had fought for, but I wasn’t.

And while the celebration was ongoing, I managed to pull myself away and head toward my stall.

"I’m gonna go... get my stuff," I managed to say over the thumping bass of the music blasting.

I pushed through the sea of cheering teammates until I reached the front of my stall. I sat down heavily on the wooden bench and let out a sigh, then I turned toward my stall and opened it.

As I reached for my gear bag, something caught my eye. Resting on top of my clothes was a small, cream-colored envelope. It was tucked neatly away from the clothes.

I stared at the envelope for a moment, looking around as if searching for who had put it there, but there was no one and the teammates were still screaming.

My heart did a strange, fluttering somersault as I picked up the envelope and tore the seal.

"You were breathtaking tonight, Kayden. Every time you touched the ice, skated through the opponent’s defense, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. You played like a king and you won like one. I know your body is screaming right now. I know the cost of every hit you took for this team. Let me take care of the pain. Don’t wait for the team bus. Come outside to the VIP parking lots. A matte black Rolls-Royce Cullinan is waiting for you."

I stared at the paper for a few seconds, reading it over and over again. The writing definitely belonged to Rhys because he had a way of writing elegantly, and it made every word he put on paper unique.

So he is still around? I thought and let out a chuckle.

"Why didn’t he just text?" I rolled my eyes as I tucked the paper back into my gear bag.

"Hey, Vale! Are you coming to the showers?" Jaxson yelled, throwing a towel at my head.

I caught the towel, but I didn’t look at him. I was already grabbing my bag as my exhaustion was replaced by a sudden, desperate surge of energy.

I was going to see Rhys.

"Go on without me," I responded as I stood up. "I’ve got somewhere else to be."

Jaxson winked at me as he headed toward the restroom. "Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!" he shouted.

I laughed it off, my face heating up as I turned to leave. "Goodnight, Jaxson," I muttered and then pushed past the teammates still screaming as I hurried toward the parking lots, making sure that I avoided Elton, our manager, who would start searching for me once he realized I was gone.

When I reached the parking lots, the matte black Rolls-Royce was all alone, and it held an imposing presence that was hard not to see.

My heart started racing as I expected that Rhys would appear, but he didn’t.

When I reached it, there was a man dressed in a sharp suit standing by the front door.

He nodded his head respectfully as he opened the car door. "Master Calder asked me to bring you to him. He is already at the destination waiting for you."

"Destination?" I repeated, just nodded without asking anything else, and climbed in.

The door closed with a soft, expensive-sounding thud. I sighed and sank into the heated leather seat, my muscles finally beginning to unclench, though the throbbing in my ribs remained.

I looked at the empty seat beside me, then at the back of the driver’s head through the glass partition.

"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice sounding raspy even to my own ears. "Is this back to the hotel? Or where?"

The driver caught my eye in the rearview mirror, offering a polite, professional smile. "Master Calder was quite specific, Mr. Vale. He said the city is too loud for a night like this, so we are heading north into the foothills."

"Foothills?" I murmured, having no idea where that was. This was my first time in Iron City, but I trusted him anywhere he wanted me to go. "Can’t wait to meet him," I murmured as I leaned my head back against the headrest.

I watched the city lights begin to blur as the driver drove out of the parking lots, and as we picked up speed, I looked toward the window, watching as we went from city lights and buildings to being surrounded by trees.

I placed my hand on the necklace and leaned back against the seat, closing my eyes, and let the gentle vibration of the Rolls-Royce lull me into a light drowse. I didn’t care how long the drive was.

As long as Rhys was at the end of it, I would have traveled across the world to be there with him.

When I opened my eyes again, the smooth highway had turned into a winding, private road lined with towering pines.

The car pulled up to a secluded villa built of dark wood and stone, nestled right into the side of a mountain.

I yawned and stretched my arms as the driver opened my door. "Thank you," I muttered as I picked up my gear, adjusted my jersey, and climbed out of the car.

"Please follow me," the driver muttered as he started to walk in front of me, leading me through a gate to a courtyard. In the center was a natural stone basin filled with steaming, crystal-clear water.

Then I saw him.

Rhys was standing at the edge of the steaming water, his back turned to me. He was half-naked, a dark silk robe tied loosely around his waist. The moonlight and the soft amber glow of the lanterns caught the powerful lines of his back—the broad shoulders I had leaned on so many times.

Even from behind, he was breathtaking.

I smiled as the exhaustion that had been dragging at my limbs for the last hour suddenly vanished, replaced by a desperate, pulling need. I didn’t care about my aching ribs as I dropped my gear bag on the ground and screamed his name.

"Rhys!"

I ran towards him and threw myself at him, my arms wrapping around his bare waist as I collided with his back.