Hands Off The Ice King novel Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Jul 16

Chapter 113

Levi’s POV

We were walking back to the locker room, the guys I had played with the longest beside me.

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“I can’t believe you even faced the press today,” Desmond said by my side. “You’re showing us way too many surprises these days, Levi.”

I stopped in my tracks, and they all stopped, too.

Forest. The twins. Desmond.

I wouldn’t say it out loud, but out of everyone I’d met in this sport, they were the only ones I would consider my friends. Maybe acquaintances. I mean, we hung out from time to time without the rest of the team, but I usually just listened while they yapped, content to let them fill the silence I never knew how to.

Fine, I would consider them my friends.

“And you’re smiling while playing too,” Forest added. “The last time I saw that smile on your face was during your first year

here.”

Scott clicked his tongue. “The girls were all swooning when you took off your helmet. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

Spencer sighed and leaned against his twin’s shoulder. “Knowing Levi, he’s just attractive like that. Oh, to be born looking like him in the next life.”

Desmond walked over to me and threw an arm over my

shoulder.

“It’s because of Hope, right?”

I didn’t even deny his allegation. I simply pushed his arm away and ran my fingers through my hair. My gaze found Forest, the only man I could ask this question out of the entire bunch.

“How do you know that it’s love?” I asked.

They visibly froze, while Forest’s eyes glistened with something close to tears

I sighed, already regretting the question despite genuinely wanting to know the answer.

Love.

I’d never really grasped the idea of it. I’d lived my entire life not truly knowing what it meant, and therefore believing I didn’t deserve it.

“Love is-” Desmond started, but Forest cut him off right away.

“Don’t listen to this guy. He still doesn’t know what it is.”

Desmond scoffed. “Hey.”

“Love is… simple,” Forest said quietly.

“I used to think it was complicated, but life is complicated. Not love. Love is one of the simpler things in the world because it starts with emotion, then becomes the choice to continue protecting that love every single day.”

He paused, looking down for a brief moment.

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Chapter 113

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“It’s something that honestly doesn’t need defining because it exists for the same reason our lives exist. We continue fighting because we have something we love in this world. Or maybe… we continue staying still because, in that stillness, there is love waiting for us.”

Forest smiled to himself, his expression softening.

“Honestly, I shouldn’t be talking so confidently because I always made love complicated before. That was before I had my kid. A sickly one, at that. But I love her regardless. More than anything.”

I didn’t expect him to talk about his daughter.

No one ever brought her up because she was still in the hospital, battling leukemia. It had been over a year, but she was still fighting until now.

Yet every morning, Forest still came to practice. Every game, he still stepped onto the ice.

“Because of her,” he continued, “I want to keep playing hockey. I want to earn money for her. I want to become a father she can always be proud of.”

A smile settled on his face.

“Just the thought of doing that makes me happy.”

My mind drifted to Hope.

That sparkle in her eyes whenever she arrived at work. The way she greeted everyone enthusiastically. How she remembered every person’s name despite only being here for a short while.

She had become a staple in this rink before she was even aware of it.

The people here loved her because she carried brightness wherever she went.

And I did, too.

The brightness she carried never annoyed me or reminded me of how empty I’d become.

Instead, it made me want to step into the light with her. It made me wonder what life would feel like if I stopped surviving and actually started living.

“Hope brought that spark back, don’t you think?” Forest asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Forest was still looking at me with that proud smile of his.

“You know, Levi, you’re not someone incapable of love. I know you’ve been playing all these years even after you started feeling empty because of everything that happened with the team.”

My brows furrowed.

Desmond sighed and shook his head.

“You’re staying on the team because you don’t want us to lose fans, right? But I’m right here to make them stay.”

I let out a slow breath but couldn’t help smiling at the ridiculous statement.

“And you know that our bodies aren’t the best anymore, too,” Spencer muttered. “So you always take the brunt of the physical exertion during games.”

“Yeah,” Scott sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “You’re not too bad… aside from your ego.”

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Chapter 113

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“And you’ve always kept playing because you know I’ll suffer if you don’t,” Forest chimed in. “You know I won’t take money from you, so you continue playing so I can keep earning for my daughter.”

I looked away.

“Isn’t it just normal?”

“It is,” Forest answered.

“But not everyone has the capacity to do something so normal. Some people only think about themselves.”

His gaze remained steady.

“I think you’re more than capable of love, Levi.”

“And I’m glad Hope is finally letting that part of you shine.”

None of us spoke for a moment.

Something unfamiliar tightened in my chest.

It wasn’t uncomfortable.

If anything, it felt warm. Like a frozen part of me had finally begun thawing.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you smile on the ice,” Desmond added with a wide grin. “It gets me hyped up too.”

“Me two,” Scott said.

“Me three,” Spencer followed.

I shook my head, unable to stop the smile threatening to spread across my face.

These idiots.

They actually knew me far better than I had ever realized.

Maybe I’d never been as alone as I’d convinced myself I was.

“Anyway,” Forest said with another smile, “go to your girl.”

One brow rose.

“You’re not going to punish me for skipping the debriefing?”

Forest shoved my shoulder.

“Just go. I can tell you want to see her.”

A smirk found its way onto my face.

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