Hands Off The Ice King novel Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Levi’s POV

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I could feel someone else’s presence outside the shower room. I’d been aware of it for a while now. Ever since practice ended, there had been this faint feeling lingering at the back of my mind. Soft footsteps. Tiny movements. The sense of someone hovering nearby.

I stopped just before fully stepping into the shower area and turned around with a sigh.

“You can come out now,” I said. “You’re not that slick at hiding.”

For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. Then hesitant footsteps echoed softly through the locker room. Finally, Hope appeared from behind the corner with an awkwardly guilty expression on her face.

I immediately pinched the bridge of my nose.

Of course it was her.

I glanced at the wall clock instinctively.

11:47 PM.

She definitely missed her bus again.

“What are you still doing here?” I asked.

She bit her lip nervously. My gaze instinctively dropped to the movement. Against my will, my mind immediately flashed back to the time we kissed. Back then, she’d been completely inexperienced. The memory came so suddenly that I frowned and forced it away immediately.

“I wanted to apologize,” Hope started softly.

I looked at her carefully.

She kept fiddling with her fingers nervously, but despite that, she still met my eyes directly. There was sincerity written all over her face.

It was strangely refreshing. Most people around me either avoided conflict entirely or became defensive the second they were confronted.

Hope, despite being stubborn, had no problem saying what she genuinely felt.

“I wanted to say that everything I told Mrs. Tundra earlier was in good faith,” she continued. “I wasn’t trying to implicate you or make things harder for you.”

I stayed silent and let her continue,

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“It’s true that I don’t understand your relationship with Margaret, she admitted honestly. “Actually, I don’t know a lot of things yet.”

“It’s just…”

She hesitated briefly.

“I really want you to rest.”

Something about the way she said it made me feel some type of thing. It didn’t sound like she was pitying me nor

11:46 Wed, Jul 15 A MM.

Chapter 29

demanding of me. She just

“It’s not because of hockey,” she added quickly. “Or because I think you’re weak or anything like that.”

She rambled slightly afterward, speaking faster the more nervous she became.

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“I just think you deserve to play properly at your full potential. Or if you don’t even care about that, then it’s still fine because honestly, no human being should be overworked this much.”

She exhaled awkwardly.

“You’re still a person before you’re an athlete.”

The locker room became quiet afterward.

Unlike the articles, the interviews, the worried staff members, or even the fans-

Hope’s concern didn’t feel suffocating.

I let out a slow breath and pointed toward the bench nearby.

“Sit.”

She blinked in confusion.

“Hmm?”

“Sit down,” I repeated. “I’m going to shower first. Then I’ll take you home.”

“No, it’s okay-”

I pointed toward the wall clock. The moment she noticed the time, her eyes widened slightly before she pursed her lips. Then, without arguing further, she hurried toward the bench and sat down obediently.

“I’ll wait here,” she said quickly.

The eagerness in her voice nearly made me smile. I shook my head slightly in amusement before finally heading toward the showers.

Usually, I took my time showering after practice. Half an hour wasn’t unusual for me. However, tonight, I found myself rushing unconsciously.

I turned the water on and quickly scrubbed away the sweat from practice. The warm water hit my sore shoulder, making me wince slightly.

Damn.

As I rinsed the shampoo from my hair, faint humming suddenly echoed from outside the shower room. I paused, turning the water off for a second to listen properly.

“If you wanna keep me…”

Her soft voice echoed through the quiet locker room.

“You gotta gotta gotta gotta got to love me harder…”

I frowned.

Was she seriously singing Ariana Grande right now?

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Chapter 29

“What are you doing?” I asked loudly before I could stop myself.

Her humming stopped, and her nervous voice echoed back.

“I only realized this now,” she admitted shakily, “but your locker room is kind of creepy at night.”

“What?” I asked with a small frown.

“It feels like someone’s watching me, Levi.”

I stared blankly at the tiled wall in disbelief.

“Are you serious?”

She cleared her throat awkwardly.

“I’m just saying,” she defended weakly. “Are you sure this place doesn’t have ghosts?”

A small chuckle escaped me before I could stop it.

So that was why she’d been singing. To hide the fact that she was scared.

Cute.

“Levi?” she called again softly.

This time, her voice sounded pitiful.

“Can you hurry up, please?”

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My grip tightened slightly around the shower head in my hand. The combination of her nervous voice and her choice of words stirred something entirely inappropriate inside me.

A twitch hit my lower body.

I shut my eyes and rubbed a hand down my face in frustration.

“I’m done,” I called back quickly.

I heard her sigh in relief.

“Thank goodness,” she muttered dramatically. “I really need you here right now.”

What the hell was wrong with her wording tonight?

I quickly dried myself off and threw on clean clothes before stepping back into the locker room.

My hair was still slightly damp when I came out.

The second Hope saw me, she visibly relaxed. She stood immediately and hurried toward me with relief written all over her face. I could even see the way her hands twitched slightly at her sides like she wanted to grab onto my arm but stopped

herself.

“Let’s go?” she asked with a small, brave smile.

I nodded once.

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