Page 105 of Play Dirty

I didn’t move, didn’t answer. Because that wasn’t how this worked.

Not yet.

“Not yet,” I said.

Sebastian frowned.

“Why not?”

I looked at him. Really looked at him this time.

“Because if we’re wrong,” I said evenly, “we burn it down for nothing.”

“And if we’re right?”

Another pregnant pause. I exhaled tiredly.

“There’s only one thing left to do.”

He held my gaze, waiting for me to say it.

I didn’t need to.

Because I already knew.

And soon enough?

They all would.

~ 34 ~

HAVEN

We needed that win.

Not just in the standings. Not just on paper.

We needed it in the room.

The final buzzer sounded and the bench erupted, cheering like we’d made the finals. Gloves slammed against boards. Sticks tapped hard against the ice. It wasn’t pretty. Wasn’t perfect.

But it was ours.

And Ares was back.

I felt it the second he stepped onto the ice. Not just the hits — though there were plenty of those. It was the way the opposing players suddenly thought twice before cutting through the middle. His very presence demanded respect. It changed the shape of the game, just by being out there.

“About time,” Zack muttered, bumping into him as they came off the ice.

Ares didn’t respond, didn’t celebrate. He lowered his shoulder just a little though; a move that almost sent Zack flying.

The locker room was loud. Louder than usual. Music blasting, voices overlapping, adrenaline still bleeding off in waves. Even Mercer didn’t shut it down. And that meant everything.

“Enjoy it,” he said once, pacing in front of the stalls. “Then we get back to work.”

That was his version of a victory speech.

I stayed near the edge of it, tablet in hand, pretending to review numbers I already knew.