He followed me home.
I didn't invite him. Didn't ask. Just walked across campus with my arms wrapped around myself and the words captain's leftovers still ringing in my skull and Rhys Maddox three steps behind me like a shadow that refused to detach.
"I'm going back."
"You're not."
"One conversation. That's all I need. Thirty seconds with that piece of–"
"And then what? Suspension? Expulsion? You want to hand Caleb exactly what he wants?" I spun around. The path was empty – just us and the streetlights and the sound of a party still thumping three blocks away. "You go back there and hit someone and you're the violent transfer again. That's the headline. That's all anyone remembers."
"I don't care about headlines."
"You should. Because I care about you playing hockey and staying enro
