Novel-novel oleh Favour Pedro

Hours ago…The roar of the crowd barely registered through the rush of blood in my ears. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart, the scratch of my skates carving up the ice, and the sharp echo of Coach Donovan's voice in my head: Finish strong, Maddox. Lead like you mean it.We were up 3-2. One minute left on the clock. And the Strikers were desperate. Caleb, of all people, was skating like his reputation depended on it which, let’s face it, it probably did. Losing to us was bad. Losing to me was worse. But losing to me while my arm was wrapped around his ex-girlfriend? That was going to kill him.I blocked another pass, pivoted, then lobbed the puck across the ice to Liam. He passed it off, weaved between two defenders, and Zayne slammed it into the net.GOAL.The arena exploded. Horns, cheers, screaming fans, confetti.We won.The guys swarmed me, slapping my back, throwing helmets in the air, whooping like lunatics. Ethan practically tackled me into the boards, laughing for

The roar of the crowd was deafening, but I barely heard it. I was sitting stiffly in my sea and was surrounded by a sea of red and black jerseys. My heart thumped wildly as I watched Ryans glide across the ice like he was born on it. The scoreboard flashed: Boston Thunders – 3. New York Strikers – 2. One minute left.The puck danced between sticks like a live wire, moving too fast for my untrained eyes. Fans screamed, stomping their feet and slamming on the glass. I clutched the edge of my seat, trying not to chew my already mangled bottom lip.It was the second time I’d come to a game as Ryans' girlfriend—fake, obviously—but still. I felt everyone’s eyes, whispering, pointing. Was that the Skylar? Ethan’s sister? The girl Caleb dumped for Tara?The gossip was just too much and I wished I could shrink into my hoodie and disappear.Ryans was everywhere on the ice—blocking, spinning, yelling commands. Captain-mode activated. The final seconds ticked down. The Strikers made one last agg

I hated walking across campus alone, especially when I could feel eyes on me. Or maybe it was just my own paranoia.It had been a weird couple of days since Ethan’s confrontation in the dorm. I thought once he knew the truth—that this fake relationship with Ryans was just a revenge scheme, nothing more—he’d back off. He had, sort of. But the warning he had given still echoed in my ears:"Don’t let this turn into something else. Not with him."As if I had any control over that.Still, this whole thing had started to feel more like improv theatre than a calculated plan. One second Ryans was teasing me in class, the next he was tossing his arm around my shoulders in the dining hall. Every touch, every look, every joke—it was all scripted for an audience I couldn’t always see.But today, there was an audience for me because, of course, the universe hates me.I had just stepped out of the student union building, iced chai in hand, when I saw them.Caleb and Tara.My feet stopped immediatel

Few moments later, the door clicked shut behind Ryans with a sound too loud for how gently he’d closed it.And for a while, there was just me. And the silence. And the thousand hurricane thoughts screaming in my head.I stood there for a second. Then two. Then three. Still as a statue, staring at the closed door like I expected him to come back through it and hold me. He didn’t.I exhaled, slow and shaky, and my knees gave out the tiniest bit. I relaxed my back on the wall as I did so. The conversation with Ethan had left my nerves threadbare way too much. I’d always known he was protective—hell, Ethan had tried to fight a pizza delivery guy once just because he arrived too close to midnight on a road trip—but tonight? That was a different level. Like talking to Ryans in my room had flipped a switch in him.And the worst part was… I got it. I really did. I understood his anger. His frustration. His worry.Being his younger sister all my life, there was no way I couldn't.I shuffled

“Start talking,” Ethan snapped at me again with his arms folded across his chest like a human barricade while his eyes darted between me and Ryans. “Now.”Behind him, Ryans stood like he was bracing for a hit on the ice with his shoulders squared, jaw tight and gaze fixed on me. He didn’t speak, just waited as if he was letting me take the lead in this case. And it was crazy because my tongue had apparently turned to mush.“Ethan,” I took a deep breath and said carefully, as if coaxing a snarling dog. “Let’s all just take a deep breath.”“I’ll breathe when someone tells me why the hell my best friend keeps having issues with Caleb and why I am hearing some funny rumour about you two lately! Are you guys really dating?!” he thundered, pointing at Ryans like the very sight of him offended him. “What is this? Some weird, post-Caleb rebound thing? Is that what this is?! Because I swear to God, Sky—”“Shit…Ethan, would you keep your voice down?” I hissed, slamming the door shut before one

It was stupid to come here.I knew it the second I stepped into the roaring chaos of the arena, where the scent of popcorn and rubber skates clung to the air like static. My breath fogged slightly as I found my seat—row four, right behind the glass. The student section pulsed with noise, Thunders flags waving wildly, but none of it touched the unease sitting heavy in my chest.I hadn’t been to a hockey game since the Caleb mess. Since I caught him and Tara lip-locked in the kitchen like a bad high school cliché. That night had ruined a lot of things for me—boys in jerseys, arena lights and even Ethan for a while. Most likely because Calebs was the captain of the most popular hockey teams in school. But then Ryans Maddox had walked into my life like a slow burn I couldn’t outrun.And now here I was, pretending my heart wasn’t galloping at the thought of him knowing I was in the crowd.I’m not pretending right now, Skylar…Even though he had said moments later that he was actually pret