My Campus Rival
Bryson POV
Blackridge University was already a nightmare before I dumped hot coffee all over Julian Hayes.
He's tall, built, with this perfect smirk that makes me want to punch him. Captain of the hockey team and the biggest asshole I've ever met.
He destroyed me in front of everyone. Made sure I knew exactly where I stood.
But then I joined the hockey team to make my mom happy, and suddenly everything changed. I could actually play. And Julian? He started looking at me like he wanted to destroy me in a whole different way.
Now every practice feels like war. Every time we're alone in the locker room, I can barely breathe.
I hate him.
And I'm pretty sure he knows it.
Julian's POV
I run Blackridge University. Team captain, golden boy, everyone wants to be me or be with me. Then some transfer kid crashes into me and ruins my shirt.
Bryson Miller.
Smart mouth, cheap clothes, and eyes that look at me like he's not impressed.
I should've crushed him and moved on. But the little shit joined my hockey team and turned out to be good. Really good.
Now I can't get him out of my head. Every practice, every fight we have feels like something else entirely.
I thought that was complicated enough.
Then I walk into my house tonight and find Bryson unpacking boxes in my living room..
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Chapter: Chapter 123Home sweet homeJulian POVYears have passed since the hospital room where we first held our daughters. The twins are five going to six now. Maya and Sophie. Loud and curious and completely impossible to keep still for more than thirty seconds.Maya is fearless. Climbs everything. Questions everything. Challenges me on rules with logic I can't always argue against.Sophie is quieter but equally stubborn. She loves books and drawing. Gets lost in her own world for hours until something—usually Maya—pulls her back to reality.Bryson struggles with lingering pain on bad days. His leg aches when weather changes. Mornings require careful stretching before he can move normally.But he walks easily now. Runs when the girls demand races. Carries both of them on his shoulders despite my protests that they're getting too big for that.I'm away often for games. The team travels more than I'd like. But I always come back. is Always make it home for bedtime stories and weekend breakfasts.Our apa
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter 122Something WholeBryson POVI finished my last day as an intern on a Friday afternoon.Walk out of the building with a box of personal items and a strange mixture of satisfaction and disbelief sitting in my chest.Monday, I return as a full-time staff member. The title feels strange in my mouth when people ask what I do now."I work in business development."The words sound like they belong to someone else. Someone older and more put-together.But apparently, they belong to me now.The work itself isn't drastically different. Same desk. Same computer. Same projects I've been managing for months.What changes is how people treat me. Younger workers look to me for answers now. Ask for my opinion during meetings. Request guidance on presentations and client calls.I mentor quietly. Share what I've learned. Take phone calls with steady hands even when imposter syndrome whispers that I have no idea what I'm doing.At night I tell Julian about my day while icing my leg, still necessary after
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter 121Building Something RealJulian POVI officially move into Bryson's apartment with one duffel bag and too many feelings I don't know how to name.The space is small. Nothing like the mansion with its sprawling rooms and cold elegance.But it feels real in ways the mansion never did.That first night I barely slept. I lie on the couch staring at the ceiling, listening to Bryson breathe from the bedroom. Every sound makes me tense, is he in pain? Does he need something? Should I check on him?I'm afraid that if I close my eyes too long, this fragile peace between us might disappear. That I'll wake up and find myself back in the mansion with Richard's ultimatums and Helen's rehearsed affection.Morning comes slowly. I hear Bryson moving in his room and I'm on my feet immediately."You okay?" I ask through the door."Yeah. Just getting up."I help him to the bathroom, then to the couch. Begin learning his morning routine through careful observation.I learn how much pain Bryson hides behin
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter 120Moving ForwardBryson POVWeeks pass in a blur of medication schedules and physical therapy appointments.Recovery is slow. Brutally slow. Every small improvement feels earned through gritted teeth and determination I didn't know I still possessed.The pain is constant. Some days it's a dull throb I can almost ignore. Other days it's sharp and immediate, stealing my breath when I move wrong.Therapy exhausts me in ways hockey never did. The exercises seem simple, lifting my leg, bending my knee, putting weight on my foot. But each movement requires focus and effort that leaves me drained.Julian stays with me through all of it."You're doing great," he says one afternoon after a particularly brutal session. "Better than yesterday.""Doesn't feel like it.""Trust me. You are."I hate how much I need him. Hate the vulnerability that comes with depending on someone who broke me before. Yet every time Julian smiles, genuine and warm, or quietly reassures me during a difficult moment, I f
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter 119Picking Sides Julian POVBryson is finally discharged from the hospital on a gray afternoon when rain threatens to fall but doesn't.He moves slowly, each step taken with caution and pain. The crutches make him clumsy. His face tightens with discomfort every time his weight shifts wrong.The doctor gives lengthy instructions about rest, medication schedules, and physical therapy appointments. He emphasizes that Bryson needs weeks of proper care and constant supervision to heal correctly."You'll need someone with you," the doctor says firmly. "At least for the first two weeks. No stairs. No standing for long periods. Someone needs to monitor you for complications."Bryson's mother immediately offers. "You can stay with us. We have plenty of space and I can…""No." Bryson's voice is quiet but absolute. "I just want to go home. To my apartment.""But honey, the apartment has stairs, and you'll be alone most of the day when I'm at work.""I'll manage."I step forward before I can think
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter 118Cracks and openingsBryson POVI spend the days watching Julian from the hospital bed.He's always present. Always helping. He doesn't push for more than I'm willing to give.The steadiness of it unsettles me more than anything else could. I keep waiting for him to slip back into old patterns. To choose his father's approval over me. To prioritize hockey or reputation or anything else.But he doesn't.Julian adjusts blankets when they shift during the night. Tracks my medication times better than the nurses do. Notices every wince of pain before I ever speak a word. Brings me water before I realize I'm thirsty. Small but constant things. Things that show he's paying attention in ways he never did before.I hate that my chest still reacts to him. Hate that my heart feels safer around him, like he's not the one who broke it. Because I remember, remember being broken.My body doesn't care about any of that. It just knows Julian is here now. Present and steady and refusing to leave.The
Last Updated: 2025-12-31
Chapter: Chapter 84The courthouse downtown was a plain stone building with tall windows that let the brightmorning sun pour across the marble floor. It didn't look like a church, and it didn't look like acountry club.It was just a quiet, clean office with a small desk and a county clerk who wore a simple greydress.Marcus Vance stood by the door, wearing his usual dark blue corporate suit. He wasn't holding his legal briefcase today.He had a small camera in his hand, a real smile finally cracking his old face as he looked at us.Lucky sat right by my boots, his blue leash resting loose on the tile. He had a small black bowtie attached to his collar, his tail moving like a propeller every time Sebastian looked down at him."Alright, boys," the county clerk said, opening a large leather ledger on the desk. "Sign righthere on the line.Once you both sign, the state officially registers the marriage."Sebastian took the plastic pen first. His hand was steady now, the small white lines on hisjawline c
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Chapter 83"You don't have to go inside alone, Jae," Sebastian said, his hands gripping the steering wheel of the truck tight.We were parked right outside the heavy iron gates of the maximum-security prison.The grey walls looked massive against the foggy morning sky, and the rolls of razor wire on top looked completely cold. "I have to, Seb," I said, turning my head to look at him. His dark eyes were wide and full of that familiar, heavy protective worry."The lawyer said only one person is allowed in the booth. If you try to force your way past theguards with that broken jaw history, they’ll just cancel the visit.""I don't like it," he muttered, his jaw tightening hard. He reached out and grabbed my hand, hisbig fingers locking tightly between mine. His skin felt burning hot."She’s still trying to get inside your head. Even from a concrete cell, she’s still playing games.""She can't play games anymore," I said, touching the simple silver band on my finger with mythumb."We have the file
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Chapter 82"Jae, can you come into the kitchen for a second?" Sebastian called out. His voice sounded deep and heavy from the other room.I set my textbook down on the coffee table and stood up from the couch. Lucky didn't even lifthis head from his blue rug by the radiator.He just blinked his amber eyes and went right back to sleep. I walked into the kitchen, the wood floorboards cool against my bare feet.Sebastian was standing right by the stove. He had a metal frying pan out on the counter, but the burner wasn't even turned on. He was wearing his favorite grey t-shirt, his big shoulders hunched over as he stared down at the white marble."What's wrong, Seb?" I asked, leaning my shoulder against the doorframe. "Did you burn the eggs again?""No," he muttered, keeping his back turned to me."Did the lawyer call?" I asked, taking a step into the room. "Is it about the court files?" "No, Jae. It's not about the court," he said. He finally turned around to look at me, and his facewas completel
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Chapter 81"You need to eat something real, Seb," I said, putting a cup of blended vegetable soup on thetable."You can't just drink protein powder and milk for another week. Your body needs real food toheal."Sebastian sat on the edge of the old bed, his big shoulders hunched over. His jaw was stillwrapped tight in thick white bandages that went under his chin and over his ears.His mouth was locked completely shut by those silver wires twisted tightly around his teeth.He looked down at the plastic straw in the cup and let out a rough, annoyed sigh through hisnose. He hated the liquid food, and he hated sitting still."I know it tastes bad," I said, sitting down right next to him on the mattress. Our shoulderstouched, and I could feel the heat radiating off his skin."But the doctor was very serious, Seb. He said if you try to chew anything solid right now, thebone won't heal right. You'll ruin the surgery." Sebastian grabbed his phone from the nightstand. His large thumb moved fast acro
Last Updated: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Chapter 80Moving into the new apartment downtown took us the whole weekend. The new place was onthe fourth floor of an old brick building with large windows that let the city sounds filter infrom the street below.It didn't smell like the old apartment, and it definitely didn't smell like the Vaughn mansion. It just smelled like fresh paint and clean wood.Sebastian spent Saturday afternoon assembling the heavy wooden bed frame in our new bedroom. He was still quiet, but it wasn't the scary, tense silence from the month before.He just looked focused, his forehead sweaty as he tightened the screws with a hand tool.Lucky ran back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, his little nails clickinghappily against the polished floorboards.He had already claimed a soft blue dog bed in the corner by the radiator, dragging an old hockey sock of Sebastian's into it to use as a pillow.By Tuesday afternoon, the boxes were mostly gone, and the heavy weight of the world felt a little lighter
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 79The apartment felt completely different as we packed the final boxes. The old radiator in thecorner was still clicking like a weak heartbeat, but the heavy, suffocating weight that used to sit in the rooms was entirely gone.It had been exactly four weeks since Elena signed the plea deal for life without parole.Archer’s corporate lawyers had tried to fight the embezzlement charges alone, but with Jason’sconfession and the ledger in the state vault, he was convicted and handed twenty-five years inmaximum security.The trials were officially over. The headlines were finally moving on to other stories, and ournames were slipping out of the public domain.I stood by the kitchen counter, wrapping a set of cheap porcelain plates in old newspaper sheets.My left eye had healed completely, the dark purple bruising fading into normal skin, leaving no physical traces of the beating behind.But the real healing inside my head was moving a lot slower. Every time I closed my eyes in thedark,
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 7Cold Silence and Hot Skin. Lena’s POVAdrian’s hands were on me before the heavy sound of Vince’s panicked voice even faded into the dark corners of the warehouse.His hands came up, cupping my shoulders hard enough that I could feel the individual pressure of his fingers through my jacket."Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?" he asked. His voice was low, rough, and completely stripped of its usual calm tone.I shook my head, my jaw tight as my knees continued to tremble. "No. I'm okay.""Look at me, Lena," he ordered, his thumbs sliding up to touch the side of my neck, feeling for my pulse. His skin was warm, but his gray eyes were dark with a deep, silent anger. "Did they lay a hand on you?""One of them grabbed my jacket," I said, my breath hitching as the adrenaline slowly started to dump out of my system. "That’s all. I hit him and ran."Adrian’s eyes narrowed, his hands slipping down to grab my wrists, turning them over to check my skin in the dim light. "You came here
Last Updated: 2026-11-06
Chapter: Chapter 6The Net of the Warehouse. Lena POV‘842 Industrial Way, Dock 4. Please come, Lena. I don’t know who else to call. Don’t tell anyone.’I stared at the words, my chest tightening into a hard, painful knot.My mind screamed at me to not listen to Claire's final warning, and that I should at least tell someone.But the memory of her terrified voice on the phone last night, the sound of that slamming door, and the sight of her running away from the coffee shop completely overrode my common sense.She was my sister. Whatever mess she had dragged herself into, she was the only family I had left.I didn’t call Maya and, specifically didn't call Adrian cuz If I brought a mafia boss into my sister's messy, desperate life, things could go from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.Twenty minutes later, my small sedan rattled as I turned off the main highway onto Industrial Way.I cut my headlights a block away,from the address, rolling the car to a stop near a rusted chain-linked fence. My hands
Last Updated: 2026-11-06
Chapter: Chapter 5Broken TiesLena’s POVThe bell above the coffee shop door jangled softly as I walked inside, my gaze sweeping past the small round tables until I spotted Claire sitting in the back corner.She looked pale and drawn, her knuckles bone-white as she clutched a paper cup with both hands. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes and every few seconds, her gaze flicked nervously toward the glass window facing the busy street.“Claire,” I said, stepping up to her table.She flinched slightly before looking up, letting out a ragged breath. “Lena. You actually came.”I pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, my hands resting flat on the wooden table. “Of course I came. You called me last night crying and sounding like someone was chasing you. What’s going on?”Claire avoided my eyes, taking a tiny sip of her drink. “I was just… stressed out. I had a fight with my boyfriend and things got a little out of hand. I shouldn’t have panicked you like that.”“A fight with your boyfrien
Last Updated: 2026-11-06
Chapter: Chapter 4The LaundromatLena's POVFor four days, Adrian Volkov kept every single term.The driver turned out to be a gray-haired man named Pavel, who drove a gray Camry, listened to opera at a volume just barely audible and said exactly four words to me each morning.."Good morning, Miss Harper." He never came inside the hospital. He never parked within sight of my building. Once, when I walked out of the staff garage in the pouring rain, he was standing beside my car with an umbrella and he stepped back the moment I took it, as if the umbrella had been the whole job.Dmitri moved out of the ICU into a step-down room under a different name. He asked me every shift whether the door was locked and every shift I checked it in front of him. His fever was gone. His color was coming back. In the evenings, Viktor came and sat in a plastic chair outside his room with a crossword puzzle, solving it in pen and swearing softly at the clues.It was almost easy to forget what I'd signed up for.Then, on F
Last Updated: 2026-10-06
Chapter: Chapter 3The EnvelopeLena's POVDmitri woke up thirty hours early.I was on my break when Brenda called me from the surgical ICU, her voice flat and quick. "He's asking for the nurse who 'held the artery.' Says he won't say another word until he sees her. You'd better come."I took the stairs two at a time. Dmitri lay propped against the pillows with tubes in both arms and a gray, sweaty tinge to his skin that I did not like. He was younger than I had thought, maybe thirty, with a boxer's nose and exhausted eyes.Adrian was already there. He stood at the foot of the bed, quiet as a shadow. Viktor leaned in the corner by the window with his arms folded and a hospital security officer hovered in the doorway pretending not to look at anyone."This is the nurse," Adrian said.Dmitri's cracked lips curved. "You're smaller than I thought," he said, in a thick accent. "I remember hands.""You were busy bleeding," I said, checking his monitor. "Don't talk. I need you to sign something."Brenda produc
Last Updated: 2026-10-06
Chapter: Chapter 2The TermsLena's POVThe charge nurse on the pediatric floor caught me at the nurses' station the next evening, with an odd look on her face."Lena. There's a man in the family lounge asking for you." She lowered her voice. "He's been there forty minutes. He hasn't asked for coffee. He hasn't looked at his phone. He told security he's 'waiting for a nurse' and security let him stay, which has never happened in the history of this hospital."I didn't need to ask. I put down my chart and walked down the hall.The family lounge was a cheerful, ridiculous room, with dinosaur tiles on the floor, a bookshelf of battered picture books and a cartoon giraffe painted on the wall. The man sitting on the small blue sofa looked like a mistake someone had made in a painting. He wore a dark overcoat. His hands were resting on his knees, completely still.He stood when I came in. He was tall, six-two at least and lean the way a blade is lean. His hair was short and black. His eyes were gray, flat and
Last Updated: 2026-10-06
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