Chapter 1

The room was dim, when my back hit the mattress hard, then slowly strong hands pinned my wrists above my head before I could even catch my breath.

"Look at me," he growled, voice low and rough.

I did and Jax’s eyes stared deeply into mine. 

His free hand shoved my thighs apart as he settled between them demandingly. “We’re not on the fucking ice anymore,” he said, leaning down until his lips brushed my ear. “No more background, we’re on this bed so take my dick in your mouth and make me happy.”

My heart pounded quickly. A part of me wanted to shove him off but then the part of me that had been quietly breaking since the coach’s announcement somehow ached for the relief of giving in.

I opened my mouth widely, Jax was already inpatient. He pushed in deep, filling me, the taste of him was overwhelming. 

A low groan rumbled from his chest as he started moving slowly at first, then he went faster, using my mouth like he owned it. 

My eyes glistened with tears while my hands flexed uselessly against his grip. Every thrust sent heat spiraling through me, I felt ashamed but I didn't want him to stop either. Both feelings twisted together in me until I couldn’t tell them apart.

He pulled out suddenly, breathing hard, and flipped me onto my stomach. “Good boy,” he muttered, spreading me open again. “You’re going to take everything I give you tonight.”

I felt the pressure of him against my entrance, slick with saliva and pre-cum. He pushed in slowly, inch by inch until I was gasping into the pillow, my body stretched tight around him. The first full thrust pushed a broken sound out of me but he didn’t stop. He fucked me like he was claiming territory, one hard stroke after another as his hands were fisted in my hair and his teeth bite my shoulder.

“Fuck… Jax…” I choked out.

He laughed against my neck. “That’s right. Say my name while I ruin you.”

He spanked my butt, the wet sounds of his thrust  and our skins hitting together was loud and tense. Our moans and curses were loud, he was everywhere. Inside me, over me, hard,fast before I knew it I came hard without even touching myself, but he did not stop he kept shaking apart as he kept driving into me, chasing his own release. When he finally spilled deep inside, I felt broken in the best and worst way.

We collapsed on the bed breathing roughly and unsteadily. For a moment, the only sound at the moment was our heart beating loudly.

As I laid there trying to calm down, my mind drifted to the question that suddenly hit me in my chest.

How the hell did we get here?

Few months ago

The whistle cut through air as I stepped on the ice at Hazard High for the first time. I felt so excited.

Transferring mid-season sucked, but Coach had pulled strings after my old school’s program got shut down. Now I am going to be on a new team and I am still going to fight for that captain spot. 

Years of early mornings, extra drills, and sacrifices had led me this far and I am not ready to give up. This season was supposed to be mine.

“Listen up!” Coach shouted, clapping his gloved hands together and the team gathered around, skates scraping ice. “We’ve got a new transfer by name Ethan Kane. He has a good vision and is very fast. Treat him right.”

A few guys nodded. Some shook my hand, as I turned to shake one of my teammates behind me  my eyes landed on him.

Jax Rivera.

He stood near the front, arms crossed, with a captain’s “C” already stitched proudly on his jersey. 

Same sharp jaw and intense stare. The boy I’d grown up playing street hockey with before life pulled us apart. My old best friend.

His gaze flicked over me, cool and unreadable.  He neither smiled nor uttered a word, he just slightly tilted his head like he was already calculating how I would fit into his world.

Coach continued, “This weekend’s match against Ridgeview is gonna decide a lot. Playoffs are close so leadership also matters. Rivera’s been holding it down, but we’re looking at the full picture.”

My stomach twisted in excitement. Leadership, I am sure he's referring to me. I’d been an assistant captain at my old school, i even had the stats and now I was starting from zero on a team that already had its king.

Practice was brutal as usual ,Jax was everywhere calling plays, pushing pace, shutting down anyone who lagged. Every time I tried to do something unique, he was there, stealing the puck or forcing me into a corner like the ice belonged to him.

After drills, I skated over to where Jax was while the others headed to the locker room. “Jax. Long time.”

He pulled off his helmet, sweat damped his hair and made it stick up. Standing closer to him now he looked bigger than I remembered, especially the shoulders. “Ethan.” he called then he said. “Didn’t expect you here.”

“Yeah, well life happened.” I smiled. “Heard you’re running things now.”

His expression didn’t change. “Someone has to.” he said and the words made me feel a bit intimidated.

 I have spent the last three years picturing my name on that captain’s jersey and now it was his.  The way he looked at me like I was just another player trying to take what was his made me feel a bit agitated.

That night, I laid in my new room at the boarding house, staring at the ceiling. The transfer had already cost me my shot at captain, seeing Jax again stirred up memories I thought I’d buried. 

 The stupid crush I’d never admitted to but now he was the golden boy, and I was the new guy fighting for scraps.

The next few practices blurred together. I pushed harder than ever, staying late to run extra drills. But every time Coach praised  someone it was always Jax’s leadership, and hearing that hurt me more than ever.

Then finally came the Ridgeview match. The arena was packed. We were tied 2-2 with two minutes left. I won the faceoff, fed the puck to our winger, then crashed the net.

Jax was already there. He took the pass instead, decked the goalie, and buried it top shelf. The whistle blew out announcing the goal. The crowd erupted and our teammates mobbed him. The coach slapped his back, grinning. “That’s our captain!”

I stood there on the ice with the stick loose in my hands, watching them celebrate around him. I felt an ache in my chest. My dream slipped further away in those few minutes.

We returned back to the locker room, the guys were loud, hyping Jax.  He sat on the bench, with his jersey half-off, accepting backslaps like it was nothing. 

Our eyes met across the room. For a second, something flickered in his gaze then he turned his gaze away again.

Later, most of the team went out to celebrate. I stayed behind, showering alone, letting the hot water pound my shoulders that i didn’t hear him come in.

The locker room door clicked shut. I turned quickly and saw Jax standing there in just a towel with water still glistening on his chest from his own shower. 

His eyes scanned me slowly. “You played good tonight,” he said quietly.

“Not good enough.” I said bitterly.

He stepped closer so that the air between us became too hot.  “You’re still fighting like you think you can take it from me.”

I let my back hit the tiled ways then I slowly said. “Maybe I can.”

Jax’s hand came up, bracing beside my head. “You really want to try, Ethan?” His voice dropped. “Because once we cross that line… there’s no going back to just teammates or being friends.”

I could hear the sound of my heart beating fast in my ear. 

After years of unspoken tension, the heartbreak of losing the captaincy and the way my body still reacted to him like it remembered something I’d tried to forget.

I grabbed his towel and yanked him in. Our mouths crashed together with a mixture of anger, hunger,  desperation. He tasted like victory and salt. His hands were everywhere, rough and sure, shoving me harder against the wall. 

Then he bit my lip and I moaned into his mouth, 

“If you are willing to become captain become my slave then” he still pinning me to the wall with our breaths uneven.