Ethan’s POV Some lines weren’t meant to be crossed. I’d been telling myself that for weeks—like a mantra, like a shield. Ava Reynolds was off-limits. She was Coach’s daughter, the girl with the notebook always poised like a scalpel, the one person who could ruin me without even meaning to. And still, I found myself watching her when I shouldn’t. Still, I caught myself waiting for her voice in the newsroom, waiting for her laughter to slip past my defenses. And tonight, after everything that had happened—Jake’s smear job, the whispers circling campus, the way she’d looked at me after I stood up for her—I knew I was standing on the edge. One wrong move, and I’d fall. --- The campus was quiet. Late enough that the noise had dulled, early enough that the streetlights still burned like halos. I walked Ava back toward her dorm, our shoulders brushing now and then, the silence between us not heavy, but charged. “You didn’t have to defend me,” she said again, her voice soft, like she’
Ava’s POV By the time Friday rolled around, I was running on caffeine and adrenaline. Between classes, deadlines for the paper, and sneaking in time with Ethan whenever we could, my brain felt stretched thin. But exhaustion had a silver lining: it dulled the sharp edge of my anxiety, the constant awareness that I was balancing on a wire above a pit of secrets. If anyone found out about us—especially my dad—everything would shatter. Still, in the quiet moments, when it was just Ethan and me, none of that mattered. The way he leaned close when he spoke, the way his eyes softened when they caught mine, the way he made me feel like I wasn’t just the coach’s daughter or the reporter with too much to prove—those moments were worth every risk. But it only took one misstep to shake everything. And Jake Harper was always waiting for me to trip. --- It started with an interview. The team had just finished practice, the air in the gym thick with sweat and squeaking sneakers. I lingered
Ava’s POV I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. Not just the way Ethan’s lips felt against mine—warm, tentative, like he was afraid I’d vanish if he pressed too hard—but the way everything shifted afterward. The walls we’d both spent weeks building didn’t just crack; they fell apart. I walked back to my dorm that night feeling lighter than I had in months, almost like I was floating. My father’s voice still echoed in the background, sharp and unforgiving, but for once it didn’t drown everything else out. Ethan’s voice lingered louder. We’re really doing this, aren’t we? Yes. We were. Of course, “doing this” didn’t mean parading hand-in-hand across campus or stealing kisses in the bleachers where anyone could see. It meant stolen moments behind closed doors, quiet conversations, and the dangerous knowledge that I carried a secret no article could ever contain. And God, did it make everything harder. --- The first test came the next morning. Ethan and I shared a communicatio
Ava’s POV The echo of my father’s whistle still rang in my ears long after we left the gym. Even back in my dorm room, the shrill sound replayed, cutting through everything. I tried to read, to scribble in my notebook, even to drown it out with music, but my head wouldn’t quiet. Ethan’s face haunted me. The way his eyes had burned when we were standing so close, the almost-touch, the almost-kiss. And then the way all of it had been snuffed out the moment my dad’s voice shattered the air. I kept telling myself I should be angry—at Ethan for walking away without a word, at my dad for humiliating him in front of me and the team, at myself for letting it get that far in the first place. But beneath all that anger was something else. A pull I couldn’t shake. When my phone buzzed on the desk, I jumped. The screen lit with a name that made my pulse stumble. Ethan. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. He never texted me. Not first. Not like this. Can we talk? I stared at the words, my th
Ava’s POV The gym smelled like sweat and resin, the kind of sharp tang that clung to your skin even after you showered. The bleachers were mostly empty now—practice had ended an hour ago—but I lingered under the pretense of notes. My pen scratched nonsense across the page. I wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all myself. I was waiting for him. Ethan. He was the last one off the court, as always, dragging his bag across the polished floor, shoulders hunched under the weight of something heavier than just practice. His towel hung loose around his neck, damp with effort. He looked tired—bone-deep tired—but he still carried that untouchable presence, like the gym bent around him. And I was furious with him. For shutting me out. For pretending that night outside his apartment never happened. For acting like I didn’t exist when I could still feel the heat of his gaze on me across the room. “Cole,” I called, louder than I meant to. My voice echoed in the cavernous space. He froze mid-st
Ethan’s POV The whistle cut through the air like a blade. “Cole!” Coach Reynolds’s voice boomed, snapping every head in the gym toward me. My legs felt like lead as I jogged over, towel hanging around my neck. I kept my face blank, jaw tight, even though my pulse hammered in my ears. The players shifted uneasily, waiting for the blow to land. “You’re distracted,” Coach said, his tone sharp enough to sting. “Your head’s not in the game. I don’t care what’s pulling you off, but it ends now. You want to play for me, you focus. Or you can sit your ass on the bench.” A ripple of murmurs moved through the team. My grip tightened on the towel until the fabric twisted. For a second, I wanted to argue, to tell him he was wrong, that I had it under control. But the truth was written all over me, and we both knew it. So I forced out the only words that wouldn’t make it worse. “Yes, Coach.” The whistle shrieked again, signaling drills to resume. I ran back onto the court, every muscle co