Emilian Francis

Aaron didn't flinch. With agonizing slowness, he lowered his hand from my mouth just enough for me to breathe, his gaze locking onto mine with an intense, hypnotic command. He didn't look worried about the exposure in the slightest, he looked like a cat enjoying a cornered mouse.

The footsteps stopped right after the heavy canvas curtain .

"Aaron?" Roonie's voice called out, practically dripping with sarcasm as he tapped heavily against the metal frame of the storage rack. "You alive in there,bro? Or are you too busy christening the equipment room with your new girlfriend?"

A loud,vulgar snort echoed from the team benches.

"Check the supply crates, Roonie! Bet he's got her pinned against the shelves!"

The fabric of the curtain twitched.  Roonie's fingers gripped the edge, ready to yank it back.

In one fluid motion, Aaron let go of my waist,stepped directly past the curtain flap into the harsh fluorescent light of the locker room, and casually zipped up his athletic jacket.

"Keep your hands off the curtain, Roonie, " Aaron's voice cut through the room, smooth, commanding, and utterly devoid of panic. 

The entire locker room went instantly silent.  The laughter died on their lips. 

I stood frozen in the pitch black shadows of the alcove, desperately smoothing down my rumpled skirt,my cheeks burning hotter than a furnace. 

Outside, Roonie let out a loud, obnoxious whistle, stepping back with his hands raised in mock surrender.

"Well, look who decided to grace us with his presence. Holy shit, man, the rumors are true? You actually bagged the ice queen?" 

Roonie leaned in, grinning like an idiot. "We saw you drag her in here ten minutes ago. Thought you two were tearing each other's clothes off."

"Watch your mouth, Roonie," Aaron warned, his tone dropping an octave into a cold, dangerous edge that made even his best friend back up a half-step. But the small, victorious smirk playing on Aaron’s lips ruined any threat of genuine anger. "She's just a little overwhelmed by the campus gossip. That's all."

"Right, 'gossip'," Roonie chuckled, shaking his head as he clapped Aaron hard on the shoulder. "Whatever you say, captain. But you better bring that same energy to the court today. State University's defense is brutal, and we need our star player focused—not distracted by his new little plaything hiding in the shadows."

Roonie threw a pointed, knowing look toward the back alcove curtain, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he could see right through the fabric straight to where I was standing.

"She's not hiding," Aaron replied smoothly, turning his body just enough to completely block any line of sight into the alcove. His dark eyes flashed a silent warning toward the team before shifting back to Roonie. "And I'm always focused. Let's move. I want those bastards crushed by halftime."

"You heard the captain! Grab your gear, let's go!" 

Roonie shouted, clapping his hands together.

The heavy atmosphere in the room instantly shifted back to pre-game chaos. Sneakers pounded against the floor as the varsity team grabbed their duffels, grunting and shoving each other as they stampeded out toward the gymnasium exit, the heavy double doors swinging shut behind them.

The locker room descended into a heavy, suffocating quiet.

I let out a long, shaky breath I felt like I'd been holding for an hour, leaning my head back against the cold wall. Before I could even take a step out of the shadows, the curtain was ripped back.

Aaron stood there, filling the small space, his dark eyes burning down into mine with an intensity that stole whatever oxygen I had left.

"See?" Aaron murmured, his voice a low, raspy stroke against my skin as he stepped close enough to trap me again. "You survived. Now go sit in the front row of the bleachers, watch me win this national match for our school... and remember who you belong to the second the final buzzer sounds."

The door banged shut behind Aaron and the rest of the team, leaving the locker room dead silent save for the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead.

I stood in the shadows,there for a full minute, waiting for my pulse to drop below a panic-attack level. My skirt was slightly wrinkled, my lips were swollen, and every inch of my skin still felt hyper-sensitive from the chaos of the last twenty minutes.

.

Just go to the bleachers, I told myself, smoothing down my clothes with trembling hands. Watch the game, keep your head down, and disappear before anyone asks questions.

As I finally stepped out from the alcove and headed toward the exit, Aaron's voice suddenly echoed back through the semi-open heavy metal doors of the locker room. He must have stopped just outside in the corridor.

"And hey, Ice Queen!" Aaron called out, loud enough to bounce off the tiled walls. "Don't even think about sneaking off to the dorms. I want you sitting front row with Isabella cheering my name! And get that loud-mouthed Emilian Francis away from the court,I'm sick of her acting like she owns the sidelines!"

A low, mocking chuckle from Roonie filtered back down the hall, followed by Aaron's retreating footsteps.

I froze, a sharp, suffocating knot tightening in the center of my chest. Emilian. The thought of that vain campus model prancing around in a cheerleader's skirt, staking public claim to a guy who had just spent the last half-hour violating every rule in the book with me, made my stomach turn. 

A hot, stinging wave of irritation spiked through my veins,followed by something else. Something heavy, sharp, and entirely uninvited that pulled tight around my lungs.

Jealousy?

The word flashed across my mind like a warning sign, and I violently shoved it down, burying it so deep in the back of my mind that I refused to even give it a shape. I wasn't jealous. I was trapped. There was a massive difference.

With a frustrated huff, I pulled a small compact mirror and lip gloss from my tote bag, quickly checking my reflection. I fixed my hair, wiped away the faint smudge of gloss from my chin, and took one deep, grounding breath.

Showtime.

I twisted the heavy handle of the locker room door and pulled it open, stepping out into the bright, sunlit corridor that led to the gymnasium.

And right there, blocking my path, stood the exact nightmare I had spent all morning praying to avoid.

Emilian Francis was leaning casually against the concrete wall, her arms crossed tightly over a custom-lettered cheer jacket, a sickeningly sweet, venomous smile plastered across her face. Flanking her on either side were her two loyal shadows,a pair of sorority sycophants who looked ready to tear my throat out at a word.

Before I could even take a step back into the safety of the locker room, Emilian lifted her phone high into the air. The screen was glowing brightly, replaying a crisp, crystal-clear video of Aaron dragging me through the crowd, everyone knew on the campus that any girl Aaron dragged like that always ended up under him, he wouldn't hold a girl he wasn't ready to fuck. So Emilian obviously did the maths and that was why she was here with her lackeys. 

"Explain this..." Emilian purred, her eyes narrowing into cold, predatory slits as she stepped forward, blocking my only escape.