Chapter 2

VIOLETTA

I was trending before the rink had even cleared out.

After my public humiliation, I locked myself inside one of the empty bathrooms beneath the arena, trying… and failing to calm myself down. 

“You have five minutes in there, Vee,” Ollie called through the door. “Or I’m coming in.”

I looked at myself in the mirror.

I was a complete mess, yet somehow my mascara hadn’t run and my lip gloss was still perfectly intact. It was ironic. 

My phone buzzed again.

It had to be the thousandth notification since everything happened and even as I had screamed it to myself to not look… I did anyway.

The first video had already crossed two million views.

And expected they didn’t disappoint, DELUSIONAL NERD CLAIMS HOCKEY STAR IS HER BOYFRIEND.

“Veee?!” 

My stomach twisted and against my better judgment… I opened the comments.

You needed to see her face when he had walked away.

Stalker much?!

Like she could compete with Celeste.

The comment was followed by a side-by-side comparison of Celeste’s body and mine.

She’s literally obsessed.

Didn’t know she was such an attention-seeking bitch.

Someone get this psycho help.

I was still scrolling past the comments when another video popped up.

Someone had stitched together every public interaction I’d ever had with Logan.

The first clip showed me sitting in the front row during one of his games almost two years ago, my camera pointed toward the ice… towards him with a smile on my face.

I winced.

Those photos had been for his social media.

The next clip showed me carrying his spare stick after practice.

Again I had done that because he asked me to.

The final clip was of me standing outside the locker room with my camera hanging on my neck, waiting exactly where Logan had told me he’d meet me.

They all made me look like a stalker and all I was guilty of was having a boyfriend that cared less.

The caption for that one read: Proof she’d been stalking him for years.

My stomach lurched.

This was so much worse than I thought.

Shouldn’t we report her for this?

The worst part wasn’t even the comments.

It was the fact that Logan had painted me as the delusional fan caring less that this could affect my career.

No matter how I explained myself, no one would believe me now… these one sided photos had me looking like a weirdo.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.

I quickly locked my phone before wiping beneath my glasses, making sure no tears had escaped.

When I finally opened the door, Ollie’s expression crumbled the second he saw my face.

“Oh, sweetheart…” He pulled me into a hug without another word.

His warmth pushed me closer to the brink of tears, so I pulled away.

“We’re going home,” he said firmly, taking my hand but I stopped him.

“Not yet.” I replied, saying my head.

His brows knitted together and for a second he just stared at me, “Vee, you don’t owe anyone a damn thing.”

“I’m not leaving, Ollie, and I’m not abandoning my assignment the same way I just lost my social life.”

I held up my media pass with trembling fingers.

“I still have to cover the after party. If I leave now…” My voice cracked despite my best efforts to steady it. 

“Then let’s go home, we'll sort this out tomorrow.” He cooed, trying to convince me.

I looked toward the hallway leading back into the hall, where the celebration was already in full swing.

“Don’t you get it? If I run now, it makes the news stick!”

My scholarship depended on my work, my professors expected me to be professional, and the last thing I needed was for them to think I couldn’t separate my personal life from my career.

My shoulders sagged as regret settled heavily in my chest.

“I should’ve listened to you, I was being foolish to think that someone like him would ever like me…”

For the first time that night, I admitted what I hadn’t wanted to face all evening, “You were so right about him.”

I straightened my shoulders before walking past him.

“I don’t think you should follow me,” I said quietly. “Just… shake it off, Ollie. I’ll be fine.”

It was the same lie I always told him.

“Vee?” he called after me.

I didn’t turn around.

This wasn’t going to break me… 

The championship after-party occupied nearly the hall. 

Everywhere I looked, people were laughing, dancing, and raising their drinks in the air, completely caught up in the excitement of the night.

Taking a slow, steadying breath, I lifted my camera and forced a smile onto my face. 

Most of the players were already drunk enough that they barely paid me any attention, allowing me to slip from group to group, interviewing those who were still sober enough to answer questions.

My phone buzzed again.

Without looking, I shoved it deeper into my pocket. I couldn’t survive opening another comment section without breaking down.

For a moment, I convinced myself I could get through the rest of the night then, I saw him… Logan.

He stood near the drinks table with one arm wrapped comfortably around Celeste’s waist while she laughed at something he’d whispered into her ear before resting her head against his shoulder.

He was happy with no ounce of hurt in face for just running my life over nothing.

Someone passed by carrying a tray of shots and without thinking, I reached out and took one.

The liquor burned as I gulped it in one go.

I welcomed it.

“I’m fine,” I whispered to myself, reaching for another shot before I’d even finished the first. “My life isn’t a mess…”

The fourth shot didn’t burn as much as the first and by the sixth, the music was now louder, while the whispers had faded into the background.

I was now numb.

My phone buzzed again and the familiar ringtone told me it was Ollie.

I couldn’t face him.

I silenced the call and wandered aimlessly through the crowded hall until I found myself beside a group gathered around a long table, laughing over a game of truth and dare.

Until one of them noticed me.

“Wait…” a guy said, narrowing his eyes. “Isn’t she the Kiss Cam girl?”

The laughter around the table slowly died.

Another student leaned forward, recognition flashing across his face.

“No,” he scoffed. “That’s Logan Whitaker’s stalker.”

Heat flooded my face as they all burst into laughter.

“Weren’t you dating Logan?” Another one of them asked with fake curiosity.

Before I could answer, another voice cut in.

“He literally said he’d never date her.” The girl snorted. “Apparently she imagined the whole fucking relationship.”

The table erupted again with laughter.

I forced the corners of my mouth into something that resembled a smile, but my feet refused to move.

I should have walked away then.

One girl tilted her head, a smug smile spreading across her face.

“If you two were really dating…” She paused for a dramatic effect. “…why don’t you prove it by kissing him, sweetcakes.”

More laughter echoed around the table as they all turned toward Logan, myself included.

As though he felt our gaze on him, Logan looked over. His eyes found me first, then drifted toward the group laughing at my expense and for one foolish second, I thought he was going to say something.

Anything?

He just scoffed and looked back at her.

Then, just beyond the crowd, my eyes landed on a very familiar figure.

Cassian.

He was leaning against the wall with a drink in one hand, watching me with those unreadable blue eyes, just as he had been watching me before the game.

I wasn’t thinking when I marched straight at him while they cheered for me.

I stopped directly in front of Cassian instead of Logan who looked like he was ready to rub more insults on me.

Cassian brows knitted together in confusion as he asked, “What are you…”

Before he could finish, I grabbed the front of his jersey and pulled him down until our lips met.

Time stopped.

For a second, neither of us moved.

I squeezed my eyes shut, silently praying he wouldn’t shove me away or, worse, humiliate me in front of everyone all over again.

Then he moved, I could have sworn he smirked before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer.

A glass shattered somewhere behind us, but neither of us pulled away. Rather, Cassian’s grip on my waist tightened as he kissed me back, slow enough to steal every coherent thought left in my head.

Why was he kissing me back?

Wait!

We are actually doing this?!

Holy shit!

I was kissing Cassian Alexandris.

When I finally pulled away… everyone was staring in silence with their phone pointed directly at us.

Oh God.

“I…”

Without another word, I ran like a fucking pussy.

The cold night air hit me the second I stepped outside, but it did little to clear the alcohol clouding my head.

“You okay?” I turned to find Derek, one of Logan’s teammates, walking toward me.

Right now, all I wanted was to be alone.

“Tough night?” he asked, closing the distance between us. “I saw what happened back there.”

“Tough night?” He closed the gap between us before adding, “I saw what happened.”

He clearly wasn’t taking my silence as a hint so I whispered, “I just want to be alone.”

He either didn’t hear me… or chose not to.

“You really kissed Cassian?” he laughed. “That’s one way to get over being dumped.”

I tried stepping around him but blocked my path.

“C’mon, Vee,” he drawled. “Don’t be like that, I’m just teasing.”

“I’m serious about wanting space.”

My head wasn’t clear enough to have any form of conversation and now that I thought of it, he was already around us so he could be the one that had leaked those pictures to the press.

He however continued pushing, “You didn’t have to act so snarky around me.”

His smile as he said, “You’ve been with Logan for a while now and it’s obvious he’s trying to pass you…” made fear slowly creep in

“Stop please…”

“You don’t have to lie anymore,” he interrupted, reaching for my wrist.

I jerked away, “I said leave me alone.”

He grabbed me anyway.

The alcohol that had left me lightheaded disappeared instantly, replaced by a wave of cold fear.

“Let me go!” I said as I shoved him with both hands, but I was too unsteady to do much more than stumble backward.

Then in the blink of an eye, his hand wasn’t on me anymore.

A startled gasp escaped my lips as Derek was suddenly ripped away from me.

I looked up to see Cassian had grabbed Derek by the front of his shirt with one hand.

“What the…” Derek barely finished speaking before Cassian’s fist connected with his jaw.

The crack echoed across the parking lot and then another punch and another until blood sprayed across the pavement with each blow.

Derek never landed a single hit.

I had heard about Cassians fit of rage but never have I experienced it real time and by the time three players finally dragged him away… Derek’s face was now covered in blood.

Only then did he notice me.

Immediately… The rage I had seen glaring in his eyes was gone in an instant… seeing my pose, he crossed the distance between us in seconds.

“Did he hurt you?”

I couldn’t answer.

He gently lifted my chin until I was now looking at him.

“Look at me.” He whispered as his bloody thumb brushed lightly across my cheek.

My vision blurred.

“I…”

My knees suddenly gave out beneath me but he caught me, one arm sliding under my knees while the other wrapped around my back.

The warmth of his chest surrounded, making it impossible to keep my eyes open.

“Why…” My voice came out as little more than a whisper. “Why did you help me?”

He chuckled, “I owe…

Darkness swallowed everything before I heard his answer.