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CHAPTER ONE

 Mimi’s POV

I fell in love with my stepbrother long before I understood how dangerous that was.

Every time Danny Salvador steps onto the ice, I remind myself of the rules—what I should feel, what I shouldn’t want, what I’m never allowed to say out loud.

But rules don’t matter when he plays. And they don’t matter to my heart either.

 My heart raced every damn time his hand held the stick firmly and when his stick hit the puck…watching my stepbrother play hockey has always been my favorite thing to watch in the world.

 To me, it felt like every part of me came alive with those effortless movements of him—he was the only guy who treated me right even when others tried to bully me.

 His messy and dark hair flowed over his face framing his sharp jawline perfectly. I couldn’t help but to feel butterflies swooning in my belly.

 I don't care about anyone's opinions about that because I know of one thing…everyone has their own love story. Mine just happened to be the kind of story that can never be told out loud —it is a forbidden love.

 Danny is everything damn thing I ever wanted in a man, he's tall, has cute smiles and those perfectly sculpted abs, most of all…confident and calm. I always felt lost in the clouds with just the way his jersey clings to his broad shoulders and the way his eyes lighten up when he scores.

 But there is one thing that made my heart ache the most, he always sees me as his little stepsister whom he needed to take care of…each passing day, my love for him grew deeply and I hoped he has the same feelings for me even if it's just a little bit.

 Or was he hiding it because we're stepsiblings?

“Go, Danny! Go, Danny, go!” I screamed at the top of my voice, clapping my hands loudly from the bleachers where I stood. 

The cold rink echoed with skates slicing across the ice, but all I could see was him—focused, effortless, completely in his element.

 And it worked, he raised his head slowly and looked up at me for a second…the moment our eyes met, his lips curved into a small boyish smile making my knees weaken. He heard me after all!

 I gripped the railing tightly as I waved at him in excitement, it seemed like I could practically hear my own heartbeat over the noise.

 My eyes were still fixed on him when an opponent grabbed the ball from him swiftly…my eyes widened in shock as my mood dropped instantly.

 I darted my gaze clearly at who it was but just immediately I saw his face, my blood boil in rage. It was no other person but Frank Santiago. 

He is Danny’s biggest rival both on and off the rink…he is known to be annoyingly arrogant, cocky, a playboy, he's the school’s golden menace. The boy who smiled like rules didn’t exist….and knew exactly how dangerous that made him.

 But one thing is for sure, Danny’s enemy is my enemy! He can't just try to take Danny’s position as the star player of the school and expect me to drool over him like the other girls—Just seeing that smug grin on his face made my skin crawl.

 The fact that he's so proud of himself carrying himself like he owned the world with that swagger and confidence made every girl carve to be his.

 Frank’s piercing blue eyes landed on mine across the rink from where he was and just then, he grinned wildly at me as his dimples deepened as if he could see through my irritation….he winked at me once and that was when i looked away immediately swallowing hard and looked away from him pretending to focus back on the game.

 I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, “Oh please..so full of himself! Keep smiling, peacock.”

 But just when I thought that everything was fine, I saw that the puck in the rink was now between Frank and Danny. They were both skating at full speed as their sticks clashed against each other—they fought for control.

Then Frank Santiago stole the puck.

My stomach dropped instantly.

 He skated to Danny's side again like a pro, he raised his stick and tilted his head slightly to me giving me one last flirtatious smug smirk and hit the puck hard.

 It sliced through the air and slammed directly into the goalpost.

 “Goal!”

 The stadium erupted loudly in shock, happiness and gasps. There were loud screams, whistles blowing and cheers echoing as everyone stood on their feet celebrating Frank’s victory.

 I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white, I stared at the whole scenery in disbelief…just hearing the noise made my chest tighten. Frank lifted his arms in triumph soaking in the glory.

 That was supposed to be Danny’s win, his moment and not Frank’s.

 My stomach twisted in knots as I immediately grabbed my notebook from the seat beside me and dashed out of the rink.

 I refused to watch the celebration any longer, starting to get irritated. My shoe echoed through the corridor and immediately I saw Danny surrounded by a few of his teammates at the far end of the men’s locker room, my heart fluttering as I stared down at the hamburger in my bag. I bought it specially for him.

 I quickened my pace and reached to him, their voices were low and immediately he saw me, the other guys quietly excused themselves and left.

 I stood in front of him tucking my hair by the side of my ears sexily, forcing a soft smile.

 Even though he was defeated, he looked heartbreakingly beautiful…my eyes darted at him from head to toe, there was sweat glistening on his neck and his hair was damp and messy.

 His eyes met mine as he adjusted the helmet he was holding. My heart pounded against my ribs as I swallowed hard.

 “Danny,” I said gently, “I’m really sorry about the game, I knew it was supposed to be your victory lap and not his…i believe in you.”

 He sighed and gave me a small and tired smile like it was nothing, he ruffled my hair like a 5 years old child. “Hey, it’s fine, Mimi. We can’t win them all.”

 I froze at his touch, my heart flipping in my chest, I could still still the warmth of his hand on my head even though I felt heart broken the way he responded to me. He still thinks I'm a baby.

 “Mimi,” he added, “what are you even doing here? This is supposed to be for upperclassmen.”

 My heart shattered into pieces when he said that and my hands trembled, even though his tone wasn’t harsh…I felt like I wasn't wanted.

 “I’m your assistant, remember?” I said quietly. “I was appointed to be the one who would be helping with the hockey team’s paperwork and I was assigned to get all the star players' signatures for attendance, I also bought you….”

 Before I could even finish my statement, his phone buzzed. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay? Just go home Mimi…we would see at home.” he said quickly and signed on the paper, he walked away as he answered the call.

 I stood there frozen as I stared at his retreating figure, my heart ached so badly and I smiled sadly as I quickly dropped the hamburger inside the waste bin bag.

 “He’s the one person I should never have fallen for,” I whispered to myself. When Mom married his dad, I was just that shy, naïve and awkward girl with glasses who nobody ever noticed.

 But Danny was that one person who kept me company and made me feel valued and wanted. The way he asked if I had eaten, ruffled my hair when I got good grades and told me to stop staying up late at night with a teasing smile, made me fall for him…but I'm just a stepsister to him.

 Before I could turn around, I bumped into something…no, someone.

 I stumbled back and almost fell but he held my waist and pulled me closer to himself, I blinked rapidly in shock as my eyes widened instantly.

 Frank Santiago!?

 And it was just the fact that it was him whom i bumped into but the fact that he was still fresh out of the shower with a towel around his waist and his chest was bare…filled with tattoos.

 His hair was dripping with water as his hands shoved his hair backwards…at the moment, my jaw dropped staring at his perfect abs and muscles. He's super hot!

 My brain stopped working for a second and my hands were still on his chest. I could feel his chest rising and falling rapidly.

 He tilted his head, catching my stare, and smirked. “Enjoying the view and never wanna let go?” he teased, his voice low and husky.

 My face burned and that was when I realized that I was still pulled to his chest, I pulled away immediately “I…I wasn’t looking!” I blurted, spinning around.

 He chuckled, the sound deep and confident. “You do realize this is the men’s locker room, right? Unless…” He said seductively, taking a slow step forward…I could see his eyes gleaming from the corners of my eyes.

 “You came to sneak a peek at the boys getting out of the shower.”

 I turned back to him sharply and my lips trembled nervously and at the same time, I was irritated by his flirtatious smugness.

 “Hell no!” I snapped, as I quickly brought out the papers from my bag and tossed them at his chest. “This is the attendance report for the hockey team. Sign it and submit it back to me by five!”

 He raised an eyebrow, still grinning that devilish grin. “So demanding! Don’t you know that I'm now the new superstar of the school? when addressing me, add a please and thank you, glasses,” he said mockingly, emphasizing on the nickname he gave me.

 I hated the way he tagged me as “glasses” just because I wear them to school.

 I groaned. “For crying out loud, Frank. You’re such a pain in the ass.”

 He leaned against the locker, folding his arms. “What can I say? I’m the team’s star. You, my dear assistant, should show me some respect.”

 “Star?” I scoffed. “You mean to say a thief? You stole Danny’s final goal…that was supposed to be his win!”

 Frank’s smirk faded slightly immediately he heard that, he looked at me and said casually but teasing. “So, you’re his little defender now? Don’t blame me for being better than your fav. Danny had his moment already so now, it’s my time.”

 I frowned, stepping closer to him without even realizing. “You’re wrong! Danny will always be the real star to me, he’ll always be the best player.”

 He stared at me in confusion for a second and his gaze softened for a moment before he let out a mischievous grin. “To you, huh?”

 I blinked, suddenly realizing what I had just said. My cheeks flushed red…oh no!

 He smirked at me clearly enjoying the discomfort in my face. “Wait, you have a crush on your stepbrother don’t you?”

 “W-what are you talking about?” I stammered.

 He didn’t answer the question but instead he unfolded the paper I gave him earlier and what I saw made me freeze immediately.

 It was my handwriting on it! “Oh no,” I whispered, panic rushing through me. Turns out that it wasn't the attendance sheet at all…i gave him the wrong paper.

 That was my novel—where I wrote everything I felt about Danny anonymously and published some copies.

 Frank's eyes darted on the pages as his expression changed from confusion to amusement and then.. to shock.

 “Wow,” he said, laughing softly as he started reading the first page. “‘The way he skates, the way he smiles, the way his eyes light up when he looks at me—it makes me wonder if I could love him forever.’”

 My eyes widened in terror as I quickly rushed to him trying to snatch the paper from him desperately. “Give it back! That’s not supposed to be there! It's private!”

 He held it higher, grinning. “Oh my God, Mimi, you’re a poet. This is adorable…who would have known that your innocent self is also in love?”

 “Frank, I’m serious! Give it back!” I shouted, jumping to grab it.

 He took a step back, chuckling as he kept it out of ruch higher.

 “Wait, wait, is this….wait—oh no. Tell me this isn’t a diary entry about your stepbrother.”

 “Stop reading it!” I cried, reaching for it again.

 But as i was still jumping, my foot slipped against the tiled floor and i fell forward straight to him.

 My body pressed against his as my palms placed on his bare chest and his eyes locked on mine.

 He looked down at me and smirked again, dangerously.

 “Well, well,” he whispered. “The only top player we’ve got on this team is me and Danny. So tell me, Mimi…”

He leaned in close, his breath brushing against my cheek.

“Which of us are you fantasizing about?”

His lips curved into a dangerous smirk.

“Your stepbrother… or me?”

My heart was pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it.