MOVING INTO THE HELL HOUSE

Dragging the last duffel bag up the creaking stairs of 114 Oak Street felt like crossing into enemy territory with nothing but stubborn pride as armor.

The house carried its own atmosphere—stale beer, worn leather, and that heavy, electric undercurrent of masculine energy I had been pushing against since I was eight years old. That was the year the local girls’ league folded. My father, a former minor-league enforcer with hands like scarred oak, had looked at me with equal parts pride and fear when I begged him to let me try the boys’ league.

“They hit hard, Dani. You sure?”

I was sure. I took my first legal body check at nine and got up smiling, blood on my tongue and fire in my chest. By twelve I was the only girl left, earning the nickname “Ice Breaker” after one perfectly timed hip check shattered a bully’s confidence—and his ribs. But the real war began at fourteen when a rival coach told my father I was “ruining the boys’ development.” When I refused to quit, my own teammates voted to bench me for the championship game. I sat in the stands watching them lose, heart cracking wide open, and made a silent vow: no man would ever decide when I was allowed on the ice again.

That same vow had carried me through laughing scouts and coaches who called me a distraction. And now it had delivered me here. Room 212. Six inches of drywall away from the one man who threatened everything I had fought for.

Caleb’s door stood open as I passed. He was inside, shirtless, back to the hallway, muscles shifting as he rearranged a heavy gear bag. The dark lines of a tattoo curled down his spine like a silent warning. The sight hit me low and unexpected—a sharp, unwelcome pull that made my breath catch.

He turned the instant he sensed me. Silver-grey eyes narrowed, dragging slowly over my leggings and the thin tank top that still clung to my skin from the walk over.

“You actually showed up,” he said, voice low and rough as winter wind over ice.

“Surprise,” I muttered, stepping into my new room and dropping the bag. The space was tiny, barely enough for a bed and dresser, but the air already carried his scent—woodsmoke and cold. The walls were so thin I could hear every rustle of his movements next door.

I tried to unpack, but my mind kept drifting to Kane Harlow. I had spent the morning digging through his history, and what I found settled like ice in my stomach. He wasn’t just arrogant—he was driven by grief. His older sister’s career had ended violently at sixteen after a dirty hit left her with lasting damage. Kane had turned that pain into a mission: women had no place in this game. He had already posted clips of me with captions designed to cut deep.

A floorboard creaked behind me.

I didn’t need to turn. The temperature in the room rose as Caleb filled the doorway, his broad frame blocking the hallway light. His gaze lingered—slow, heavy—tracing the curve of my back as I bent over the dresser.

“Ground rules,” he said quietly, stepping inside and closing the door with a soft click. “Keep your things on your side. Don’t walk around the house like that after dark. And if Kane so much as looks at you wrong tomorrow, you tell me before anyone else hears.”

I straightened and faced him, heart thudding against my ribs. “Why? So you can use it as another reason to cut me?”

He moved closer, erasing the distance until my back met the dresser. We weren’t touching, but the heat of him pressed against me anyway—solid, overwhelming. His fingers rose, catching a loose strand of hair and tucking it gently behind my ear. The touch was careful. Almost tender. It burned worse than any rough grip could have.

“Because Kane doesn’t just hit hard, Danica,” he murmured, thumb lingering near my jaw. “He plays to destroy. He broke a girl in juniors—rumors, cheap shots, until she couldn’t lace up anymore. He sees every woman on the ice as a threat to the game that took his sister. And right now, he’s got you in his sights… because of me.”

The admission landed softly between us. His eyes darkened, silver swallowed by storm clouds. His hand drifted lower, thumb brushing lightly over the racing pulse at the side of my neck. I felt every heartbeat betray me.

“Does that scare you?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper. He leaned in until our foreheads nearly touched, breath mingling in the narrow space. “Knowing the rival who wants to break you is coming tomorrow… while the captain who can’t seem to stay away is right here?”

My chest tightened. The air felt too thin. I could see the conflict tearing at him—the captain who needed control, the man who hated how deeply I unsettled it. My nipples tightened against the thin fabric of my tank, and I knew he noticed. His gaze flicked down for half a second before returning to my eyes, darker than before.

“Nothing scares me anymore, Caleb,” I whispered. “Not after fifteen years of men trying to freeze me out.”

His hand slid to my hip, fingers pressing through the fabric—not pulling me closer, but holding me there, steady and possessive. The space between our bodies hummed with unbearable tension. I felt the warmth of his chest so close to mine, the way his breathing had grown uneven. His mouth hovered barely an inch from my own. One small movement and everything would shatter.

For one endless heartbeat, neither of us moved. The almost-kiss hung there, agonizing, electric, heartbreaking. I wanted it. I feared it. I saw the same war in his eyes—want and resentment and something deeper neither of us could afford.

Riot’s voice suddenly boomed from downstairs, calling the team for a meeting.

Caleb exhaled sharply and stepped back as if the sound had burned him. His jaw flexed, eyes still locked on mine, stormy with everything left unsaid. He looked wrecked.

“Stay out of my way tonight, Jones,” he said, voice rough. But the way he lingered in the doorway for one last second told a different story.

He left, closing the door quietly behind him.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, legs unsteady, skin still tingling where he had almost touched me. Through the paper-thin wall came the faint sound of his movements—restless, heavy.

Tomorrow the Wolves would come for me. Kane Harlow wanted to prove I didn’t belong.

But the real danger wasn’t on the ice.

How was I supposed to survive a man who wanted to break me when the one sleeping inches away already held my heart in his hands—and seemed determined to crush it?