chapter two

Chapter two 

Kieran's pov

My gaze drifted over him before I could stop it, lingering just long enough to catch the lazy confidence written across his face. Water still clung to his skin, sliding over the dark tattoo coiled around his chest before disappearing beneath the towel hanging low on his hips. Everything about him radiated the same effortless arrogance that had haunted my thoughts for three miserable weeks, and somehow, standing this close to him again only made it worse.

"So..." I scoffed, forcing my eyes away from him. "Apart from being a jackass and Northcrest's captain... you're also into men."

One dark eyebrow lifted, amusement flickering across his face. "That surprises you?"

"I just didn't expect it."

He shrugged as though we were discussing the weather instead of the scene that had refused to leave my head.

"Why?" The corner of his mouth curved into that infuriating smile. "Am I not good enough to fuck a man?"

I rolled my eyes and turned toward my locker, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing my reaction.

"I couldn't care less who you sleep with."

"You care enough to be still thinking about it three weeks later."

My hand paused briefly on the locker handle before I forced it open. Damn him. He wasn't entirely wrong, and that irritated me more than I cared to admit.

"So tell me something, Ashcroft..."

His voice was quieter now, yet somehow it carried farther, slipping beneath my skin before I could shut it out.

"...Have you ever kissed a man?"

Everything inside me stilled.

My fingers tightened around the locker door as something unfamiliar brushed against the edge of my mind. It wasn't a memory, not exactly, more like the shadow of one. Cold air nipped at my cheeks. The sharp scrape of skates echoed somewhere in the distance. A boy's laughter, warm, bright, strangely familiar, drifted through the fog, followed by the fleeting sensation of soft lips against mine. The feeling vanished as quickly as it came, leaving behind nothing except a dull ache behind my eyes and an unsettling emptiness I couldn't explain.

What the hell was that?

I frowned, waiting for something else to surface, but there was nothing... just silence. I slammed the locker shut harder than necessary and forced a dry laugh.

"Keep your nonsense to yourself, Voss. I don't bend that way."

His smile only widened.

"You sound awfully defensive."

"I have a girlfriend."

"So you've mentioned."

I turned back to my locker, pretending to search through my bag even though my fingers had forgotten what they were looking for. The conversation was over as far as I was concerned, or at least it should have been.

I felt him move before I heard him; his footsteps were unhurried, deliberate, each one closing the distance until the warmth of his body settled at my back. He wasn't touching me, but he was close enough for every nerve beneath my skin to tighten in anticipation, then his voice slipped quietly over my shoulder, low enough that it seemed meant for only me.

"But that's not what I asked."

The whisper crawled down my spine before I could stop it. My grip tightened around the locker door.

Damn him.

I turned sharply, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me flinch. We were almost chest to chest now. His expression hadn't changed; that same infuriating smile lingered on his lips, but his eyes were different; they weren't teasing anymore.

But rather, they were searching. I met his gaze with every ounce of arrogance I could muster. I held his gaze, refusing to look away.

"No," I answered firmly. "I've never kissed a man."

For the first time since we'd met, the smile slipped from his face.

Only for a heartbeat, then, almost too quietly, he asked, "Is that all you remember about me?"

My brows knitted together.

"What?"

"The jackass rival captain..." His eyes never left mine. "...fucking a stripper."

Confusion settled deeper inside me.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Something in his expression cracked so quickly I almost thought I'd imagined it. Disappointment flashed through his eyes before the familiar smirk returned to hide it.

"Nothing."

He stepped aside, his smile back in place as though it had never disappeared.

"Forget I asked.”

The tension between us crackled like static before a storm, as my phone suddenly rang, slicing through the heavy silence like a blade.

Aiden’s smirk widened. “You should get that… Might be Melody. You don’t want her thinking you found a new obsession, do you?”

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the way his words sent an unwelcome shiver down my spine. I turned slightly and fished my phone out of my locker.

Rowan's name flashed across my screen. Normally, I'd already be halfway to the celebration. Captains celebrated with their team. Tonight, all I wanted was to get as far away from Aiden Voss as possible.

 I answered, putting it on speaker as I started pulling off my damp practice jersey, desperate for something, anything, to do with my hands.

“Captain, where the fuck are you?” Rowan’s voice boomed through the speaker. “It’s time to party! We’re going all out tonight!”

I tugged a fresh t-shirt over my head, feeling an odd prickle of heat on my back, like eyes tracing every movement. I glanced over my shoulder. Aiden was casually leaning against the lockers, arms crossed, staring at the floor. “I don’t think so, Rowan,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I have plans tonight. It’s me and Melody’s anniversary, and I don’t want to upset her. Especially since I’ve been… absent-minded lately.”

The words tasted bitter. I couldn’t tell him the real reason; that ever since I’d walked in on Aiden fucking that stripper, raw and commanding, my mind kept replaying the scene on loop; the eye contact, the smirk. The dark heat that had stirred in me against my will.

“Can’t you postponeeeee?” Rowan pleaded. “The captain has to be here. We don’t want the opposing team thinking we’re keeping malice after we wiped the floor with them.”

I sighed, grabbing my jeans, as that weird heat on my back returned, but stronger this time. I spun around again and found Aiden was now examining his phone, completely uninterested… Or pretending to be.

“I don’t know, Rowan. I’ll try. But I won’t stay long.”

I ended the call and shoved the phone into my pocket. Aiden let out a low, amused chuckle that sent another unwanted ripple through me.

“Anniversary, huh?” he murmured, stepping closer again, voice dropping into that velvet tone that made my skin prickle. “How noble. Poor girl… She'd be disappointed if she could see where your attention really is”

His eyes dragged slowly down my body as I finished buttoning my jeans, lingering just long enough to make my breath catch. The flirtation was blatant, dangerous, and far too effective.

I slammed my locker shut and met his gaze head-on, refusing to let him see how much he unsettled me.

“Keep dreaming, Voss,” I said coldly, brushing past him so our shoulders collided. “Some of us have actual lives outside whatever twisted game you’re playing.”

I walked out without looking back, heart pounding harder than it had any right to. But even as I left the locker room, I could still feel the weight of his stare burning into me, and worse… part of me already wondered if I’d see him at the party anyway.

The drive home was useless, as every red light brought him back; the humming, the tattoo, that infuriating smirk. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. It wasn't an attraction; it couldn't be. I loved Melody, and whatever this was had to disappear. Probably, if I stopped giving it attention.

The front door barely closed before Melody threw herself into my arms. She was completely naked, laughing as she kissed me, her nipples hard and her pussy already glistening as she rushed into my arms.

“Baby! You were a god out there tonight,” she moaned against my mouth, kissing me hungrily while grinding her wet pussy against my thigh. “I’ve been aching for you. Happy anniversary, my hockey king.”

I kissed her back, hands squeezing her ass, but it felt mechanical.

“I brought us a surprise,” she whispered, nipping my ear. “Another girl. I thought we could have a hot little orgy to celebrate your win and our anniversary. You’ve been so distant… I wanted to make you lose control tonight.”

The blonde girl stepped out, naked and smiling confidently. Instead of excitement, all I felt was exhaustion. My head was already full, and the last thing I wanted was another complication. “We’re here to make you feel good, Kieran.”

I shook my head and gently pushed Melody back.” What's going on?”

“It’s your surprise, babe.. Don’t you like it?” she asked, pouting, as her hands found my already bulging penis.

“Mels.. I don’t need an extra party in our sex lives” How do I tell her that I don’t have the mental strength for tantrums or surprises this period? The shock I got three weeks ago hasn’t left my head…or should I say body, because every part of me seems to react once I am close to that fool.

“So that means you don’t want to fuck tonight.. I really don’t get you anymore, Kieran. What exactly is your problem? You have been acting strange for days,” she shifted, covering her nipples as she folded her arms.

 “No.. Mel.. What I am saying is that  I only want you, Mel. No one else.” I wrapped my arms around her waist.

“So, what do I do about the second girl?”

“ fuck her… she isn’t even as sexy as you right now.. I only need you to make my night”

She pouted but tried again, palming my hardening dick through my jeans. “Please, baby? Just once…”

“No.” I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. “Only you. Right now.”

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the bathroom, shutting the door behind us. If my body still worked the way it always had, then maybe my head would follow. Maybe whatever Aiden Voss had awakened inside me would finally disappear. I kissed Melody harder than usual, touched her like I had something to prove, desperate to lose myself in the familiarity we'd shared for almost two years. She moaned my name, clung to me, and I gave her everything she wanted until we were both left breathless, our bodies tangled together in the silence that followed.

We stayed locked together, breathing heavily.

I kissed her shoulder. “You okay?”

“So good,” she sighed dreamily, a lazy smile spreading across her face. “I love you.”

The bathroom door clicked shut behind her, and just like that...The high crashed.

The mirror reflected exactly who I had always been; Westbridge's captain, Melody's boyfriend. The man who had believed he knew exactly who he was.

So why did I suddenly feel like I was staring at a stranger?

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing Melody's face to stay in my head. Instead, I saw wet black hair, a crooked smile, water sliding over an ouroboros tattoo, then came the humming; that damn humming.

I gripped the edge of the sink so hard my knuckles turned white.

No matter how hard I'd tried to prove I wasn't in any way affected, nothing had changed; the only person still occupying my mind wasn't the woman I'd just made love to.

It was Aiden; his eyes, his confidence, the way he'd looked at me like he already knew something I was still too terrified to admit to myself.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I whispered to my reflection.

This wasn't normal, and the worst part...was realising I already wanted to see him again.