LOGINTamara’s POVHockey practice on Monday was like watching a car crash happen in slow motion.I didn’t mean to go. I told myself I was just walking to the rink to grab a textbook Elena had left there after the game. That was the lie I told myself, and I almost believed it until I found myself standing in the bleachers with my backpack slung over one shoulder, watching them warm up.The moment Garrett saw me, his whole body shifted. Not obviously. Just a tightening of his shoulders, a sharpness that came into his movements like someone had flipped a switch. He skated past the glass and looked directly at me, that small nod that said I see you, and I’m thinking about you.It made my stomach flip.Then Lucas noticed where Garrett was looking.I watched his jaw clench. Watched him deliberately skate toward the boards, toward Garrett, like he was checking his territory. They collided…..hard enough that the other players stopped and stared.
Tamara’s POVI didn’t sleep that night.Elena had made me tell her everything……Lucas, the corridor, the courtyard, Garrett’s room, all of it. She’d listened without interrupting, her dark eyes narrowing with each detail, and when I finished, she’d done what Elena always did.She’d pulled me into a hug and said, “You’re an idiot. But you’re my idiot.”Then she’d made me promise not to disappear again, not without telling her, and had fallen asleep on my bed while I stared at the ceiling and watched my life implode in real time.By morning, the screenshots had spread to every pack group chat on campus. I could feel it in the way people looked at me in the dining hall. Whispers that stopped when I walked past. Phones lowered. Eyes that used to slide right past me now tracked my every movement.I was visible now. Just not in the way I’d wanted.Elena had left early for her geology lab, kissing the top of my head and squeezing my shoulder like she was reminding me I still existed. I’d nodd
Tamara's POV"I am not spending my Friday night watching sweaty men chase a rubber disc."Elena had been saying some version of this for forty-five minutes. We were already in the arena. The cold had seeped through my jeans. The noise was building, that low, rising anticipation that happens right before a game, when everyone's holding their breath without realizing it."You said that," I replied, pulling my hoodie tighter. "Twelve times.""Because you aren't listening.""I'm listening. I just don't care."She glared at me, all dark lips and sharp eyeliner. Her black hair was pulled into two pigtails that somehow made her look more threatening, not less. "You owe me. I covered for you with Professor Bondo when you missed that quiz.""You forged a doctor's note.""A convincing doctor's note." She grabbed my arm and dragged me toward our seats in the mid-section. "Now sit. Cheer. Pretend you understand what offside means."I laughed.It came out before I could stop it, genuine and unexpe
Tamara's POVI came back to myself in pieces.First, the ceiling. Grey morning light filtering through blinds I didn't recognize. Then the ache between my thighs, deep and insistent, I couldn't see but felt with every shift of my legs. My head pounded. My mouth was dry.Then the memories arrived like a flood of cold water.Climbing into his lap. Kissing him. Saying Lucas's name. Him going still.And then….My face burned. I sat up too fast, and my head punished me for it. The blanket slid down, and I was naked underneath. His shirt had been draped over me at some point. I hadn't noticed it last night.Garrett. I knew his name now. I'd screamed it.I looked around the room. The floor blanket was gone. The bed was made—he'd made the bed while I was still in it. The windows were cracked open, letting in the cold morning air. And there, leaning against the doorframe like he'd been standing there for a while, was him.He was wearing a T-shirt and short, barefoot. Arms crossed over his broa
Tamara's POVIt wasn't a question. And somehow my dizzy brain couldn't file that as danger, something to be wary of.I shook my head, my voice sounding rather scratchy. "Ashford."Something flickered across his face. Annoyance, maybe. Or amusement. Hard to tell with the lighting and the alcohol in my system."I don't care," I added, because suddenly I was defensive. "I'm not on anyone's territory. I'm just sitting."He didn't respond to that. Just stood there, massive and unmoving, his eyes scanning my face like he was reading a report he didn't particularly enjoy."You can't stay out here alone," he said finally."Watch me.""You're drunk.""Observant."Something that might have been a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. It was gone before I could be sure.He didn't ask what was wrong, didn't try to fix it. He didn't offer me a tissue or a hug or any of the things people usually shove at crying girls.He just said, "Get up.""Why?""Because I'm not carrying you."I stared at him
Tamara's POVThe sob escaped before I could stop it.Lucas's head snapped up first. His hands were still in Mara's hair, frozen mid-caress. His eyes found mine across the darkness, and I watched something move through his face, something fast and calculating.Not guilt. It was never guilt.Mara turned slower than he did. Took her time, like she already knew who was standing there. When she saw me, her lips curved into a small, satisfied smile. The kind that said she'd been waiting for this.She knew, I realized. She always knew.I turned and walked away as fast as I could. I didn't run, no I refused to run. My legs shook, my chest burned, my eyes pouring out tears but I kept my spine straight and my steps even. The gravel crunched under my sneakers. Behind me, I heard murmured voices, then footsteps like someone was sprinting after me."Tamara."He called my name using that voice of his, the one that used to make me feel special.I kept walking.He caught up before I reached the main







