BEGGING FOR MY HOCKEY RIVAL

JULIANFive points to three. Varsity High won. It made me sick.I watched from the cold metal of the stands as my prey jumped, screaming at the top of his lungs while his little sycophants roared around him, cheering him on. Coach yelled something as they all jogged off toward the locker room, the crowd buzzing with chants that echoed across the field.I strutted toward the parking lot, flicking a cigarette between my lips to drown out the rage burning in my chest. Three bloody years, and I’ve finally made it back to this shitty town. Back for him. My dirty, sinful liar.Right on cue, the crunch of gravel signaled his approach. His face popped into view, an ugly snarl twisting his sharp, sculpted features the second he noticed me leaning against his hood.“The fuck, man! Get off my car… it’s fucking expensive!” he barked, shoving me back. He grabbed a handful of my shirt, but my hood stayed low, keeping my face strictly in the shadows. He shoved me again, hard enough to make me stagge

JULIANI sat on the edge of the mattress in my flat, the adrenaline from the locker room had finally leveled out, leaving a cold, clean focus in my chest.Rowan was a joke. The town’s hockey god, the pristine captain, was nothing but a submissive whore for the younger brother of the guy he had put in a cell. The way his body had given up, the way he had arched his hips into my hand while I squeezed his neck—it was pathetic. Physical violence wasn't going to be enough to break him. If I just beat him to a bloody pulp, he’d look like a martyr to the scouts. To destroy a god, you had to make him ruin himself. You had to drag his dirty secrets into the light.I pulled out my phone and unlocked it. I bypassed my primary contact list and opened the burner app.Maya Ashcroft.I pulled up her public university profile. She handled the student-athlete compliance tutoring logs at the athletic center, and her schedule was right there. Tuesday nights. Late shift at the campus library.I typed ou

JULIANThe lock clicked. The heavy glass door began to swing open.Panic flashed through Rowan’s eyes, the calculated, razor-sharp panic of a pristine varsity athlete whose multi-million-dollar pro career and powerful family legacy were hanging by a single, fraying thread. If Miller walked in right now and saw the captain of the varsity hockey team unzipped and pinned to a table, Rowan's squeaky-clean reputation would bleed out right here on the library carpet. His future would be dead before it even started.In a split second, the predator instinct in my chest completely overrode my desire to humiliate him. Nobody gets to break him but me.With a sudden, violent surge of adrenaline, I grabbed the front of Rowan’s jacket, yanking his massive frame off the table and shoving him hard into the shadow of the towering bookshelves behind us. Before he could even push back against my grip, I stepped squarely into the doorway, blocking the guard’s line of sight entirely as I zipped up my hoo

ROWANThe rink smelled like cold sweat,and ice exhaust.My chest burned as I stepped off the ice, my skate guards clicking against the corridor behind the home bench, pulling my gloves off with my teeth. My knuckles were bloody from raw friction. I leaned back against the rusted storage lockers, my head thrown back against the wall, trying to get my breathing under control."You’re going to tear those laces again."The voice sank straight into my marrow. I didn't move. I couldn't... My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it rattled my teeth.I opened my eyes slowly. Standing three feet away in the shadow of the equipment rack was Theo.He looked fucking lethal. Sharp jaw, dark hair messy from the damp air, his black coat tailored, his eyes burning with that same arrogant, beautiful malice that used to ruin me when we were seventeen. He looked like the absolute worst decision I’d ever made, and my body recognized him before my brain could even register the terror."Theo," I choked ou

ROWANI watched as rowans gaze hardened, his jaw locking in place and his grip on my arm tightening as he spoke... his eyes seemed infused with anger. And jealousy? He’d been avoiding me all morning... and even now being here with him seemed dreadful. I had no idea what Theo would do.“You both fucking?” he asked, trying to sound unaffected, and he was fucking failing terribly at his impulse control.“Go home Julian, I have to leave now,” I muttered, yanking my hands away from his grip only for him to growl, yanking me back in place to his thumbed body backward right against his chest.“You fucking him now? Why is it that damn hard for you to give a response?” he asked, the rage in his voice unmistakable... his grip an iron fist... my heart racing hard against his chest.“He’s your brother, you ask him that yourself. I need to go, I don’t have time for all this,” I replied hastily, knowing Theo was up to no good and would make good on his threat.“I don’t... go... don’t go to him, sta