Chapter 6 – Maddox’s POV

Chapter 6.

Maddox’ POV

I had a cigarette between my fingers and a girl bent over the edge of the bed in front of me. My hips snapped forward hard enough that the frame knocked against the wall with every thrust. She was loud. Too loud. The kind of loud that made it clear she wanted the whole floor to know what was happening. I kept my eyes on the back of her head and the way her spine curved. Nothing about it felt special. It never did.

Zane sat in the desk chair across the room, scrolling through his phone like none of this was new. Because it wasn’t. He had seen this scene play out more times than either of us could count.

I felt her body tighten around me. Then she came hard, squirting across the sheets and my thighs. The wet sound of it filled the small hostel room for a second. I pulled out immediately and reached for my trousers, already done with the whole performance. My skin felt sticky and hot. The cigarette had burned down almost to the filter while I was busy.

She turned around still breathing heavy, trying to look soft and sweet. Makeup smeared under her eyes. Hair a mess.

“Same time tomorrow, Maddox?”

The fake act almost made me want to gag. I hated how girls were the same. Always angling for a next time like one good fuck meant something. Like I owed them another round just because they got off.

“How about never? Get your shit together and out the door.”

“But Maddox—”

“Don’t call me. We aren’t dating. So please… out!”

She gathered her clothes in a messy pile, still half-naked, muttering things under her breath that I didn’t bother listening to. The door slammed behind her hard enough to rattle the frame. Good riddance. The smell of her perfume and sex still hung in the air. I hated that too.

Zane didn’t look up from his phone right away. He just smirked at the screen.

“Not satisfied, are you?”

I took a drag of what was left of the smoke and let it burn the back of my throat. “Guess you know me too well.”

“Bro, that was one of the baddest bitches on campus.”

“Couldn’t care less.”

“You do you.”

“Sure.”

He finally locked his phone and tossed it onto the desk. “Asshole. So what’s this shit going on about your brother.”

I exhaled slowly through my nose and sat on the edge of the bed. The sheets were still damp. “Gracious God… it’s like I’ve gotta say this story over and over again. He’s a jerk. His girlfriend saw a better dick. She hopped on it. And boom… a happy ending.”

Zane scoffed. “That’s sick, Maddox.”

“Tell me about it.”

“But honestly I think you kinda enjoy getting in your brother’s ass. Like you derive some sort of thrill or something.”

I looked at him. The cigarette burned closer to my fingers. For a second I didn’t answer. The words sat in the air between us longer than they should have.

“Well like I’ve been saying from start… he’s an asshole.”

“Sure sure. It’s like those hate to love stories.”

“And what the fuck are you on about?!” I said, getting a little defensive. My voice came out sharper than I meant it to.

“Chill out bro, I was just making a reference.”

“It better be.” I pulled out another cigarette and lit it off the end of the first one. The flame flared bright for a second in the dim room.

The thought of what Zane had just said made me feel fuzzy. And I hated feeling an emotion I couldn’t quite understand. It sat low in my stomach, warm and unwanted. I took a long drag and held the smoke in my lungs until it burned. Brent’s face kept flashing behind my eyes whether I wanted it to or not. The way he looked when he walked in on us. The punch that actually had some weight behind it this time. The way his eyes went dark when Dad made that stupid announcement about the championship. All of it sat under my skin like an itch I couldn’t reach.

Zane was watching me again. He always noticed when I went quiet.

“You’re thinking about him.”

“I’m thinking about how much of a pain in the ass this whole season is going to be.”

“Same thing.”

I blew smoke toward the ceiling. “You talk too much.”

“And you fuck girls you don’t even like just to prove a point. We all have our hobbies.”

I almost smiled. Almost. Instead I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, and stared at the floor between my feet. The hostel room felt smaller than usual. Thin walls. Shared bathroom down the hall that always smelled like bleach and someone else’s cologne. I had gotten used to better places when I was younger, before everything went to shit and I ended up here. But the rink didn’t care where you slept. Neither did the scholarship committee.

Zane stretched his legs out and kicked my ankle lightly. “Bro, you usually forget you’re in the hostel?”

“Well I’m glad to be back too eh?” I blew a puff right on Zane’s face. He waved it away, coughing once and glaring at me.

“Dick.”

“You love me.”

“Debatable.”

I took another drag and let the quiet sit for a minute. My body still felt wound up even though I had just finished. That was the problem lately. Nothing really took the edge off. Not the girls. Not the smokes. Not even the hard practices Allen put us through. Everything felt temporary. Like I was waiting for the next thing that would actually get under my skin.

Zane broke the silence again, softer this time.

“You ever think about just talking to him? Like actual talking. Not the whole shove-and-smirk routine.”

I laughed once, low and humorless. “And say what? Sorry I fucked your girlfriend? Sorry our dad decided to turn us into a reality show? Sorry I exist?”

“I don’t know. Something. The tension is getting weird, man. Even the team can feel it.”

“The team can mind their own business.”

“They’re going to be facing his team soon. Kind of hard to mind their business when the captains are one fight away from killing each other.”

I didn’t answer. Because he wasn’t wrong. And I hated that he wasn’t wrong.

The cigarette was almost gone. I stubbed it out in the ashtray on the nightstand and immediately wanted another one. My leg bounced. Restless energy with nowhere to go.

Zane watched me for another second, then sighed and reached for his phone again.

“Anyways,” he said, “Allen wants to see you tomorrow night.”

I sat up straighter. The restless feeling sharpened into something colder. “And the fuck does he want again?”

“Dunno. No details. He said you both are going somewhere or sumn.”

“Shit.” I kicked the reading table beside me hard enough that the lamp on it wobbled.

Everything about his coach gave me the creeps and I couldn’t wait to figure out what he was up to again.

Anyways, I’m not as eager to find out about it as much as I’m willing to watch Brent fail at the championship.

Training’s tomorrow, so I might as well get a good rest.

“Make sure to dream about Brent, Princess.” Zane whispered tauntingly.

“Fuck you cunt.”