THE FIRST KISS

Olivia's Pov 

The silence of the arena’s back hall was deafening after the gala’s noise. My heels struck the concrete like gunshots, each step fueled by the kind of fury that sat too close to fear. My chest ached, not just from anger, but from something I didn’t dare name.

I shoved open the door to the training wing and found him.

Xander was lounging on the bench like he owned the place. His tux jacket hung loose, bowtie undone, shirt collar open, throat bare. The smirk was already there, waiting for me.

“Doc,” he drawled, eyes glinting.

“Don’t.” My voice cracked sharp, my hand slicing the air. “Don’t you dare.”

He tilted his head, lazy and dangerous all at once. “Don’t what? Say hi? Smile? Tell you the truth?”

“Reckless!” The word exploded out of me. I slammed the door shut behind me, the sound echoing off tile. “What you did tonight was reckless, Xander. You could have ruined everything. My career. Your reputation. Your engagement....”

“My engagement?” His brows shot up. “You really wanna bring that into this?”

“Yes!” I snapped, my voice too loud in the empty room. “You have a fiancée, Xander. You have cameras following your every move. You have my son depending on you....”

He pushed off the bench and stepped closer, heat radiating off him. “Don’t you dare drag Ethan into this.”

“Of course I will!” My throat burned. “Because he trusts you. Because he looks up to you. Because if he even senses something is wrong—”

“Then what?” Xander cut in, his voice rising. “Then he’ll finally see the truth? That his mom isn’t made of stone? That the one thing she wants more than anything is standing right in front of her?”

I froze, my whole body trembling. “You don’t get to talk to me like that.”

He laughed, sharp and bitter. “Why not? Because I’m right? Because I’m saying everything you’re too afraid to admit?”

“You’re engaged!” I threw the words like knives.

His grin snapped, gone in an instant. His voice dropped, low and raw. “Engaged to a woman who cares more about how we look in photos than how I feel when I can’t breathe at night.”

I flinched.

He stepped closer again, towering over me now. “She’s not here, Liv. She’s never here. But you? You’re always right where I can’t stop wanting you.”

“Stop.” My voice shook. “Just stop.”

“No.” His eyes burned into mine. “Not this time.”

I shoved at his chest, desperate to push him away. He barely moved, his body solid against mine.

“Let me go,” I hissed.

“Say you don’t want me, and I’ll walk out that door,” he said, voice rough, unyielding.

My throat locked.

“Say it,” he pressed, leaning in, so close I felt the heat of his breath.

“I....” The word tangled, useless.

“That’s what I thought.” His hand shot out, catching my wrist, pinning it lightly but firmly against his chest. His heart hammered under my palm, a frantic echo of my own.

“Xander...”

But then his mouth crashed against mine.

The kiss was fire. Rough, reckless, teeth clashing, breath stolen. I slammed back into the wall with a gasp, his hands bracing on either side of me, caging me in. He kissed like a man starved, desperate, taking and giving all at once.

I should have stopped it. God, I should have. Instead I clutched his shirt, yanking him closer, answering him with the same hunger. Our mouths collided again and again, heat sparking down my spine.

“Damn it, Liv,” he growled against my lips.

“You’re insane,” I panted, kissing him harder.

“Good,” he rasped, nipping at my mouth. “Then we match.”

I groaned, the sound swallowed by his kiss as his tongue slid against mine, rough and demanding. My knees buckled, his body holding me up, pressing harder, hungrier.

“You’ll ruin me,” I whispered between frantic kisses.

“You think you’re not ruining me?” His voice was ragged. “You’ve been in my head for years.”

He kissed me again, harder this time, so raw it hurt. My fingers tangled in his hair, pulling, making him groan into my mouth. Every line I’d drawn burned to ash. Every promise I’d made snapped under the weight of him.

Then....

“Xander?”

Cassandra’s voice. Sharp. Icy. Close.

We tore apart like we’d been electrocuted. My back hit the wall again, my chest heaving, lips swollen, body trembling. His forehead pressed against mine for a split second, his breath ragged.

“Xander?” Cassandra’s voice came again, nearer now. The door handle rattled.

Panic surged through me. “She’s coming....”

“Let her,” he said, voice dark, daring.

“Are you insane?” I shoved at him again, frantically smoothing my dress, my hair.

The door swung open.

Cassandra stood there, all diamonds and ice, her smile frozen, her eyes suspicious.

“There you are,” she said, her tone sugar-coated venom. “People are asking for you.”

Xander straightened, slipping the mask back on like it was stitched to his skin. “Just cooling off.”

Her gaze flicked between us, sharp and cutting. My stomach dropped, certain she could see the heat still clinging to my skin.

“Cooling off?” she repeated, voice tight. “You’re sweating.”

“I had PT earlier,” he lied smoothly. “Leg’s still a bitch.”

She narrowed her eyes, then looped her arm through his. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t move. His eyes stayed locked on me, burning, even as Cassandra tugged him back toward the hall.

“Xander,” she snapped, yanking harder.

Finally, he let her pull him away, his gaze never leaving mine until the door shut behind him.

The silence left in his wake was deafening.

I sagged against the wall, trembling from head to toe. My lips still burned, my body still ached for more. But the terror in my chest drowned everything else.

My son. My career. His fiancée.

“This can never happen again,” I whispered to the empty room.

But even as I said it, my heart betrayed me with a truth I couldn’t silence:

I wanted it to.