MasukMonday morning, meant Ryder had officially survived another week. Not gracefully. Not quietly. But he was one step closer to star center again.He hadn’t relaxed the way he’d planned over the weekend. Between the gym chaos, the team inhaling forty pizzas, and the mental freefall that happened every time Jax Calloway breathed in his direction, Ryder felt like he’d lived a month in forty‑eight hours.But his body… was finally adjusting.Conditioning that morning? He killed it.He even got to the rink early, legs burning in that addicting, good kind of way. The pain was starting to dull into something he could push through without making a face.Then he made it to all of his classes early.Which would’ve been impressive, if he hadn’t spent most of them staring at the back of Calloway’s head.That stupid dark hair. Those stupid broad shoulders taking up half the row. The way he sat perfectly straight, like he’d been carved from concentration and arrogance.Ryder’s pencil hovered uselessly
The next morning, half the Wolf Den, and a handful of extra teammates, swarmed the campus gym after a loud night of pizza and beer. It was loud, chaotic, and smelled like sweat, rubber flooring, and too much cheap body spray.Connor and Drew were on the treadmills, racing each other like idiots. Max was perched on a bench press machine he wasn’t even using, playing a game on his phone. Beck was supervising from the stretching mats, pretending he wasn't hungover.Ryder was doing his best to act normal.Which meant doing his best to ignore Jax Calloway.He planted himself by the free weights, pretending he wasn’t dying inside every time he so much as touched a dumbbell. His whole body protested, mostly from actual training, partly from… other activities.But ignoring Calloway was impossible.Because Jax had decided to stretch.And stretch.And stretch.He’d been doing it for fifteen fucking minutes.Jax knelt on one of the mats, hands braced behind him as he eased into a deep quad stret
Jax drove with one hand loose on the wheel.The car still had that fresh‑off‑the‑lot shine, sleek, sharp, powerful, but it felt hollow. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was everything else. Whatever the reason, the car didn’t give him the rush he’d hoped for; it was just another machine eating up an empty stretch of road.The late‑afternoon sun hung low, pouring warm orange light across the dash, flashing over his knuckles every time the car glided past a break in the trees. He wasn’t speeding, but he wasn’t taking his time either, his mind restless.Lila’s voice spilled through the speakers, bright and edged with concern. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”Jax didn’t sigh, but it tugged at him. “It’s fine.”“Jax…” she pressed. “Look, Ry’s not an actual stalker, so there's no way he'll figure this out, but he’s suspicious. And stubborn. And loud. And he doesn’t let go of things once he grabs onto them.”Jax snorted.Yeah. He knew.He'd seen it in the way Ryder had followed him down the hal
The campus gym smelled like rubber flooring, old sweat, and a handful of guys pretending they weren’t hungover. Ryder pushed through the double doors like he owned the place. Chest out, jaw tight, every part of him screaming in protest.He ignored that.He ignored everything.Especially the aches lower in his body that had absolutely nothing to do with hockey.Leo trailed behind him, wary but mostly unfazed.Ryder slapped his ID at the check-in desk. The student worker barely glanced up before waving him through.He turned immediately, eyes scanning the place. Treadmills. Free weights. Squat racks.No Calloway.He scowled. Had the bastard already come and gone? There was no way. It took weeks, sometimes months, to get card access as a transfer, and Jax’s name hadn’t been on the sign-in logs Leo filled in.So where the fuck was he?"You good?" Leo asked quietly."Peachy," Ryder muttered.He marched straight to the row of free weights, grabbed a dumbbell that was far too heavy for the c
Ryder woke up in his own bed with a much smaller headache than he'd hoped for.A pounding, brutal hangover would’ve been convenient right now. Something he could blame it all on. Hell, maybe he could claim he’d been drunk all week. But the dull throb behind his eyes wasn’t nearly enough. He blinked at the ceiling, as the memories of last night hit. Hard.The face Jax made when Brooke yanked him down beside her. That quick, sharp widening of his eyes, shock and discomfort, before he erased it completely. That look stuck under Ryder’s skin like a splinter.Then the rest of the night flashed behind his eyes with brutal clarity.Jax’s fingers in Ryder’s hair, tight and commanding. Ryder’s knees hitting the floor, the hardwood beneath him. And then Jax’s cock against his lips. The heat of it, the weight of it, the way Jax’s breath broke when Ryder took him deeper, thighs tense on either side of Ryder’s shoulders like he was losing control. Ryder’s hands had trembled, trying not to think, n
Jax didn’t waste a second.He reached into his back pocket, tearing a foil packet open with his teeth like he’d been waiting to use it. Ryder’s breath stuttered as he watched Jax roll the condom down over himself, the thick length of him disappearing under smooth latex.Then Jax slicked himself with lube, stroking once, slow and deliberate, his jaw tightening like he was fighting to keep control.Ryder’s legs were already lifted, draped over one of Jax’s shoulders. His sweatpants and boxers still tangled around his ankles, shoes still on, exposed in a way he’d never imagined he would be.Jax lined himself up.Ryder felt the blunt heat of him press right against his entrance. Hot, solid, undeniable.His lungs faltered.Jax’s grip on his thigh tightened.And then he pushed in.The stretch hit Ryder all at once. Sharp, shocking, burning in a way that stole the air from his lungs. His fingers clawed at the floor, his head tipping back as a broken sound scraped out of his throat.Jax didn’
Noah woke up to silk sheets, a pounding head, and the unmistakable ache of thoroughly satisfying sex.He groaned and flopped onto his stomach, burying his face in a pillow that smelled like Sterling. Clean, expensive, and faintly spiced, like bourbon and power."Mmmfuck," he mumbled. "Dead. I’m dea
Sterling had intended to keep breakfast simple. Eggs, coffee, something with carbs to keep Noah upright after the night they just had.He was halfway through scrambling the eggs when Noah walked into the kitchen completely, unapologetically naked.Sterling nearly dropped the spatula and swore under
Hope was still sniffling a little in the backseat when Sterling pulled away from the school. But her grip on her plushie relaxed as he drove, and by the time they reached the first fast food drive-thru, she’d started humming quietly to herself.Sterling hit their favorite allergy-friendly drive-thr
The facility was silent by the time Noah padded up the hall, gym bag slung over his shoulder and a water bottle half-empty in his grip. Most of the team had already cleared out post-practice. The lights were dimmed to half-power, and the low hum of the building settling back into quiet was oddly so







