로그인Ryder made it through the rest of anatomy wishing he hadn't come.The lecture blurred together in clinical terms and projected diagrams, the professor’s voice steady as she talked through vertebrae and nerve pathways.He took notes he barely processed, nodded at things he already knew, kept his eyes firmly off the back of Jackson Calloway’s head. By the time class ended, Ryder’s jaw ached from clenching it.Practice that afternoon was brutal as always.If anatomy had put him on edge, the ice stripped him raw. Ryder skated like he was being hunted, every drill a chance to prove himself. Larsson barked for speed, for control, for stability, and Ryder threw his body into it like he could outrun the words themselves.He pushed hard, skating like something was on his heels. Every drill, every sprint, every collision—he went at it full tilt, lungs burning, legs screaming, refusing to ease up. Since Calloway arrived, it felt like rest was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Like if he slowed for ev
The next afternoon blurred by in the usual way.Campus was loud, voices ricocheting off concrete, backpacks slung low, shit quality music leaking from someone’s phone. He messed around with the guys outside the student center, shoulder-checking Beck just to get a rise out of him, then took off after Zach when he stole Ryder’s cap and made a break for it across the quad.“Give it back!” Ryder barked, grinning despite himself as Zach zigzagged through a cluster of freshmen.He was mid-chase, lungs burning pleasantly, when he spotted Jax.Calloway was heading toward the science building, pace easy, posture infuriatingly relaxed, like yesterday hadn’t happened at all. Like he hadn’t pressed his cock between Ryder's thighs and ruined his ability to think straight.Ryder slowed without meaning to.He told himself not to look.He looked.The line of Jax’s shoulders under a fitted hoodie. The way his stride rolled through his hips. The exact shape of his ass as he cut through the foot traffic
They stayed like that for a beat, just breathing.Jax’s chest was warm and solid against Ryder’s back, his hands still braced on Ryder’s hips like he needed the contact to steady himself. Heat lingered everywhere they touched. Shoulders, hips, thighs. Droplets clung to their skin, the small stall too close and too quiet in the aftermath.Ryder’s hands slid down from where he’d been braced against the wall, fingers trembling as they fell uselessly to his sides. His pulse was loud in his ears. He could feel Jax’s breath on the back of his neck, uneven and wrecked.“Hayes—” Jax started.“Hayes!” Connor’s voice cut in at the exact same moment, loud and abrasive, echoing off tile. “We’re leaving. Where the fuck are you?”Both of them froze.Ryder’s heart jumped straight into his throat. “I’m—” He swallowed, then yelled back, “I’m in the bathroom!”He tried to turn, panic spiking, the movement awkward and wrong with Jax still pressed between his thighs.“Back off,” Ryder hissed under his br
Jax’s mouth crushed against his, hot and unyielding. Ryder didn’t think, couldn’t think. His back hit the cold stall wall hard enough to rattle the metal, a shocked sound breaking from his throat before Jax swallowed it with another kiss.Ryder let it happen.Let Jax take his face in both hands, let him press their bodies together until steam and skin and heat blurred into one overwhelming pull. He grasped blindly for balance, one hand hitting Jax’s shoulder, fingers digging in, the other braced uselessly behind him against the wall.Jax kissed like he played; relentless, controlled, decisive.His tongue moved against Ryder’s with a hunger that made his knees soften, his breath stumble. Their chests collided with every inhale, slick skin sliding, burning, sparking everywhere they touched. Ryder’s cock throbbed against Jax’s thigh, and the low grunt Jax let out shot straight through him.Jax crowded him further, hips pinning Ryder to the wall as if there were no space in the world exce
Practice finally wrapped, whistles blowing, players dispersing in scattered groups toward the tunnel. Ryder skated off last, partly because he made sure did one more rep than everyone else, partly because his brain was still twisted up over Calloway.By the time he trudged down the hall toward the locker room, he was worked up enough to snap.The second he pushed open the door and turned toward Jax's spot, the words flew out of him, fast.“Why did you do that? I had it covered—”He stopped.Jax wasn’t changing, wasn’t moving around his stall like usual. He was sitting on the bench, elbows braced on his knees, breathing slow and controlled.The sight silenced Ryder instantly.His chest tightened with something that felt uncomfortably close to guilt.Why had Jax taken that hit for him? Why put himself in the line of fire? It wasn’t friendly. Wasn’t logical. It wasn’t rivalry.Before Ryder could make sense of the mess in his chest, heavy footsteps rounded the corner.Coach Larsson.Comin
Monday 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 room felt like it had been polished to within an inch of its life, every surface gleaming, the air smelled faintly of lavender and money. After Aiden left, the quiet settled in a way that made Lukas feel huge and clumsy inside it, all broad shoulders and too-long legs on a sofa meant for delica
The words echoed in Lukas’s head long after they were spoken.He swallowed, voice rough. “You were going to start a family with Nathan?”Aiden exhaled slowly, standing to face him. He raked a hand through his hair, still breathless, and shook his head firmly. “No. Nathan made it very clear he didn’
Morning crept in slow and gray, seeping through the blinds in Mac’s spare room.Lukas woke to the unfamiliar quiet of the empty house, his head thick, his body heavy like he’d been wrestling with dreams all night. For a long moment he lay still, staring at the ceiling, the events of last night pres
Lukas dug around in the dark until his fingers closed over the fake rock tucked beside the steps. This idiot never changed his hiding place. He popped the key free, shoved it into the lock, and shouldered his way inside. His phone buzzed nonstop in his pocket. By the time the door clicked shut be







