LOGINChrisMy hand closed around the cup in my fist until the plastic caved in completely, drink spilling over my knuckles. I barely noticed.What the fuck is Zuri doing letting him touch her like that? Chase had his arm around her waist, steering her up onto the little raised deck where everyone could see, and he raised his own cup like he was about to make an announcement.“Listen up, everyone.” His voice carried easily over the music. “My date for tonight — Zuri Sterling.”A ripple went through the crowd, half of them cheering, half of them exchanging looks like they couldn’t quite believe it.“Come on, babe.” He turned to her, holding out a cup. “Want a drink?”“She doesn’t drink,” Ethan cut in before Zuri could answer. “Don’t force her.”“I’m not forcing anybody.” Chase held his hands up, easy, unbothered. “It’s whatever she wants.” He looked at her. “You want a drink?”“I don’t mind,” Zuri said.“No.” The word was out of my mouth before I’d decided to say it. “She’s not dr
Zuri“Just pick something!” Mira called from my bed, where she’d already laid out four different outfits like some kind of fashion buffet. “We’re going to be late, Zu.”“I’m trying.” I held up a dress against myself in the mirror and immediately put it back down.Everything that used to fit right felt different now. The ones that looked good on the hanger clung to every curve the second I put them on, hugging my hips and stomach in ways that made my skin crawl with self-consciousness. I turned sideways, sucked in a breath I didn’t need to hold, and hated how much I was still doing that after all these years.“This one’s too tight.” I tossed a red dress onto the growing pile of rejects.“That one looked incredible on you.”“That’s the problem.”Mira sighed and got up, rifling through my closet herself until she pulled out a flowy gown in soft green, the kind that skimmed rather than clung, falling just past my knee.“Try this.”I put it on, and something in my chest loosened a little w
Audric“Fucking piece of shit,” I muttered, kicking the locker hard enough that it hurt. I didn’t care.Chase had a lot of nerve going after Zuri like that, when I knew exactly what he was doing. Guys like him didn’t chase girls like her because they meant it. They did it because it was fun to watch. And I wasn’t going to stand around and let him break her heart doing it.I’d left the celebration early, too pissed to pretend I was happy about the win. All I could think about was Zuri on her feet cheering for him. She’d only ever cheered for us. Today was the first time I’d watched her get up like that for somebody else, and it landed somewhere I didn’t have a name for.I was still catching my breath when Gabriela let herself into the locker room like she owned it.“You did so well out there.” She shut the door behind her, already crossing toward me.“You shouldn’t be in here.”“Why not? It’s not the first time I’ve been alone with you.”She reached for the towel at my waist and I caug
EthanI’d never wanted to lose a game more in my life, not because I didn’t want the win, but because right now hockey was the only thing standing between me and going after my own brother in front of a packed rink.I’d caught the whole thing from the bench. Audric running his mouth in front of everybody, throwing Zuri under the bus like she meant nothing to him, and Gabriela doing her little fake-injury routine like she wasn’t the most obvious liar on this entire campus. My jaw had been locked tight since the puck dropped, and I could feel it in my shoulders every time I hit the ice, a low simmering thing that wasn’t going away on its own.First period was clean. Fast, physical, the way our games against Whitfield’s team always were, old rivalry, old grudges, nothing personal. I put a shoulder into somebody along the boards and it felt good, felt like somewhere to put all this energy that had nowhere else to go.Then Chase scored.Clean shot, top corner, our goalie barely got a glove
ZuriI’d barely gotten through the gym doors when Audric spotted me from across the rink, already dressed for the game, pads and jersey on, skates laced, looking every bit like the captain everyone expected him to be.“Why are you here?” He skated closer to the boards, stopping right at the edge where the ice met the concrete. “I told you, you’re no longer my assistant. Unless you’re here to apologize to Gabriela.”The bleachers were filling up around us, parents and students finding seats, other players stretching along the boards in full gear, and I felt my face heat under the sheer number of people close enough to hear this.“I’m not here for you.” I kept my voice level, even though everything in me wanted to snap. “Life doesn’t revolve around you, Audric. I’m here to cheer for them.”I nodded toward the far end of the ice, where Ethan and Chris were running through warm-up drills with the rest of the team, sticks tapping the ice in that easy rhythm they’d had since they were
AudricI was finishing my coffee when Zuri walked into the dining room wearing my shirt.The house was quiet, just the hum of the fridge and the sound of the coffee maker finishing its cycle, and then she showed up in the doorway and ruined the whole morning before it even started. She was limping a little, ankle still wrapped from yesterday’s mess at the rink, and for a second I actually wondered if she’d kept the bandage on longer than she needed just for the sympathy points. Which was a shitty thing to think. I knew it was shitty. Didn’t stop the thought from showing up anyway.“Morning,” she said, like everything between us was normal, like she hadn’t spent the last few days turning into somebody I couldn’t stand to be around.“Why are you wearing my shirt?”She glanced down at it like she was only now noticing. “I didn’t know it was yours. Found it in Ethan’s room.”“Take it off.”“Why?” She raised an eyebrow, leaning against the doorframe like she had all the time in the
Rhea“Do you know what it’s like?” Jackson asked, his voice dropping to something that felt like gravel. “Sitting across from you at dinner, watching you eat, and thinking about how those lips would look stretched around my cock? Wondering if your throat would feel as tight as it looks when you swa
BrandonI couldn’t breathe.Danica had been talking for what felt like an eternity—something about the sunset, or the beach, or maybe the fucking weather—I didn’t know. I wasn’t listening. Couldn’t listen. Because every coherent thought in my head had narrowed down to one singular, consuming focu
RheaI was standing in the foyer, watching Marcus carry the last of the bags upstairs, when Danica’s voice cut through the low murmur of conversation.“Wait, which room is mine?”Greg looked up from where he’d been discussing something with Elena. “Oh, we have you in the blue room. Third door on th
RheaThe beach house materialized through the palm trees like something from a dream.I stepped out of the car, and the view stopped me cold. The house itself was stunning, all white stone and floor-to-ceiling windows, but it was what lay beyond that stole my breath. The ocean stretched out endless







