INICIAR SESIÓN~RHEA~The first thing I noticed was the silence.The cheers had barely died down when the atmosphere around us changed. People who had been celebrating Zander’s victory were now staring in our direction, their phones raised as whispers spread through the crowd.At first, I didn’t understand what was happening. Zander was still holding me, his arm wrapped around my waist, and I could barely stop smiling after kissing him. I had missed him so much that even standing in his arms felt unreal.Then I looked up at him and his smile was gone.He was staring at his phone with his expression frozen in shock, and my own smile slowly faded.“Zander?” I asked.He didn’t answer.I was about to ask what was wrong when I spotted Chase from the corner of my eye. He stood a short distance away, watching us with a satisfied smirk that made my heart drop straight into my stomach.Oh, God.My fingers trembled as I pulled out my phone. Notifications flooded my screen, and before I could make sense of the
~ZANDER~My head snapped toward the stands and for a moment, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me but there she was.Rhea.She stood near the railing, wearing my jersey with her hair falling messily around her shoulders. She was waving both arms, a huge smile lighting up her face.“COME ON, CAPTAIN! YOU’VE GOT THIS!”I forgot how to breathe.She was here, She actually fucking cane!My eyes travelled over her face, taking in the smile I’d spent days missing. She looked so happy to see me that I almost forgot we were standing in the middle of a game.Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted again.“GO, ZANDER! I’M ROOTING FOR YOU!”Something inside my chest loosened at the sound of her voice. I couldn’t stop staring at her.She’d worn my jersey just like I’d asked her to and it looked as amazing as I had imagined. I wanted to throw my stick down, climb into the stands, and pull her into my arms. I wanted to demand to know where she’d been, why she hadn’t come to th
~ZANDER~“Cole, what the hell is wrong with you?”Coach Jones’s voice echoed across the rink, but I barely heard him. I was too busy glaring at the teammate I’d just shoved during practice.“That’s enough!” Coach barked. “Get off the ice!”I turned toward him. “He was asking for it.”“I don’t give a damn what he was doing! You’re supposed to be leading this team, not picking fights with everyone who looks at you the wrong way.”I clenched my jaw.“Now get off my ice before I make that decision for you.”I skated toward the bench, throwing my stick down harder than necessary. Mason followed me, his expression tight with concern.“Dude, you need to calm down.”“Don’t start.”“I’m serious, Zander. You’ve been snapping at everyone all morning. You nearly took Kai’s head off during drills, and now you’re picking fights with the opposition. What’s going on with you?”“Nothing!”Mason stared at me. “Right. Because this is how you usually behave when nothing’s wrong.”I grabbed my towel and w
~RHEA~I woke up with a start, my head pounding as I struggled to make sense of my surroundings.For a moment, everything was blurry. I blinked several times, trying to clear the haze in my mind, but the moment I attempted to move, panic seized me.I was tied to a chair.My wrists were bound behind me, and my ankles were secured to the legs of the chair. A gag covered my mouth, muffling the scream that escaped me as I struggled to free myself.No. No, no, no.I twisted violently, trying to loosen the ropes, but they only dug deeper into my skin. Tears blurred my vision as the memory of what had happened last night came rushing back.Chase.He had broken into my dorm and pressed a cloth against my face. I remembered fighting him, struggling to reach the door, and thinking about Zander just before everything went dark.Oh God. Zander!He was supposed to meet me at the beach. He must have waited for me, wondering where I was and why I hadn’t shown up. The thought made my chest tighten pa
~ZANDER~“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Kai asked as he dropped onto the bench beside me in the locker room. “You finally lost your mind?”“Fuck off.”He laughed. “Oh, it’s definitely about Rhea. Tell me, did she finally agree to take you back?”“She agreed to meet me tonight.”Mason’s grin softened. As he turned to us. He had been ignoring Kai all day. “That’s a start, man.”“Yeah.” I pulled my shirt over my head. “I just hope she’s finally ready to tell me what’s going on.”“And what if she wants to get back together?”I shot him a look. “I’m not getting my hopes up.”“Of course not. That’s why you’ve been smiling at your phone for the past twenty minutes.”“Do you want me to punch you?”“No, but I’d love to see you try.”I shook my head, laughing despite myself. For the first time in days, I felt like things might actually work out. Rhea had agreed to see me, and I wasn’t going to ruin the opportunity by expecting too much.Even if a part of me had already started imagining
~RHEA~“I want to tell Zander the truth,” I told Heather as we walked toward the cafeteria.I had been surprised to find her waiting outside my lecture hall earlier, but I was glad she had come. With everything going on, I needed someone to talk to, and there was no one I trusted more with my problems than her.Heather stopped walking and turned to me, her eyes widening. “Really? When?”“Tonight. I already asked him to meet me at the beach.”“Tonight?” she repeated, studying my face. “Are you sure you want to tell him now? I mean, the whole reason you kept quiet was because you wanted him to focus on the playoffs, right?”“The playoffs are tomorrow,” she added when I didn’t respond immediately. “If you tell him everything tonight, what if it affects his concentration?”I frowned, because that was exactly what I had been worrying about for days.“I’m afraid Chase is planning something, Heather, and I don’t like keeping secrets from Zander anymore.”“Rhea…”“I miss him.” The words slipp
~RHEA~ Girlfriend?“Girlfriend?” Heather, Chase and Sienna echoed as they stared at me like I knew a fuck about what was going on.The murmurs began as everyone in the crowd stared at us with wide eyes and I could see the questions in their eyes but they seemed too scared to speak.Before I could
~ZANDER~ Something was seriously wrong with me.Because for the last twenty minutes, all I could think about was a girl in a stupid Ladybug shirt.It made no fucking sense.Girls like her were exactly the kind I stayed away from, the ones that were too bright, too innocent looking and too soft.
~RHEA~ I wanted to look away but I couldn't.My eyes stayed locked on Zander Cole as if they had forgotten how to function properly.Water still clung to his skin, sliding down the sharp lines and tattoos on his chest before disappearing beneath the towel hanging dangerously low on his hips. Ever
~RHEA~ I had blacked out from that day.The last thing I remembered after running out of the stadium was calling my dad while hysterically crying.It wasn't the silent tears I had grown accustomed to, it was ugly and bitter. The kind that clawed its way out my chest until breathing itself hurt.







