FAZER LOGINLeo’s POVI didn’t think I was the kind of person who did things like this.Not… balloons. Not soft lighting. Not carefully chosen corners and angles like love was something you could arrange and frame.And yet, there I was.Standing in the middle of that quiet hall tucked behind Mason Bridge, watching as the last string of lights was pinned into place.“Careful with that,” I said, nodding toward the cluster of white and gold balloons being tied to the pillar. “I don’t want them sagging.”Jason snorted from across the room, a small radio tucked under his arm, a box of decorations balanced against his hip.“Alright, boss,”I rolled my eyes, the room looked… different.The first time I had been here with Ryker, it had be
Ryker's POVThe airport had that familiar hum to it, the kind that never really quieted no matter the hour. Voices overlapped, announcements echoed overhead, and luggage wheels scraped across polished floors in uneven rhythms.I stood between Chris and Oliver, my backpack slung over one shoulder, my thoughts drowning out everything everything around me.We didn’t talk much while waiting at the boarding gate.There wasn’t really anything to say.Every now and then, Oliver would crack a dry joke that didn’t quite land, and Chris would scroll through his phone like he was trying to outrun the silence. I just sat there, elbows on my knees, staring ahead, replaying what-ifs.When boarding was announced, we moved with the line.The flight itself passed in a blur. The low hum of the plane, the dimmed cabin l
Ryker’s POVI was a bad friend.The thought didn’t just sit in my head. It echoed, bounced off the walls of my skull like it had nowhere else to go, like it wanted to be heard, acknowledged, punished.“I’m a bad friend,” I muttered again, this time out loud.Chris and Oliver were still standing across from me, both of them quieter than I had ever seen them. No jokes. No teasing. Just this heavy, uncomfortable silence that felt like it had weight.I dragged a hand over my face and reached for my phone again, even though I had already tried calling Ronaldo twice in the last five minutes.It rang.Once.Twice.Three times.Pick up. Please pick up.The call ended.I stared at the screen like maybe if I looked hard enough, it would change its mind and ring again.“He’s not going to answer right now,” Chris said gently.I swallowed. “I know.”But I still dialed again.This time it went straight to voicemail.Something inside my chest twisted so sharply I had to sit down.“I should’ve been
Ryker’s POVBy the time I made my way back toward the stadium, most of the noise had already died down.The electric buzz that had filled the air earlier was gone, replaced by scattered voices, distant laughter, and the occasional echo of footsteps against concrete. It felt like walking into the aftermath of something big… something I had somehow stepped out of halfway through.Maybe I had.My hands were stuffed into my pockets as I walked, my head slightly lowered, my thoughts louder than anything around me.And then I saw him.Leo.He stood a few feet away, Catherine right in front of him, her face tilted up toward his, her voice animated, her hands moving as she spoke. He looked composed, controlled, like he always did in public.Like nothing ever touched him.Like nothing ever got through
Leo’s POVI kissed Ryker several times on his cheek, his face, his nose, his neck, everywhere my lips could touch.Then I pulled my shirt back over my head.My hair was still damp from the shower we just had, the memory of it clinging to my skin, to my thoughts, to him.The way he moaned when I bent him over in there and fucked his ass till we both visibly shook.Even now, as I looked at him, lying on the ground, clad in nothing but his shirt and his black briefs, I still felt like I hadn’t gotten enough of him yet.And I doubted that I ever would.I pushed myself up from the floor.The joints in my bad leg protested immediately, sharp, biting pain shooting upward like lightning crawling through bone. My jaw tightened, but I kept my face neutral, steady, untouched.Like nothing was happening.
Ryker’s POV“Are you sure you're okay?” I asked again, my voice softer this time, like if I spoke too loudly, I’d somehow make the pain worse.He didn’t answer immediately.Leo was still sprawled on the ground, one arm thrown over his chest, the other resting loosely by his side. His breathing was uneven.“I will be,” he finally said, like it was an afterthought, like pain was something he could simply schedule around. Then he tilted his head slightly, eyes finding mine. “Come here.”Like he hadn’t just collapsed.I frowned, already crouched beside him, but I moved closer anyway, my knees brushing the cold floor as I leaned in. “How badly does it hurt?” I asked, my chest tightening with every second he didn’t give me a real answer.&l
Leonardo’s POVThe dean’s secretary looks like she’s about to faint when I push through the frosted glass doors, shoulders loose, expression unreadable.Everyone always acts like they’re bracing for an earthquake when I walk into a room.Maybe they should.I barely sit before the dean clears his th
Ruler’s POVThe first thing that hit me was pain. A deep, splitting migraine that makes my skull throb like someone wedged a heartbeat inside it. I groan and force my eyes open—the light nearly blinding me as I struggle to adjust to it with the constant banging in my head.My eyes land on the beds
(Leonardo’s POV)Ryker had taken three drinks and now he moved like the music had slipped inside him and rewired his entire body. He swayed, loose-limbed and unguarded, eyes half-lidded, mouth soft, hips following the bass instead of his own thoughts.Cute.Dangerously cute.I sat on the low couch
I didn’t go down for dinner.I couldn’t. Just in case my father or mother would be there, seated at the long polished table as if nothing at all had shifted, as if the air in this house were not thick with something literally unspeakable!Blood. There was blood in the cr







