LOGINShe came back carrying secrets that could ruin them both. He swore he’d never forgive the girl who once held his heart in her hands. Elena Voss needed one thing: keep her head down and finish her degree while covering the elite Ridgewood Ravens basketball team for her project in the student media but that shattered when she crashed straight into Noah Hale — team captain, campus badboy, her brother’s best friend, and the boy who once bared every broken piece of himself to her in the dark before hating her for it. To him, she’s the girl who betrayed his deepest vulnerability. To her, he’s the only person who ever made her feel truly alive and the one who shattered her without a second glance. Now he blocks every media interview with a glacial stare. Watches her from across the court like he can’t decide whether to throw her out or pull her closer. Hate has never felt this addictive and proximity has never burned this hot. If Noah ever learns what Elena really sacrificed to protect him, he won’t just push her away. He’ll destroy the last fragile piece of her heart that still beats only for the boy he used to be.
View MoreNOAH’S POVThe place smelled like sweat, takeout, and Jax’s socks. I crinkled my nose at the last one. Boys can be pigs most times. I stepped into the apartment, tossing my keys onto the counter without looking. The TV was on, its volume too loud and some late-night sports recap was playing while Jax sprawled across the couch like he paid rent—which he didn’t—and Marcus sat at the table scrolling through something on his phone like everyone around him didn’t exist.Ethan was in the kitchen and was still in his practice shorts, digging through the fridge like it had personally offended him. He finally grabbed a bottle of beer, twisted the cap off with his teeth, then looked up when he heard me come in.“You got her,” he said, straightening slightly, already reading the answer in my face.I shrugged, moving past him like it wasn’t a big deal. “She was where you said.”“That’s not what I asked.”I opened one of the cabinets, grabbed a glass, filled it with water and took a slow sip letti
ELENA’S POVBy the time I pushed open the door to our apartment, I was soaked, exhausted, and one emotional breakdown away from making very questionable life decisions. I suddenly noticed that the hallway light was on. “Lora?” I called, kicking the door shut behind me with my foot and peeling my wet shoes off right there by the entrance. My socks squished against the floor and I gagged. Disgusting! “Kitchen!” I dragged myself in, leaving a faint trail of water behind me, and stopped in the doorway. Lora Patel was perched on the counter in a cropped top and tiny shorts scrolling through her phone with one hand and eating noodles out of a takeout box with the other. She looked up, took one look at me and burst out laughing. “Oh my God.” I didn’t even have the energy to glare properly. “If you say anything—” “You look like you lost a fight with the ocean.” “I basically did.” She hopped off the counter, still laughing as she circled me. “What happened to you? Make enemies already?
NOAH’S POV I shouldn’t have come. That thought sat in my head the second she opened the door and slid into my car, dripping rainwater all over my seats like she hadn’t just walked straight out of my past and into my night. I didn’t look at her cause I didn’t trust myself to. The door shut, sealing us into a space that suddenly felt too small and full of everything I’d spent years not thinking about. I glanced down then exhaled slowly, already annoyed. “You’re getting water everywhere.” It came out colder than I meant. Beside me, she stilled for a second. “Sorry,” she muttered, brushing at the seat like that would somehow undo the damage. “Didn’t realize your car was allergic to rain.” That same fucking mouth and attitude. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel trying not to let her get to me. “It’s not. I just don’t make a habit of letting people flood it.” She ignored me. Good, that’s how exactly I wanted it to be. I reached forward, turning the dial without thinking
ELENA’S POV: The rain in Ridgewood was aggressive and not a cute little drizzle. No, this was the kind that slapped you in the face, soaked through your clothes in seconds, and made you question every decision that led you outside including my entire life. I dragged my hoodie tighter over my head, which did absolutely nothing except make me look like a wet, miserable ghost. My jeans were already clinging to my legs and my sneakers squelched with every step like they were personally offended. “Fantastic,” I muttered, kicking through a puddle I didn’t even try to avoid this time. “Love this for me.” My bag slipped off my shoulder, and I caught it just before it hit the ground. Too late. The damage was already done. Water had definitely gotten inside. My notes. Hours of sitting in that cramped, coffee-stained media office, trying to prove I actually deserved to be there were all gone. I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah, that tracks.” My phone buzzed in my hand, and I
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.