All Chapters of Never Mine To Love: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

Noah’s POVI woke up to the soft glow of morning slipping through the blinds. The room smelled faintly of coffee, of River’s shampoo, of everything he always left behind when he stayed here. But when I reached out, searching for him with half-closed eyes, the bed was empty. My chest tightened, a slow, creeping panic rising in me. River wasn’t here.I sat up fast, heart hammering. “What the hell…?” I muttered, scanning the room. His phone wasn’t on the nightstand, the little things he always left—his wallet, keys, the book he’d been reading, some were gone, some still lay untouched. It was confusing, off.My fingers immediately went to my phone. I called River. Once. Twice. Three times. Straight to voicemail every time. I swallowed hard, pacing the bedroom, then the living room, muttering under my breath. “River… River, where are you?” My voice was low but tense. I could feel the tension in my shoulders, the tightness in my chest.I grabbed my keys and phone again. Maybe he was in the

Daniel’s POVThe doors of the restaurant slid open, and the scent of warm bread and freshly brewed coffee hit me immediately. The morning sun reflected off polished tables, bouncing light into the quiet hum of conversation. For a second, I tried to let the ordinary rhythm of the place steady me, to calm the tension in my chest. But it didn’t work.Because my mind refused to stay in the present.It went back. That summer ago. July. Sticky, suffocating, the kind of heat that pressed against your skin and made breathing feel like a chore. The smell of cut grass and barbecue smoke mixed with dust from the attic. And the voices, boxes clattering, River shuffling nervously across the floor, Elliot’s distant laughter, everything replayed itself like a memory I couldn’t delete.I remembered River. Seventeen, earnest, brimming with hope and teenage confusion. And I remembered Karden his cousin, nineteen, reckless and sharp-edged, whose presence would soon turn that summer into a memory I coul

River’s POVThe moment Daniel walked in, my chest tightened, the air around me feeling heavier, charged, as if the space itself knew the storm we were about to navigate. I kept my hands folded neatly over the notebook on the table, the tip of my pen pressing lightly against the paper, grounding me. I could feel the pull, that old, undeniable pull I had felt since the first time I had truly seen him, the one that had haunted me for years and I stiffened, determined not to give anything away.He scanned the room, and when his eyes landed on me, it was like gravity shifted. Every nerve in my body hummed. I wanted to look away, to pretend that the tightness in my chest wasn’t there, that my pulse wasn’t betraying me, but I couldn’t. Not completely. Not yet.“River,” he said, stepping closer, calm but intense, the kind of presence that made the world shrink to just him and me. “Thanks for agreeing to meet. I… I need to talk to you about Karden.”I didn’t move, didn’t flinch. My jaw tighten

River’s POV We lay there, tangled in each other’s sweat-slicked limbs, breaths still heavy, hearts hammering in sync. The first round had left me raw, trembling, and yet… the ache hadn’t faded. If anything, it had sharpened, a low burn pulsing through me that refused to be ignored. Noah’s fingers traced patterns along my back, slow, teasing, and I felt my cock twitch again, slick and heavy.“You’re insane,” he muttered, voice low, rough, a crooked smirk tugging at his lips. “One round isn’t enough for you, is it?”I groaned, pressing closer, chest to chest, feeling the hard length of him against me even now. “Apparently not,” I whispered, voice hoarse, ragged with want. The memory of the first round, the way he’d driven me insane, claimed me, stretched me, still burned deep. Every nerve screamed for more, and I wasn’t about to fight it.He rolled us slightly, pressing me onto my back on the couch this time, dark eyes glinting as he hovered over me. “Good,” he breathed. “Because I’m n

Karden's Pov.It was already passed 11 pm when I leaned back in my chair, letting the tension slip slightly from my shoulders, but the heat inside me didn’t fade. Daniel. I couldn’t shake him. The memory of his hands on me, the way he’d fucked me when he thought I was River, drunk and reckless… it was still burning through my veins. The thought made my pulse race, made my body tighten in ways that had nothing to do with the man in the room with me.Eric was already back from where he went to meet one of his source. He’d been leaning against the wall when I came back, arms crossed, that smirk on his face that always said he knew more than he should. His presence was heavy, pressing against the air between us, and I could feel it in my chest, my stomach, every nerve ending. But this wasn’t about him. Not really. My mind was elsewhere, chasing the memory of Daniel’s hands, Daniel’s lips, Daniel’s reckless heat.“Still thinking about him?” Eric said, voice low and teasing. He stepped clos