Semua Bab LOVING MR HOCKEY STAR: Bab 51 - Bab 60

Maya's POV "No, nothing like that," I said quickly. "It's just... complicated. Wrong, maybe." "Wrong how?" I met his eyes, and for a moment, the air between us seemed charged with electricity. "It just is." We stood there in silence for what felt like forever, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Professor Ronan's gaze dropped to my lips for just a second before snapping back to my eyes. "Maya," he said, his voice rougher than usual. "Be careful. Sometimes what feels wrong is actually just... inconvenient." The double meaning in his words wasn't lost on me. My cheeks burned as I realized we weren't just talking about Jaxon anymore. "I should go," I whispered. "Of course." But he didn't move away from me. If anything, he seemed to lean closer. "I'll see you in class tomorrow." The rest of the week passed in a blur of awkward encounters and stolen glances. Jaxon tried to approach me several times, but I always found excuses to avoid him. I wasn't ready to deal

Ronan's POV "But I am. I'm just some girl from a small pack, whose mom has a reputation for sleeping around. I'm nothing special." "You're everything special." The words came out fierce and urgent. "Maya, you're brilliant. The way your mind works, the questions you ask, the connections you make, you see things other students miss completely." "That's just academics." "It's more than that." I stood up, needing to move, to do something with the energy coursing through me. "You're kind without being weak. You're strong without being cold. You've been through hell with that bastard Ashen and his girlfriend, but you haven't let it make you bitter." "You don't know what you're talking about," she said, but there was less conviction in her voice. "Don't I?" I turned to face her. "I know you bring coffee to the groundskeeper every morning because you noticed he looked tired. I know you tutor struggling students without being asked. I know you volunteer at the campus clinic even though y

Jaxon's POV "No." Tears were streaming down her face now, but her voice was steady and cold. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to say you love me and then turn around and call me a slut like everyone else." "I didn't call you a slut," I said weakly, but we both knew that's exactly what I'd implied. "You didn't have to say the word." She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "We both know what you meant. Just like we both know you're exactly like every other man who claims to love me until they decide I'm not worth the trouble." "That's not true." "Isn't it?" She grabbed her notebook from where it had fallen on the floor. "Because it sure sounds like you've already decided I'm not worth fighting for after all." "Maya, wait.." But she was already heading for the door. She paused with her hand on the handle and looked back at me with eyes full of pain and disappointment. "For what it's worth," she said quietly, "nothing happened between Professor Ronan and me. But ev

Lyra's POV I let silence hang between us for a moment, as if I was struggling with the truth I had to tell him. "Jaxon, when Maya found out you were the future Alpha of this pack, her whole attitude changed. Suddenly she was interested in you in a way she hadn't been before." "That's not true. She was interested in me from the night we first met." "Was she? Or was she just rebounding from her breakup with Ashen?" I softened my voice, making it sound like I hated to hurt him. "Think about it. She was drunk, heartbroken, and looking for someone to make her feel better. You happened to be there." I could see the wheels turning in his head, my carefully planted seeds of doubt taking root and growing. Men's egos were so fragile when it came to thinking they might not be special after all. "And now with Professor Ronan," I continued, "she has someone even more powerful interested in her. Someone with royal connections and academic prestige. Why would she settle for a future Alpha when

Maya's POV “I'm just a nobody.” "Stop it." Quinn grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at her. "Maya Rivers, you are worth a hundred of that manipulative bitch. And if Jaxon Cross is too stupid to see that, then he doesn't deserve you." "Then why does it keep happening?" I asked, fresh tears spilling over. "Why do I keep losing to her?" "Because she's a predator who targets people's weaknesses. And your weakness is that you have a good heart and you trust people." "Maybe I should stop trusting people." "Or maybe you should start trusting the right people." Quinn tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "People who see your worth and would never treat you like an option." An image flashed through my mind, dark eyes full of concern, strong hands cupping my face, a voice saying my name like a prayer. Ronan. Professor Ronan, who'd called me brilliant and special and everything Maya had never believed about herself. "I need to go," I said suddenly, standing up. "Where?" Quinn a