All Chapters of Stuck between Hockey Player and his Quarterback Brother: Chapter 11 - Chapter 17

/-Tamine-/Blackridge was more of a jungle.Not because of the sports teams or the endless hierarchy bullshit, but because people like Charlotte Hart was in it.And now, her eyes were on me.The whispers hadn’t died since the cafeteria showdown. Everywhere I walked I felt them, eyes peering into my back, mouths half covering their smirks. Evans declaring me “his girl” didn’t help me at all, Atlas storming in and demanding to talk didn’t help and me snapping like a lunatic definitely didn’t help.By Monday, I wasn’t just a girl trying to survive senior year. I was gossip’s newest chew toy.“Trash always finds its way into the spotlight,” Charlotte cooed one morning as I passed the cheerleaders’ table. Her voice was sweet, but her smile was venomous.I ignored her. Rule number one: Don’t feed the sharks, hence they have the strength to bite you.“Didn’t you hear?” Emilia said weakly more like a whisper, almost like she regretted opening her mouth. “She’s tutoring Evans now. Guess that’

/Evans/I have heard how about how rumors spread fast at Blackridge and here I am experiencing it firsthand.This was wildfire.By first period, everyone already knew.By second, they had twisted it.And by lunch, I was the villain of some story I didn’t even write“She slept with both brothers.”“She was with Evans when Atlas found out.”“No wonder she got that tutor deal, she was tutoring him in bed.”Every whisper hit like rock. The looks were not subtle either, even the smirks, raised brows, girls pretending not to stare. Guys elbowing each other like this was the drama they had all been waiting for.I kept my head down, my jaw tight, my hands shoved into my jacket pockets as I walked down the hallway. But inside, I was seething. Not at them. At her.Charlotte Hart.Of course it was her.I saw her smirk in the cafeteria yesterday, that sick kind of satisfaction when the news dropped. And the way Atlas had looked at me afterward, like he was ready to rip my head off.He cornered me

Tamine clutched the three-ring binder to her chest like a shield. She had chosen the most unromantic place possible for their first mandatory tutoring session: Classroom 214, a musty, forgotten space on the third floor that smelled vaguely of old chalk and desperation. The room was mostly empty, the low winter sun casting long, judgmental shadows across the chipped linoleum floor.Rule Number Two: Avoid the Thorpe brothers at all costs.That rule had been shattered the moment Mrs. Davies paired her with Evans. Now, it was just her, her shattered heart, and Evans Thorpe, the source of her current, agonizing predicament.He was already there, sprawled in a student desk three sizes too small for his frame. His hockey duffel bag a ridiculous canvas beast sat beside him, reeking faintly of sweat and something expensive, like cologne mixed with ice melt. Evans didn't look up immediately. He was fiddling with a pen, clicking the top with a rhythmic, irritating tap.“You’re late, Jordan,” he

The feeling of Evans’s cheap, worn pen in her pocket was a constant, irritating reminder that her Rule Number Two was officially compromised. Tamine had spent the evening trying to convince herself that keeping the pen was simply a matter of principle—she was holding it hostage until he improved his grade but the truth was, she couldn't stop thinking about the serious, focused look in his eyes when he talked about earning something he wanted.It was this dizzying internal debate that made her completely unprepared for the ambush.Tamine was walking toward her locker during the crowded lunch break, navigating the sea of students with her head down, a practiced strategy. She felt a presence halt her path and looked up to see Atlas Thorpe leaning against the metal bank of lockers, a casual obstruction. He wasn't alone; his usual entourage of fellow Quarterback cronies and a couple of cheerleaders stood nearby, creating a little pocket of judgmental silence around them.Public humiliation