Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 10

Chapter 1: OLIVE's POVI had three client presentations due tomorrow and a marketing strategy that was nowhere near finished, but all I could think about was Cole coming home in two weeks.It had been two months since I'd seen him in person. Two months of video calls and texts that came later and later each night.Grayson would tell me I was overthinking again. My stepfather had been the steady one since Mom remarried ten years ago—the kind of dad who actually showed up, who remembered what mattered. I pulled my laptop onto the bed, staring at the half-finished campaign for Hopkins Company. Pathetic.I shoved the laptop aside and reached for my nightstand drawer.The feeling of having my vibe pressed right where I needed it, imagining Cole in his blue practice jersey, hair slicked back, hands braced on the headboard above me…Close. So close.The door slammed open.My mother stood in the doorway like she hadn't just walked in on something she definitely shouldn't have seen. When I sc

Chapter 3: OLIVE's POVWhen I said I had a plan, I was lying through my teeth.I was a twenty-four-year-old woman standing in a luxury hotel lobby wearing an oversized hoodie and leggings, hair thrown up in a messy bun that had given up on life somewhere over Iowa, with absolutely zero strategy beyond 'don't think about Cole and survive this week without having a breakdown in public.'That was it. That was the plan.Three days had passed since that office meltdown. Three days of packing and repacking those stupid suitcases Brenda had filled with "revenge outfits" I'd probably never wear.And one text from Cole that I'd deleted without reading.The flight had been six hours of my mother chattering about Hunter's big break and Grayson making business calls and me pretending to sleep.Now we were here. Chicago. The hotel.And holy shit, this hotel.Marble floors stretched out forever under chandeliers. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the Chicago skyline. And everywhere—literally every

Chapter Five: Olive's POV"Maybe I just like the idea of watching Cole Maddox squirm.""That's not a real answer.""It's the only one you're getting.""Then I'm not interested.""Are you sure about that?" His hand came up—slowly, like he was giving me time to move, to protest, to tell him to stop—and his fingers brushed my jaw.And I stopped breathing.The touch was light. Barely there. But it sent electricity racing down my spine, pooling low in my stomach in a way that made me want to clench my thighs together."Because from where I'm standing," he murmured, thumb tracing the line of my jaw with excruciating slowness, "you don't look uninterested.""I—" The words died in my throat."Your pupils are dilated." His voice dropped even lower. "Your breathing's shallow. And if I had to guess..." His thumb moved to my pulse point, pressing gently. "Your heart's racing."Fuck him for being right.Fuck my body for betraying me.Fuck everything about this moment."That doesn't mean anything,"

Chapter 7: Olive's POVI'd found a reasonable place to have coffee not long after, tucked into a corner of the hotel café, nursing lukewarm coffee and debating whether my life had always been this much of a trainwreck or if it was a recent development.Spoiler: It was recent.Three days in Chicago, and I'd already been mistaken for a creative director, cornered by the hottest hockey player alive, offered some mysterious deal I'd been smart enough to refuse, and spent every waking moment trying not to think about said hockey player's bare chest and wet dreams.I was doing great.The café was quiet—thank God—just the soft hum of espresso machines and the occasional clink of dishes. I'd needed this. Space to think. To breathe. To figure out what the hell I was doing with my life.And then the door opened.I looked up.And immediately wanted to throw myself out the window.No.It had been two years since I'd seen Ryan Mitchell, and the universe had been kind enough to keep it that way. But

Chapter 9: ZANE's POVI sat on the balcony, cigarette between my fingers, half-listening to the guys lose their minds over tomorrow's game.The team had decided to throw a party the night before our biggest match of the season. Because apparently, getting drunk and high before a championship game was peak athletic performance.Idiots.Nike was going on about how this was his first big paycheck. How he was going to buy his mom a new car and pay off his sister's college tuition. Noble. Cute. Boring as fuck.I took a drag and let the smoke fill my lungs, eyes fixed on the city lights stretching out below us.The last thing I wanted was to be here.But I had to be. Had to play the part. Had to sit here with these boys and pretend I gave a shit about their dreams and their families and their fucking first paychecks.Because if I didn't, I'd do something stupid.Like walk into her suite. Climb through her window. Press her against the wall and make her understand exactly why rejecting me wa