All Chapters of Rejected By The Hockey Captain, Now He Begs for me: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

~~ARIA ~~The silence after Ward’s declaration stretched between us like a taut wire. I stared at his hand covering mine on the dining table, large, warm, and surprisingly gentle despite the calluses from years of gripping hockey sticks. My instinct was to pull away, to rebuild the walls I had been desperately trying to maintain. But I didn’t. The fear from last night still clung to me like a shadow, and his steady presence made it feel just a little less suffocating.“Okay,” I whispered finally, the word tasting like surrender. “For now. But only until we know more.”Ward’s eyes softened with something that looked dangerously close to relief. He gave my hand one last squeeze before pulling back, wincing slightly as the movement tugged at his injured waist. “Good. Eat the rest of your breakfast. You barely touched it.”I forced down a few more bites under his watchful gaze, the scrambled eggs and fresh fruit settling warmly in my stomach. When I finished, he cleared the plates him

~~ARIA~~I hadn’t seen him in months. Maybe longer. The sight of him here, unannounced, sent a familiar wave of unease through me.“Aria,” he called out, his voice smooth but laced with that underlying disapproval I knew too well. He stepped inside without invitation, closing the door behind him. “I heard you were back at the facility since you didn't sleep at home last night. Word travels fast in certain circles.”Lena shifted uncomfortably beside me, but stayed quiet. I forced myself to stand straighter. “Dad. What are you doing here?”He ignored the question, walking further into the room as he owned it. Typical. Everything was always about him, his image, his reputation, and how my choices reflected on him. My mother had left when I was just a baby, unable to handle his constant criticism and emotional detachment. He had raised me alone, but it never felt like raising. It felt like it was enduring.“I came because I keep hearing disturbing things,” he continued, his tone drippin

~~ARIA~~The drive back to Ward’s villa was wrapped in stout silence. I stared out the window at the passing lights, my father’s cruel words still ringing in my ears like fresh wounds. Every insult, every reminder of how I had never been enough, how my mother had left because of me, all crashed over me again. By the time we pulled up to the villa, I felt exposed, and utterly drained.Ward killed the engine and came around to help me out, but I stepped away before he could touch me. I walked inside on my own, the grand space feeling both safe and suffocating at the same time.“Aria…” Ward started softly as he closed the door behind us, his voice gentle despite the obvious pain he was still carrying in his waist.“I want to be alone,” I cut in, my voice trembling but firm. I couldn’t look at him. Not right now. The consequence of everything my father, Lena, the break-in, Ward’s constant presence pulling me in directions I wasn’t ready for was too much.He tried again, stepping closer

~~ARIA~~The entire day passed in a blur and the kind of exhaustion that settled deep in the bones.I buried myself in work because it was the only thing I knew how to control.Follow-up notes for Jake’s injury and a dozen conversations with the coaching staff about what his absence would mean for the next few weeks. I moved from one task to the next and Ward hadn’t called.A part of me was relieved. He had given me the space I demanded, and after the disaster of the last twenty-four hours, I should have been grateful for the silence. But another part of me, the weak, traitorous part that still remembered the pain in his voice outside the guest room door last night, couldn’t stop noticing the absence.I was finishing Jake’s latest progress notes at my desk, fingers aching from writing, when there was a knock at my office door. There Mr. Reynolds stepped inside with his usual no-nonsense expression.“Dr. Vance, quick update,” he said. “With Jake sidelined for a few weeks, we’re bri

~~ARIA~~My head was still ringing continuously from his words.“You won’t be alone,” he continued, like he had already made the decision and was simply informing me of it. “You will have your space. I won’t push you. I won’t ask for anything. But I will be there, to know you are safe.”I let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking my head. “You can’t be serious.”“I am.”“You?” I pushed away from the desk, staring up at him. “In a regular apartment, sharing a kitchen and a living room like a normal person? Giving up the villa and all your privacy and whatever billionaire schedule you have because I am too stubborn to let you babysit me from a distance?”“For you,” he said, without even blinking, “yes.”He stepped into my space then, not enough to touch me, but enough that I could feel the heat of him, enough that the air between us felt dangerously thin.“I would get used to it,” he said, his voice lower now, quieter, like the words were meant only for me. “I want to get used to it. For y