جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 108

Ariana's POVI spotted him the second I stepped out of the journalism building, and my whole body went rigid before I'd even fully processed who I was looking at.Davian stood near the steps, hands in his pockets, that same easy, confident posture he'd always carried like the world owed him space to occupy however he pleased. He looked exactly the same as he had over a year ago, well-groomed, casually expensive, the kind of charm that had once completely disarmed me now reading as something closer to a warning sign."Ariana." He said my name like we were old friends catching up, like he hadn't submitted a fabricated statement to my scholarship committee weeks ago that nearly cost me everything."What are you doing here." My voice came out sharper than I meant it to, though the shock of seeing him hadn't fully faded from my system yet."Can we talk?" He gestured toward a nearby bench, entirely too casual given everything sitting between us. "Just for a minute.""I don't have anything t

Maya's POVI sat in the stands during Jace's practice, telling myself I was just there to support the team generally, though the real reason sat closer to the persistent, uncomfortable pull I still felt whenever his name came up in conversation.I'd watched the whole scrimmage from a distance, close enough to see him wince sharply after that goal, close enough to notice the way his teammate Mike hovered protectively afterward, though far enough back that neither of them clocked my presence in the mostly empty stands. Something about watching him struggle like that stirred an uncomfortable mix of concern and opportunity, feelings I'd been sitting with more frequently since our coffee meetings started.I lingered near the rink entrance after practice ended, hoping for a chance to catch him, though the scout's presence complicated things, the stern-looking man in his fifties still standing near the exit, phone pressed to his ear, his voice carrying just enoug

Jace's POVI drove out to my childhood home on a Tuesday afternoon I should have spent at practice, exhaustion finally outweighing every reason I usually had for staying away from a house that had never actually felt like home in any way that mattered.The place sat quiet when I pulled into the driveway, no cars besides my own, the housekeeper's schedule apparently not bringing her by today, my mother somewhere else entirely as she usually was, off on whatever extended trip or social obligation currently occupied her attention. I let myself in with my old key, the silence pressing in around me the second the door clicked shut, familiar and hollow in exactly the way I remembered.I wandered through rooms I barely recognized as mine anymore, searching for nothing in particular, just needing somewhere quiet to sit with everything currently crushing me, the injury, the scout's concerns, Mike's continued distance, the ache of losing Ariana that never seemed to fully fade no matter how much

Jace's POVCoach called a full team meeting before Thursday's practice, his expression grim enough that the usual pre-practice chatter died down immediately the second we filed into the meeting room."We need to talk about focus," Coach said, standing at the front of the room, arms crossed. "This team's record has slipped three games running. I've had two more scouts reach out with concerns this week alone. Whatever's happening individually, it's bleeding into our collective performance now, and I can't keep managing it quietly."I sat near the back, my shoulder aching dully under its wrap, acutely aware of the way several teammates' eyes flicked toward me during Coach's speech, unspoken accusation sitting heavy in the room even without anyone actually saying my name directly."I'm not pointing fingers," Coach continued, though the pointed silence that followed suggested otherwise. "But I need everyone locked in for the stretch ahead. No distractions. No personal drama bleeding onto t