جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

IZEL'S POV"Hold his legs! Don't let him jerk!" Noah shouted, his golden-boy surfer chill completely shattered as pure, unadulterated terror took over his face.The campus green was suddenly a blur of motion. Students walking past stopped dead in their tracks, gasping and pointing as Jace lay motionless on the grass, his skin the color of skim milk. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely keep my grip on his shoulders. The erratic, terrifying flutter of his pulse against my fingertips felt like a caged bird trying to break through his ribs."Noah, grab his other arm! We need to get him to the student medical center now!" I sobbed, tears spilling hot and fast down my cheeks, completely blind to the crowd forming around us."Forget the medical center, my car is parked right by the greenhouse lane!" Noah yelled, dropping down and sliding his arms under Jace's knees.Together, we hauled Jace’s dead weight up between us, half-carrying, half-dragging him across the quad. Every second

If silence had a weight, the quiet that settled over the Pacific Coast University central quad after Jace pulled back from my lips would have crushed a truck.For five agonizing seconds, nobody moved. Nobody breathed.Across the brick plaza, Vivienne Ashford looked like someone had slapped her across the face with a wet fish. Her mouth was open, her designer sunglasses slipping down the bridge of her nose as she stared at us in absolute, horrified disbelief. A couple of swim teammates near the fountain literally forgot how to hold their protein shakers, letting them drop to the pavement with a loud clack.My cheeks were burning hot, my heart slamming against my ribs like a trapped bird, but Jace didn't step back. He didn't even flinch. His hands stayed gently cupping my jaw, his thumb tracing the curve of my cheekbone, his dark eyes locked onto mine like we were the only two people left on the planet."Jace..." I squeaked, my voice barely a whisper, my breath hitching as the first cho

IZEL'S POVIf you had asked me on Wednesday morning if my life could get any more chaotic, I would have laughed hysterically while inhaling my third iced latte of the day. But apparently, the universe looked at my little viral quad kiss with Jace and decided to test how I handled a high society sociopath in designer stilettos.While Jace was busy being cornered outside the Pacific Coast University aquatic center by the queen of all campus narcissists, I was knee deep in art supplies, frantically trying to finish my showcase pieces before the gallery gods struck me down.Let us talk about Vivienne Ashford for a second.According to campus lore, Vivienne’s father pumped enough donor cash into PCU to fund a brand new Olympic pool, which apparently gave Vivienne lifetime VIP rights to act like a Victorian landowner. She was absolutely furious that Jace had publicly blown up their fake PR relationship to claim his messy, paint stained step sister instead.So, naturally, she tracked Jace do

The contrast between the warm, softly lit art gallery and the sterile, roaring air of the Pacific Coast University aquatic center at 5:30 AM was enough to give anyone severe emotional whiplash.The morning sun hadn't even broken over the California horizon, but the bleachers were already packed. Banner flags fluttered from the ceiling rafters, coaches shouted over the reverberating echoes of splash water, and the sharp, chemical tang of high-concentration chlorine hung heavy in the humid air.In the varsity locker room, the energy was vibrating like a live wire.Jace sat on the low wooden bench in front of his locker, black tech suit pulled up over his thighs, staring down at his bare feet. Beneath the skin of his left chest, his heart felt like an angry creature trapped behind his ribs—slight, subtle, but undeniably present. The stress of the last twenty-four hours, the gallery showdown, and the sudden dawn summons had left his nerve endings completely exposed.The heavy metal door b

JACE'S POVI felt Izel before I saw her. The sharp, clean scent of turpentine and vanilla cut through the suffocating fog of chlorine as she collided with my chest on the slick concrete pool deck. My arms locked around her by pure instinct, hauling her flush against me. She was sobbing, hot tears soaking into the collar of my wet tech suit, her small hands clutching my shoulders as if she expected me to dissolve right through the floor."You idiot," she choked out against my neck, her whole body shaking violently. "You absolute, reckless idiot.""I'm done, Iz," I rasped, burying my face in her wet hair, my heart thumping a slow, steady, safe rhythm against my ribs for the first time in months. "I'm done letting this pool kill me."Before I could kiss her, the entire world went up in a blinding flash of light.Dozens of camera lenses snapped from the bleachers. Reporters scrambled over the media barricades, shoving long boom mics over the railing as security guards shouted in vain to k