Chapter 1 #2
Empty red cups litter the counter, and music thumps through the walls, but in this little corner of the chaos, it’s like they’ve carved out their own space.
“Hey, congratulations.” Addie turns to face us with a smile that lights up her whole face.
“Thanks. Did you enjoy the game?”
“Watching you guys win the championship?” She tilts her head, and her eyes sparkle with mischief. “Meh. It was okay.”
“I’m glad you got to see your dad achieve it,” Roman says, stepping up beside me and taking a slow sip of his beer. “I mean, that’s why you were there, right?”
Addie’s smile fades. “Well, you would think that.”
“Okay, you two play nice,” Jasper cuts in, ever the peacekeeper. “Or at least remember that once we’re drafted, you probably won’t have to see each other again. Might as well make these last moments bearable.”
He tries to keep it light, but the thought of never seeing her again hits harder than I was ready for, and the way Roman’s fingers tighten around his bottle tells me I’m not the only one feeling it.
“We’re young and hot and only have a few nights like this left, so could you guys kiss and make up for me?” Jasper’s charm works its magic as Roman huffs out something close to a smile, and Addie’s lips twitch at the corners. He claps his hands together, grinning. “Good. Now who wants a shot?”
Once the party starts winding down, I find myself outside, taking in the view. Under the stars, the lake stretches out like black glass, while mountains rise behind Mikey and Mitch's house—man, those names are a mouthful.
The scent of vanilla and something uniquely Addie, which has been quietly driving me crazy for years, overwhelms me, and I don't need to turn around to know she's there.
“It’s peaceful out here, isn’t it?” She steps up beside me, arms folded across her chest. “It’s why I came here tonight. I know they have this view, and when it gets quiet like this, you can actually hear yourself think.”
I look over at her, and her eyes are focused on the water. Her cheeks are pink from the cold, and her breath clouds in front of her.
“I’ll miss it, you know. All of this.” The words feel heavy in my mouth because we both know the NHL draft means leaving this town behind us.
“It’s going to be strange with everyone gone.” She wraps her arms around herself tighter, and I fight the urge to pull her close.
“What about you? What’s your plan?”
She blows out a breath, her blonde hair dancing in the breeze. “I have no idea, but I don’t think my future is here.”
“No?”
“I don’t want to get stuck. You know what I mean?
I don’t want to settle for some dead-end job and a mediocre husband just because that’s what’s expected of me.
But you know my dad… you know how he is about keeping family close.
” She shakes her head, looking torn. “It feels like I can either break his heart and leave or stay and lose myself completely.”
“You can’t live your life for him, Addie.” Her eyes flick up to mine, and I take a step closer. “You have to make yourself happy first, even if it means hurting someone else, because staying somewhere you don’t belong just to please other people? That’s not living. That’s a slow death.”
The moonlight catches in her eyes, and suddenly, I can't think about anything except how much I want her.
“Are you happy, Zeke?”
My mind immediately drifts to Roman and Jasper and those lazy mornings when we’re wrapped up in sheets and sweat and something that feels a hell of a lot like forever.
I think about the way Roman kisses me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he stops, and how Jasper always laughs into the curve of my neck as if he knows the world is ours and nothing can ever touch us.
I think about late-night talks that bleed into sunrise, warm bodies pressed close after long games, and the unspoken vow that no matter where the draft takes us, we go together or we don’t go at all.
“So happy,” I answer truthfully. “What about you? What would make you happy, Addison Hope?”
She tilts her head back, staring up at the blanket of stars above us, and I watch the moment something shifts in her eyes.
“Fuck it,” she whispers, and before I can blink, her hands are fisting the front of my hoodie and her mouth crashes into mine.
Her lips are soft, but the kiss is anything but gentle.
It’s heat, hunger, and four years of tension snapping in an instant.
I jerk back, fingers flying to my tingling lips, but when she tries to retreat, looking mortified, something inside me refuses to let her go.
I catch her waist and pull her back to me.
This time, she melts against me like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
My tongue slides past her lips, and the whimper she makes drags my cock to full attention.
We break apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat, both of us breathing hard, and when I turn my head, I see my guys.
Jasper’s wearing that shit-eating grin of his, while Roman’s expression is a dangerous mix of turned on and ready to rip my head off.
“We were gonna tell you we’re heading out,” Jasper drawls, “but it looks like you might have other plans?”
“You’re leaving already?” Addie asks, her breath still ragged from our kiss.
“Yeah, princess, we’re leaving,” Roman says, leaving no room for argument. “Come on.”
He turns away, but Jasper lingers, his eyes still on Addie. “You wanna come with us?”
Roman stops mid-step and goes completely still. His eyes cut to Jasper like he’s already planning his punishment for the invitation, but our wild boy simply shrugs a shoulder as if to say, Too late now.
“Pretty sure she needs to get home before Daddy starts wondering where she is,” Roman bites out.
“Screw you, Ashford.”
“Been there, done that, got the marks.”
Roman and Addie’s history is messy as hell, and when everything fell apart between them, she was the one who left the deepest scar.
She didn’t hurt him on purpose. That’s not who she is, but Roman doesn’t open up easily.
He keeps people at a distance, yet somehow she got through.
For the first time in his life, she made him believe it was safe to let someone in.
Then she left.
They lock eyes in a silent battle until Roman surprisingly backs down first. “Fine, princess. Let’s go.”