Chapter 6 Luca
LUCA
The drill was simple. Breakaway practice, two-on-one scenarios, shit we'd run a thousand times. I was moving through it on autopilot, my mind still stuck on last night.
Reina in that bathroom. Her mouth on mine. The way she'd tasted like chocolate and desperation. The way she'd run.
Again.
"Vale, you're drifting!" Coach's voice echoed across the ice.
I snapped back to focus, adjusted my positioning. The puck came my way and I fired it into the net with more force than necessary. The goalie didn't even try to stop it.
"Jesus, Captain," one of my wingers muttered. "Save some of that for the actual game."
I was lining up for another drill when the commotion started.
Voices at the entrance. Security moving quickly. And then I heard it, a voice that made every muscle in my body go tight.
"I'm here to see your captain. Move."
Jaxon fucking Roarke.
I turned just in time to see him walk onto my ice like he owned it. No gear, just jeans and his Steel Wolves leather jacket, hands shoved in his pockets like he had all the time in the world.
The entire practice ground to a halt. My teammates were staring, confused and tense. You didn't just walk onto another team's ice. That shit didn't happen. Not in practice. Not ever.
I skated over, my stick gripped tight enough that the composite might crack.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Roarke?"
He stopped a few feet from the boards, that signature feral grin already in place. "Came to see you, Vale. Thought we should talk."
"We have nothing to talk about."
"No?" He leaned against the boards, casual as hell. "Not even about Reina?"
Her name hit me like a physical blow. I went completely still, every sense suddenly on high alert.
Jaxon's grin widened. He'd seen my reaction and was savoring it.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. She's back in town. In case you hadn't noticed."
My jaw ticked. "Get off my ice."
"Why? We're just having a friendly conversation between captains." He shifted, his body language pure predator. "Saw her yesterday. She photographed the Steel Wolves. Looked real good behind that camera."
I was moving before I could stop myself, skating right up to the boards. Close enough to see the satisfaction in his eyes.
"Looked even better when I had her pressed against a wall."
My hand shot out, grabbing the front of his jacket and yanking him forward against the boards. "You fucking touched her?"
"More than touched her, Captain." His voice dropped lower, intimate and deliberately provocative. "Made her scream my name. Had her dripping on my fingers in an alley while she begged for more."
Red flooded my vision.
I was over the boards before rational thought could intervene, my gloves hitting the ice as I grabbed Jaxon's jacket with both hands and slammed him back against the glass.
"You son of a bitch."
But Jaxon didn't fight back. He just laughed, low and dark, the sound vibrating through his chest where it was pressed against mine.
"You already had your turn though, didn't you?" His eyes locked onto mine, challenging. "Could smell you all over her. What'd you do, Vale? Pin her against a wall in that hallway? Make her remember what she walked away from?"
We were chest to chest now, aggressive and territorial. Behind me, I could hear my teammates moving closer, ready to intervene. Coach was yelling something I couldn't process.
But there was something else underneath the anger. Something that made my skin feel too tight.
A charge in the air that wasn't just violence.
"This isn't a game, Roarke."
"No?" His eyes dropped to my mouth for just a split second before coming back up. "Because I'm playing to win. And I'm gonna knot that pretty Omega's pussy before you even get close."
My grip tightened in his jacket, pulling him even closer. Our faces were inches apart. "Like hell you are."
"What are you gonna do about it, Ice King?" His voice was a low growl. "You gonna stop me?"
The tension was suffocating. Violent and sexual and so fucking complicated I couldn't untangle it.
Part of me wanted to put my fist through his face.
Part of me was turned on by the challenge, by his aggression, by the way he was matching me word for word.
By the idea of fighting over her.
I shoved him back hard, releasing his jacket. "Get the fuck out of here."
Jaxon stumbled but caught himself, still wearing that infuriating grin. "I'm going. Got a pussy to wreck." He started backing toward the exit, his eyes never leaving mine. "But hey, when I'm done with her, maybe I'll send you pictures."
The door slammed behind him.
I stood there, chest heaving, my hands curled into fists. The entire rink was silent except for my ragged breathing.
"Vale." Coach's voice cut through the fog. "What the hell was that?"
I couldn't answer, couldn’t explain to my coach about what was really going.
Because Jaxon had come here to gloat. To stake his claim. To rub it in my face that he'd gotten to her.
And it had worked.
But something felt off about the whole thing.
"Vale!" Coach's voice was sharp. "My office. Now."
I ignored him, skating toward the bench where I'd left my phone. My teammates parted like I was radioactive, nobody stupid enough to get in my way when I looked like this.
"Luca, I'm talking to you!"
"Give me a minute," I bit out, not looking back.
I grabbed my phone with shaking hands, water from my gloves dripping onto the screen. Three missed calls from the front office. Two texts from my brother Noah asking something random going on at our family’s next gathering.
Finally I pulled up the contact number for Reina that I’d charmed out the front desk secretary at NIHL headquarters in exchange for an autograph for her kids.
Straight to voicemail.
"Fuck." I tried again.
Same result.
The locker room door slammed open and I looked up to find my assistant captain, Marcus, standing there with his arms crossed.
"Want to explain what the hell just happened?"
"Roarke's being Roarke," I said, already pulling up my texts.
"That didn't look like typical Roarke bullshit. That looked personal."
It was personal.
I typed out a message to Reina: We need to talk. Call me.
Sent.
It delivered but there was there was no immediate reply.
Marcus was still standing there, waiting for an explanation I wasn't going to give.
"I'm fine," I said. "Tell Coach I'll be there in five."
"He's pissed, man. You can't just..."
"Five minutes."
Marcus left, shaking his head. The second the door closed, I leaned against the lockers and tried to think past the rage still coursing through my system.
Jaxon had touched her. Had his fingers inside her. Made her scream his name.
The images were vivid and unwanted, burning into my brain. Reina pressed against a wall, Jaxon's hand between her legs, her body arching into his touch.
I was hard.
Fuck, I was actually hard thinking about it.
Not because I wanted to picture her with him. But because some fucked up part of me was responding to the competition. To the challenge. To the idea that we were both chasing the same thing.
The same woman.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I opened the text.
Heading over to her place now. Gonna finish what I started last night. Make her scream louder this time.
Jaxon.
My jaw clenched so hard I heard my teeth grind. Another text came through immediately.
Wonder if she'll still smell like you when I'm done with her. Or if I can fuck your scent right out of her skin.
My hand tightened around the phone and I typed out a reply, Stay the fuck away from her, Roarke.
The response was instant from him was immediate. Or what? You gonna stop me, Captain? You're stuck at practice while I'm about to be buried in that sweet Omega pussy.
I was moving before I finished reading, ripping off my remaining gear and shoving my feet into shoes.
I'm serious, Jaxon. Back the fuck off.
In my head, I could see the motherfucker smiling as he typed.Make me.
My phone buzzed again before I could respond.
She's at Parkview Apartments, sixth floor. In case you want to come watch.
Rage whited out my vision.
Marcus poked his head back in. "Coach wants..."
"Emergency," I said, grabbing my keys. "I have to go."
"Luca, you can't just leave in the middle of practice. We have a game in two days."
"Then practice without me."
I was already heading for the door in my compression shirt and practice pants, not caring how I looked. My hair was still damp with sweat, my skin overheated.
None of it mattered.
All that mattered was getting to her before Jaxon did.
My phone buzzed again as I hit the parking lot.
Tick tock, Vale. I'm already on my bike. You really think you can beat me there?
I didn't respond. Just threw myself into my car and peeled out of the lot fast enough to leave rubber on the pavement.
Traffic was a nightmare. I cut through it anyway, switching lanes aggressively, running a yellow light that was definitely closer to red.
Another text from Jaxon.
Five minutes out. Hope you're not too attached to her being able to walk tomorrow.
My knuckles were white on the steering wheel.
If you touch her...
I didn't finish the threat. Couldn't find words violent enough.
Too late, Captain. Already touched her. Already made her come on my fingers. Tonight I'm gonna make her come on my knot.
Something cold settled in my chest alongside the rage.
Jaxon was being too aggressive. Too deliberate in his taunting. This wasn't just him rubbing it in. This was him trying to get a rise out of me.
You're trying too hard, Roarke, I typed.
No response for a long moment.
Then: Fuck you, Vale.
Not his usual cocky comeback. Something sharper. More defensive.
I pulled onto Reina's street and spotted Jaxon's motorcycle already parked outside the apartment complex.
He’d beat me here.
I slammed my car into park and was out before the engine fully stopped. Jaxon was standing at the building entrance, leaning against the brick with his arms crossed.
Waiting for me.
"Took you long enough," he said.
I crossed the distance between us fast, getting right in his face. "I told you to stay away from her."
"And I told you to make me." But there was something in his expression that didn't match his words. Something that looked almost like... uncertainty.
"What are you really doing here, Roarke?"
His jaw ticked. "Same thing you are."
"Which is?"
"Making sure she's okay."
The admission hung between us, raw and unexpected.
I stared at him, processing. "You don't know if she's okay."
"No." He pushed off the wall. "She hasn't answered my texts. Hasn't called. And that's not like her."
"How would you know what's like her? You've known her for two days."
"I've known her my whole fucking life, Vale. Same as you." His eyes locked onto mine. "And she's not answering either of us. So we can stand here with our dicks in our hands, or we can go check on her."
He was right.
I hated that he was right.
"Together," I said.
Jaxon's eyebrows raised. "What?"
"We go up together. No fighting. No competing. We make sure she's safe." I took a breath. "And then we figure out what the fuck happens next."
For a long moment, Jaxon just stared at me. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Together."
We headed for the entrance, an uneasy alliance forming between rivals.
And both of us knew that whatever we found on the sixth floor was going to change everything.