Ella spent the next day moving through the world like a ghost, every nerve ending humming with the residue of Jimmy's mouth. The Wolves team colors the crimson and gold suddenly felt like a heavy, suffocating shroud. She kept replaying the feeling of his damp shirt beneath her fingers, the aggressive heat of his body, and the possessive threat in his eyes.
She was a traitor. And she had never felt more alive.
At 7:00 PM, while sitting through a tedious strategy meeting with Caleb and the Wolves' assistant coach, her phone vibrated the silent, high-priority alarm she'd set for Jimmy's number.
J.T.: Back corner of the Field House storage. Ten minutes. Don't bring your loyalty.
The audacity of the text the casual assumption of her compliance.made her stomach clench with a mix of fury and fierce anticipation. He knew she would come. He knew the thought of his proximity was stronger than her fear of Caleb.
"I need air," Ella murmured, standing up quickly. "Long day."
Caleb barely looked up from the whiteboard. "Don't be long, we're reviewing D-zone traps."
Ella slipped out the side door and sprinted across the frosty campus quad toward the old, deserted Field House. The storage room was rarely used, smelling of dust and dried leather a perfect vault for a secret.
Jimmy was already there, leaning against a stack of dusty helmet bins. He hadn't changed into civilian clothes; he wore gray sweatpants and a Panthers hoodie, the logo a bitter, bold reminder of the line she was about to cross.
When he saw her, his intense gaze swept over her, an unmistakable hunger in his amber eyes.
"You're late," he stated, his voice low, filling the quiet space.
"Ten minutes is hardly late when I'm risking my brother's entire career for you," Ella retorted, forcing herself to hold his gaze.
He smiled then, a small, dangerous curve of his lips. "You risked Caleb's career when you stepped in front of my car two nights ago. You risked everything the moment you kissed me back." He walked slowly toward her, closing the distance until the air between them was sizzling. "This isn't about loyalty, Ella. This is about necessity. I needed you. You needed me."
He reached out, his finger tracing the curve of her lower lip, still swollen from their last encounter. "And you taste like victory."
"What are we doing, Jimmy?" she managed, her breath catching.
"We're setting the terms of surrender," he whispered, his body now pressed close to hers, trapping her between him and the cold metal bins. "You and I. No one knows. No one ever sees. You continue to be the good little O'Connell sister, and I continue to be the Thorne rival. But away from the ice, away from the crowds, you belong to me."
He lowered his head, not quite kissing her, but hovering, forcing her to wait, to beg. "Do you understand the rules of this game, Ella? You don't get to choose when we stop."
Ella's eyes fluttered shut. The sheer possessiveness was intoxicating, a dark flood washing away all her scruples. "I understand."
The answer was enough. Jimmy surged forward, and this kiss was a brutal contract, a sealed deal. He drove her back against the bins, the cold metal shocking against her spine, providing a thrilling contrast to the consuming heat of his mouth.
He used his tongue to map the inside of her mouth, demanding a response that she gave instantly, desperately. Her hands went under his hoodie, needing the feel of the hard muscle of his back, anchoring herself to his strength. He tore his mouth away only to attack her neck, peppering fiery kisses along her jawline and down to the delicate skin beneath her ear, before returning to her lips with a feverish intensity.
He pinned her hands above her head against the dusty metal, his mouth never leaving hers, savoring the sound of her frantic breathing. This was raw, reckless, and driven by the hatred of their families a hatred that had somehow transformed into a stunning, volatile desire.
Finally, he pulled back, their chests heaving in unison. He kept her captive, one hand still gripping her wrists above her head.
"Good girl," he breathed out, his eyes black with triumph and desire. "Tomorrow, same time. Wear something I can ruin."
He released her abruptly and was gone, leaving Ella leaning against the cold bins, completely undone, feeling like the most perfectly pucked secret in the entire rivalry.