The scent of stale practice gear and cheap concession-stand coffee usually grounded Ella. It was the scent of home, of loyalty, of her brother's world. But two days after her meeting with Jimmy, the familiar aroma felt stifling, like a mask she was suffocating beneath.
She was standing near the Wolves' bench, ostensibly sorting out missing skate guards, but she was really staring at the worn rubber floor, replaying the feel of Jimmy's mouth the way his voice went rough when he told her she belonged to him. Every nerve was wired, constantly buzzing with the thrilling, terrible knowledge of her secret.
"You look like you're waiting for a riot to break out."
Ella flinched, snapping her head up. Caleb, her brother, was leaning against the doorway to the storage cage, his arms crossed. His expression wasn't angry, but deeply analytical the same look he used when dissecting the opponent's strategy.
"Just tired," she lied smoothly, giving the skate guards a distracted push. "Long week."
"Long week?" Caleb pushed off the wall and stepped closer. "You've been distracted since the Panthers game. You missed the end of two strategy sessions, and last night, when Mom asked where you were, you said you were at the library until midnight."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "The library, El? On a Friday night? We both know you'd rather walk into a den of snakes than study past 9 PM. Spill it. What's going on? Are you having trouble with school? Is it Ethan?" Ethan being a harmless friend of hers.
The pressure was immediate and crushing. Caleb's eyes, the same shade of clear blue as hers, were searching, trusting, and totally ready to believe her. But she couldn't give him the truth. The truth would detonate his world, and possibly her own.
"It's not Ethan," she said, managing a dry laugh. "It's a guy, actually. It's new. And complicated."
Caleb's eyebrows shot up. "A guy? Why are you hiding him? Is he from the engineering department? Those guys are weird, but usually harmless."
"He's... new to campus," Ella improvised, forcing herself to maintain eye contact. "He's just private. He doesn't like crowds or the whole Wolves atmosphere, so we've been meeting off-campus late." She tried to make it sound boring, inconvenient, and totally non-Panther-related.
Caleb's suspicion softened slightly, replaced by brotherly concern. "If he doesn't like you because you're connected to the Wolves, he's a waste of time, El. You shouldn't have to hide who you are."
"I'm not hiding who I am," she insisted, her voice tight. "I'm just protecting the secret until it's real."
Suddenly, her phone, tucked deep in her back pocket, vibrated insistently. Not the silent, high-priority alarm this time just a regular text alert that still sounded deafening in the quiet hallway.
Caleb tilted his head, listening. "Your 'private' guy checking in?"
Ella's heart hammered against her ribs. She knew, absolutely knew, it was Jimmy. He had a sixth sense for tension, for risk, for when she was most compromised.
"Probably Ethan," she mumbled, trying to pivot away. "I told him to "
"Show me," Caleb said, his tone casual, but his eyes were suddenly hard, back in rival-dissection mode.
Ella froze. She couldn't show him. Jimmy's texts were raw, demanding, and explicitly linked to the Panthers he used the phrase "Panther's property" often enough to give her a panic attack.
"It's nothing," she said, a little too quickly. "It's... embarrassing. Girl stuff."
Caleb took another step, cornering her gently between the hockey gear and the wall. "I'm your brother, El. Nothing's too embarrassing. You've never lied to me before."
His trust felt like a physical weight, pressing down on her chest. She had to sell the lie now, or lose him.
"Fine," she sighed, pulling the phone out, her fingers already opening a group chat with her dorm mates, pulling up the last innocuous message about study schedules. "See? Just asking where I should drop off the textbooks."
Caleb glanced at the screen, then back at her face. He didn't look completely convinced, but he also didn't push the issue. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder.
"Look, I worry about you. Don't let some weird, secretive guy isolate you. You're better than that." He paused, a strange, thoughtful look crossing his face. "And hey, don't forget we're having dinner with Coach tonight. Be sharp. We need to look like a united front against those damn Panthers."
Ella forced a smile that felt brittle. "A united front. Got it."
As soon as Caleb rounded the corner toward the main locker room, Ella scrambled back to Jimmy's message.
J.T.: Liar. I saw you flinch. Meet me tonight at the overlook. 11 PM. I need to reward you for keeping my secret. And O'Connell, don't wear anything that zips.
She swallowed hard, her pulse thundering. He wasn't just claiming her; he was watching her, tracking her movements, using the danger of their rivalry as fuel for their passion. He had just seen her lie to the one person she loved most, and he was already planning her reward.
That escalated the immediate stakes and puts Ella in a truly compromised position!