CHAPTER 3: First Taste
878 Words
Eden...
“Get in here before someone sees us,” Jax said, his voice low as he held the side door of the arena open for me.
My heart pounded hard against my ribs. It was past midnight, and the empty locker room felt too quiet, too private.
I should not be here. This broke every rule I had followed for twenty one years. But after the text from Riley and the way Jax had looked at me earlier, I could not say no to the emergency tutoring session.
I stepped inside and set my bag on the wooden bench. The air smelled like cold metal and faint sweat. It was a place that belonged to him, not to me.
“You are really bad at this class, are you not?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady as I pulled out my notes.
Jax locked the door behind us with a quiet click that echoed in the empty space. He turned, his eyes serious in the dim emergency lights.
“Yeah. And you are going to fix it. That is the deal.”
He tossed a notebook at me. “Start with the economics stuff. I need to pass this midterm or Coach ends me.”
I sat on the bench and opened my notes. My hands still shook a little from earlier. “Okay. Supply and demand curves. You need to understand how shifts affect price.”
I explained it simply, drawing quick lines on paper. He leaned over my shoulder, close enough that his breath brushed my neck. Heat crawled across my skin. I kept talking, focusing on the concepts, but my mind kept drifting to how solid he felt next to me.
“Your turn,” I said after a while. “Teach me something about hockey. Make it simple so I understand why you care so much.”
Jax straightened, a small smile tugging at his mouth. “Fine. Basic positioning. On the ice, you do not chase the puck like an i***t. You read the play, anticipate where it is going. Control the space before it happens.”
He moved behind me, hands lightly on my shoulders as he positioned my body like I was holding a stick. “See? You do not react. You predict. That is how you win.”
His touch sent warmth through me. Strong. Sure. Nothing like anything I had known before. I swallowed hard. This was just teaching. Fake. Part of the contract. But my body did not get the message.
I turned to face him. Our bodies were too close in the quiet locker room. “Like how you read me in the library today?”
His eyes darkened. “Exactly like that.”
The air grew thick. I could hear my own breathing, fast and shallow. Jax’s gaze dropped to my lips. My people-pleasing brain screamed to step back, to keep things professional. But the part of me that had been hurt and silenced for so long leaned in.
“Eden,” he said, voice rough. “Tell me to stop.”
I did not.
He cupped the back of my neck gently and pulled me into him. The kiss was careful at first, then deeper. His mouth moved against mine with quiet intensity. I kissed him back, clumsy at first, then surer. The cool air of the locker room, the warmth of his body, the steady beat of his heart under my hand. Everything felt new and overwhelming.
He walked me backward until my back met the lockers. The metal was cold through my shirt. His hands stayed on my waist, firm but not pushing. I felt truly seen in that moment. Not convenient. Not safe. Wanted for exactly who I was right then.
Fear twisted with the warmth in my chest. What if I let go too much? What if this fake thing broke me worse than Riley had? But I could not stop. My hands fisted in his shirt as I kissed him back.
Jax pulled back just enough to look at me. His breathing was ragged. Surprise flashed across his face, like he had not expected me to affect him this much. “Eden…”
I rested my forehead against his chest for a second, trying to steady myself. His hand came up to my back, gentle. We stayed like that, breathing together, the intensity of the moment settling into something quieter but no less real.
We stayed like that, tangled and breathing each other in, until a buzzing sound broke the heavy silence.
Jax pulled away slightly, frowning. On the floor near the bench, a phone lit up. Riley’s phone. He must have left it here earlier during practice.
I picked it up with shaky hands. The screen showed a new message preview.
The text was from an unknown number:
“Tell Brooke the plan worked. Callahan’s grades are tanked and Coach is ready to bench him for good. Keep Eden distracted. We need him out before the draft.”
My blood ran cold.
Jax read it over my shoulder. His body went rigid against mine.
The betrayal ran deeper than I thought. They were not just cheating. They were trying to destroy Jax’s entire future too.
- Writer
