Chapter Three :Elena
599 Words
My boyfriend was the kind of man people noticed the second he walked into a room.
Luca Devereux didn’t need to demand attention.
He naturally owned it.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark blond hair always slightly messy like he’d just come from a fight or out of bed. Tattoos curled down his forearm beneath the sleeves of his black henley.
And his eyes—
Cold steel gray.
Dangerous when he was angry.
Soft only for me.
We’d been together for over two years.
Two years of late-night drives, stolen kisses in empty classrooms, and him holding me together every time life got ugly.
I loved him.
Completely.
Which was why I didn’t understand why Rowan Cross kept slipping into my thoughts.
Luca leaned against his black motorcycle outside my apartment, arms crossed as he watched me approach.
The second he saw my face, his expression sharpened.
“What happened?”
I forced a smile. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
He reached for my waist and pulled me against his chest automatically. Safe. Familiar. Warm.
My heart steadied instantly.
This was real.
Not Rowan’s chaos.
Not his dark eyes or rough voice or the way he looked at me like he wanted to ruin me.
Luca tilted my chin up.
“Who pissed you off?”
I hesitated.
Big mistake.
Because Luca noticed everything.
“Who?” he repeated colder.
I sighed. “Just some hockey player.”
The air changed immediately.
“Rowan Cross.”
Not a question.
“How do you know him?”
“He’s my rival.”
Of course he was.
Luca played varsity lacrosse, captain of Blackridge’s most aggressive team besides hockey. He and Rowan hated each other long before I ever met either of them.
Perfect.
“Stay away from him,” Luca said flatly.
“He’s not exactly my type.”
But even as I said it, Rowan’s smirk flashed through my mind.
Luca noticed the pause.
And his jaw tightened.
“You think he’s dangerous?”
“I think he’s an asshole.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I looked away.
Luca cursed softly under his breath.
Then suddenly his hand wrapped around my throat—not hard, just enough to force me to look at him again.
Possessive.
Intense.
Mine.
“You’re my girl,” he said quietly.
My stomach flipped.
“I know.”
“No hockey i***t gets to look at you twice.”
I should’ve reassured him.
Instead, my mind betrayed me again.
Because Rowan looked at me like he wanted war.
And some reckless part of me wanted to see what would happen if I let him start one.
The next night, Blackridge hosted another hockey game.
I went because my brother begged me.
Huge mistake.
The second Rowan stepped onto the ice, his eyes found me in the crowd.
Instantly.
Like he’d been searching.
His gaze slid to Luca sitting beside me.
And everything inside Rowan changed.
His entire body went still.
Cold.
Predatory.
Luca smirked beside me like he enjoyed it.
“Looks like Cross finally found something he can’t have.”
But Rowan kept staring.
At me.
Not the game.
Not the crowd.
Me.
Then another player skated over and said something to him.
Rowan didn’t even blink.
His dark eyes stayed locked on mine while he slowly dragged his tongue across his bottom lip.
Heat flooded my face.
Luca noticed.
And suddenly his arm tightened around my shoulders.
Territorial.
Rowan saw that too.
His expression turned lethal.
The whistle blew.
And Rowan immediately dropped his gloves.
The arena erupted into screams.
- Writer
