Chapter 1
CADY
I found the letter by accident, or at least that's what I told myself.
I'd gone looking for the spare key to our off-campus apartment in Aiden's drawer, the one we kept breaking academy rules to use. My fingers brushed against something soft and folded beneath a pile of old notes and his favorite cologne bottle. The scent hit me first, not his usual woodsy smell, but something sharper, more masculine. Different from the one he normally uses.
I shouldn't have opened it.
But I did.
The handwriting wasn't his.
"My dearest Aiden,
Every stolen moment in the locker room after practice, every time our bodies crash together on the ice and I feel your heat through the pads, every brush of your skin against mine in the showers... it's driving me insane. I need you tonight. Under the old oak. No more pretending. I want your mouth on me, your hands everywhere, your c**k deep inside until we both forget our names.
Yours forever,
B."
B.
Blake.
The ice hockey captain. Academy President. Tall, built like a god, with those piercing blue eyes and that slow, knowing smirk he always wore when he looked at Aiden across the rink. The same Blake whose hand lingered too long on Aiden's shoulder during team huddles. The same Blake who made Aiden laugh in a way I never could, low, private, hungry.
My stomach twisted so hard I thought I might be sick.
But worse than the nausea was the sudden, shameful throb between my legs.
I hated my body for it.
I hated that even reading proof my fiancé had been f*****g another man, my p***y still clenched at the memory of Aiden's hands on me. The way he used to pin my wrists above my head, bite the side of my neck until I whimpered, grind against me until I was soaked through my panties. We'd done everything, everything except actual penetration. He always stopped just short, and said we should wait until after graduation, until it was "perfect." That's when we marry. Little did I know.
“After graduating, we will get good jobs, marry and have our kids. We will have our little lovely family.”
This was a promise I looked up to everyday of my life with him here at the Academy.
Now?
Everything seemed to be crumbling.
I'd respected his celibacy plans, little did I know…….
I stormed out with fury.
That evening, I confronted him.
He'd walked in looking tired but handsome, jacket slung over his shoulder.
"Aiden." My voice cracked as I thrust the letter at him. "Tell me this is fake."
He read it. His face went white. For one heartbeat I thought he might lie, might pull me close, kiss me hard the way he used to when he wanted to shut me up.
Instead his jaw tightened.
"You went through my s**t?" he said, voice dangerously quiet.
"Answer me!" Tears burned my eyes. "Is this why you never touch me? Why the last time you got me off with your fingers you rolled over and fell asleep like I was nothing?"
“Didn't we escape our abusive families from Southlake Park, run here to Crestville, join this Academy, hoping for a better future? Urgh?” I daringly stride towards him.
“And now…..you're f*****g a f*****g asshole…” I saw his eyes redden. But that didn't stop me. “ ‘cuz if he wasn't an asshole……”
Paaarrghhh…
The slap came fast.
My cheek exploded with heat.
I stumbled back against the wall. Before I could catch my breath, he shoved me hard. “Aiden?” I stuttered with shock, eyes widened. “You slapped me?”
“Of course, I did. What gives you the right to speak to my boyfriend that way?”
“So it's real?” My face pokes forward, trying to hold more tears.
He edged his brows, storming forward and pushing me. My shoulder blades hit the plaster. Pain flared, but the real hurt was deeper.
"You don't understand anything," he snarled, stepping so close I could smell his skin. "Stay the f**k out of my life, Cady."
“What?” I gasped, shrugging. “This is really hard to believe. Have you forgotten your promise to me?” I stammered, beginning to cry. Memories washed in. How he makes a solemn promise on each of my birthdays.
My dad died many years ago. After he died, his relatives took all we had and began to maltreat both me and my mom. She stayed away most of the time, chasing men, looking for her next catch but nothing seemed to work. Not for her. Not for me.
Then I was dating Aiden. Both of us came from Southlake Park. We shared the same pain and dream which made our love even stronger. Till we applied for a scholarship to Crestville Academy, no one knew.
It was the day we packed to leave that they were shocked.
We packed hoping for a better life and greater love, but now…….
Aiden, eyeing me with an irritating look, turned around, grabbed his jacket and stormed out. The door slammed so hard the windows rattled.
I slid down the wall, knees buckling, sobs ripping out of me. Ugly, choking sounds. I curled into myself, hugging my knees, rocking.
He didn't come back that night.
I crawled into our bed alone. The sheets still carried his scent. I hated him. I hated myself more.
My hand slipped between my thighs anyway, trying to bring back those fun I thought were real.
I was soaked thinking about him and touching myself. Shamefully, disgustingly wet.
Just like while with Aiden. But never penetration.
Never that final line.
And now I knew the real reason he had held back.
The image of him doing it with Blake crashed in against my brain. In that uncomfortably spiked moment, the orgasm hit me like a slap.
I came hard, crying his name into the pillow, body shaking with shame and fury and leftover need.
The greatest betrayal of my life, and my body still ached for the man who had never truly wanted me.
I didn't sleep.
I just lay there in the dark, tears drying on my cheeks, wondering how everything could feel so empty and so full of fire at the same time.
