Chapter 1: Shadows
Lily's POV
"Look at her, trying to disappear like a scared kid."
Sarah's voice cut through the quiet of the library on purpose, drawing stares from nearby students. I didn't look up fast enough. By the time I registered her presence, she was already stepping into my space, her friends flanking her on both sides, blocking every exit. My heart slammed against my ribs.
I'd tucked myself into the farthest corner, where tall shelves cast long shadows. My notebook lay open in front of me, pen mid-sentence in my history notes. Anything to keep my head down. To blend in. But I always knew it wouldn't work. They always found me.
Sarah snatched my notebook right off the table and flipped through the pages with a sneer. "What even is this? You think being a nerd makes you special? Wake up, loser — no one gives a damn."
Her friends laughed. Jess, the redhead with a gum habit, shoved my backpack off the chair. It hit the floor, spilling pens and papers. I bent to gather everything, but Sarah kicked my textbook farther away.
"Whoops." Her tone was thick with fake regret. "Why don't you run to your brother? Oh, right — even Jax probably sees how pathetic you are."
That hit like a punch. Jax was my opposite — tall, built from years of hockey training, girls constantly orbiting him. He protected me when he could, but his life was full. I didn't want to drag him down every time I couldn't handle things myself.
I wiped at my eyes, hating the blur already forming. "Just leave me alone," I whispered.
Jess leaned in close. "You're a total joke. No guy would touch you. I bet you've never even kissed anyone."
The laughter swelled. Students nearby glanced over, then looked away. No one stepped in. No one ever did.
I grabbed my things and bolted, cheeks burning, tears running free the second I hit the door. Their words stuck like tar. I had no confidence to snap back, no way to fight it. I was nobody and they all knew it.
I couldn't face my dorm yet. Instead I headed for the ice rink on the edge of campus. Jax had practice soon, and watching him sometimes eased the ache, like his strength could reach me from across the ice. I slipped through a side door and climbed to the upper bleachers, picking the spot where nobody would see me.
The team was already out there, skates carving clean lines, sticks clacking sharp. Jax stood out in his number 17 jersey, gliding with easy power. My brother was everything I wasn't — confident, strong, wanted. He protected me when he could. I just never wanted to need it so much.
Today was a scrimmage against the rivals, and the tension was immediate. Jax had complained about their captain since high school. Drake. The guy who played dirty, started fights, got under everyone's skin on purpose.
They lined up for a face-off. Jax snagged the puck and charged, but Drake came at him hard, slamming him into the boards with a crash that rattled the glass. The ref's whistle cut through the noise. They got in each other's faces, helmets touching.
"Think you're hot s**t, pretty boy?" Drake's voice carried even from the upper bleachers.
He was taller than Jax. Broader. Dark hair damp under his helmet, jaw sharp, body moving with a kind of raw force that twisted something low in my stomach whether I wanted it to or not.
The game stayed rough. Drake scored and smirked wide, teeth flashing. Trouble without apology. I'd seen him on campus before — that easy, arrogant stride, girls watching him pass. He'd never once looked my way.
During a timeout he skated to the bench and pulled off his helmet. His hair fell loose against his forehead, chest rising and falling hard under his jersey. Then he glanced up at the bleachers like he'd sensed something, and his eyes found mine.
I went completely still.
His gaze was dark and unhurried. Not kind. Predatory, the kind that made you feel seen in all the wrong ways. A slow smile curved his lips and heat rushed through me, low and immediate. I pressed my thighs together, horrified at myself. This was Drake. Jax's enemy. The last person I should be looking at like this.
But he kept looking back.
I broke first, dropping my eyes to the ice. The whistle blew and play resumed, but I couldn't settle. I gathered my bag and slipped out before the final buzzer, taking the stairs too fast, needing air.
The parking lot was dim under the streetlights, my car at the far end. Footsteps echoed behind me.
I froze. Turned slow.
Drake stood there, helmet tucked under his arm, jersey clinging to him, eyes moving over me the same way they had from the ice. Unhurried. Hungry.
"Running already, little mouse?”
