THE HOCKEY CAPTAIN AND HIS VIRGIN STRIPPER

CHAPTER 3

HELENA POV

Fuck, f**k, f**k.

I wanted nothing more than to dig my hand into his dark, shining hair and yank it hard enough to rip the arrogance straight out of him.

“Are you okay, child?”

I blinked and turned to my mom. She sat in her wheelchair, eyes sunken, body frail.

“I am.”

“You’ve been gripping that pillow like you’re trying to drain the life out of it,” she said.

I stilled, then forced my fingers to loosen, smoothing the pillow like nothing was wrong. “I’m done now. You can lie down,” I said, moving behind her. I guided her carefully and lifted her onto the bed.

She let out a sigh of relief as soon as her back touched the mattress

“Have you taken your medications?” I asked.

She nodded. “Nurse Titi made sure I did before she left.”

I checked anyway. Most of them were finished, some were nearly empty. My chest tightened. I dropped them back on the bed with a quiet exhale.

“I’m sorry, child. You should be enjoying your life, college, and all that it entails. I should be the one taking care of you, not the other way around. Sometimes I wish the Moon Goddess would just relieve us of all this stress.”

“Don’t say that, Mum,” I said quickly. “ I can’t imagine a life without you, okay? So don’t.”

I knew it was selfish to want her to live for me. Over the past year, her lupus had worsened, making hospitals feel like a second home. I could see how it drained her and I hated that I could do so little to help her.

“But I can’t stand seeing you unhappy.”

“This isn’t about you,” I said, softer now realising that she thought that my foul mood was stress from taking care of her. “I’ve just been stressed at school. That’s all…”

She started to speak, but I reached for her arm, stopping her.

“Don’t ever think I don’t want you,” I said quietly. “I love you. I’d do anything…anything…to make you better.”

She smiled. “Come here.”

I leaned in, and she wrapped her arms around me.

My phone pinged causing me to pull away and pick it up’s

It was an official Email from the press committee announcing that Jennifer and I had been suspended indefinitely.

My grip tightened around my phone. I could already picture Jennifer—curled up somewhere, stress-eating, trying to pretend she didn’t care when she absolutely did.

I should call her.

But what would I even say?

I’m sorry for dragging you into this? I’ll fix it?

I didn’t even believe that myself.

After our talk, I knew Kaine had no intention of making this easy. If anything, he seemed determined to make my life worse.

I forced a breath, then turned back to my mom, masking everything. “I’m going to do the laundry.”

She nodded weakly.

I tucked her in properly, adjusted her blanket, then stepped out and closed the door behind me.

Cleaning helped me whenever I felt lost, it gave me a sense of control. By the time I finished washing, scrubbing, and mopping the entire house, it was already midnight.

**••**••**••**••**••**

The next morning, I felt more composed. After welcoming the nurse, I headed to class. The first lecture I had was Business, a class I’d been sharing with Kaine since the start of the semester

Half the class lit up the moment Kaine walked into the lecture hall. Most of the students waved at him excitedly. He responded with just as much enthusiasm, clearly enjoying the attention. He even blew a kiss at one of the girls who said she’d come to his last game to cheer for him.

I rolled my eyes.

Could she be any more desperate? Like, relax. He’d been in most of our classes for a while now, I thought the novelty would wear off once people got used to him, but it had only gotten worse.

He must have noticed me staring because he winked at me.

My eyes widened, and I quickly turned away in shock. Did he think I was one of his fans? Yuck.

Thankfully, the lecturer came in, and the people crowding around his seat scattered, taking their places and ending the endless chatter.

The lecture was going smoothy until the professor decided to ruin my morning.

“I’ll be pairing you in twos for this project,” he announced.

A few groans. Some excited whispers.

“Kaine Jackson and Helena Morgan.”

I audibly gasped, causing the whole class to turn and stare at me. I forced an awkward smile as they slowly looked away again. The professor continued calling out names, but I could feel Kaine’s eyes on me nonstop. It made me uncomfortable.

As soon as the class ended,I packed my things, ready to leave, when a shadow fell over my desk.

“I’ve had a lot of admirers,” Kaine said lazily, “but none have gone through such impressive lengths to get my attention.”

“What?” I snapped, looking up at him.

“Tell me,” he continued, tilting his head, “how did you get Professor Augustus to pair us? Did you seduce him?”

I felt like I’d just been slapped.

“Seduce him? I may be a stripper, but I don’t go around throwing my body at people for favours,” I snapped, clenching my teeth. “I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but I would never want to do a project with you. In fact, I’ll talk to him and have us swapped.”

“You know he won’t change it.”

He was right. Prof. August didn’t like being questioned. I paused thinking of a way out, when an idea came to mind.

“I’ll do the project myself,” I added quickly. “I’ll send it to you. You won’t have to do anything—just put your name on it. And in return, you’ll talk to the press committee and get Jennifer reinstated.”

“Tempting,” he said, unimpressed. “But I’m not leaving my grades in your hands.”

“You do know I’m smart, right? I was—”

His fingers pressed lightly against my lips, cutting me off.

My heart jumped.

“You can save your credentials for later. My father isn’t hiring anyone at the moment, sweetheart.” His lips curved slightly. “And despite what you think of me, I don’t take the easy way out. So if you want to study, meet me at the Subé Café at 2 p.m.”

Then he turned and walked away.

He didn’t even ask if I was free. He just expected me to bend to his schedule.

God, what a guy.