But when she was on that ice… When she looked like the same girl who used to steal my hoodies and press freezing fingers to my neck just to watch me flinch?
I wanted her anyway. Even if she destroyed me. Especially if she did.
Jax passed me another beer. “You gonna keep staring at the fire, or are you gonna tell us what you’re really thinking?”
I cracked the tab but didn’t drink. “I’m thinking,” I said, “that the next guy who tries to put hands on Mila is going to need dental reconstruction. Things have changed with her.”
Theo snorted. “Duly noted.”
“And I’m thinking Elise better pray she’s smart enough to back off.”
“Do you think she will?” Chase asked quietly.
I looked at him. Dead serious. “No. And when she doesn’t… I’ll manage it.” Somehow, despite the “play nice” mandate from my father.
The guys didn’t argue. They just nodded. Because they knew. This wasn’t about romance. This was our territory, our rules.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MILA
Ididn’t want to be at the bonfire. Not after the day I’d had, or the calm I’d scraped together at the rink. But Avery showed up at my door with fire in her eyes and an attitude that screamed “get in the car or I’ll drag you.”
“You ditch on this and Elise wins,” she’d said, arms crossed, every inch the general. “You want her to think you’re hiding? That she got to you?”
Of course not. I knew the rules. Never let them see you bleed. But some nights? Bleeding in peace sounded like a luxury I couldn’t afford.
“I just wanted a night to myself,” I muttered, arms wrapped tight across my chest as I slouched in the back seat of Avery’s friend’s car. I didn’t remember her name. Maybe it was Jasmine? She was too perky and too glittery, and her perfume made my head throb.
“I get it,” Avery said, softer now. “But you can’t keep letting them control the narrative.”
God, I hated that word. As if this was all just a story being told by someone else—Elise with her shitty lies and cushy bankaccount—and I was stuck playing the villain in someone else’s fairytale.
We pulled up to Jax’s place and parked near a row of SUVs and overpriced cars. Laughter drifted from the back of the property. Flames flickered just past the tree line, clawing at the dark, orange and gold bleeding into the trees. I hesitated in the car.
Avery turned around, eyes too observant. “You good?”
No. Not even a little. “Yeah.” I reached for the door handle. “Let’s get this over with.”
The air outside was cooler than I expected. It smelled of beer, smoke, and pine needles. The kind of scent that could almost be comforting if it weren’t tied to high school politics and rich-kid power games.
We followed the path down toward the bonfire, the bass from someone’s speaker vibrating through the ground. The second we stepped into the clearing, I regretted it.
Logan’s eyes found me first. He was leaning against a tree with Elise and Nina flanking him, knockoff bodyguards at best, red Solo cup dangling from his hand. He tilted his head, a cruel smirk curving his thin mouth, the kind of grin that said he’d been waiting for me.
Elise’s smile faltered for half a second, just long enough for me to see the panic flicker behind her perfectly lined eyes before she smoothed it over with a sip from her cup. She leaned closer to Logan, whispering something that made Nina snort—too loud, too fake. It was a performance. I’d already seen the crack in her composure.
The hair rose along the back of my neck as I felt his presence.Luke. I didn’t look at him directly, but I didn’t have to. I could feel the weight of his stare carving into the space between my shoulder blades. I lifted my gaze and met his head on. He didn’tmove, just stayed there, posted up with the other guys, royalty holding court over their private kingdom.
Avery led the way, weaving us through the crowd toward a group of girls I didn’t know well. I kept my expression neutral, hiding the fact I was seconds from turning around and bolting.
“This is a power move,” she whispered without looking at me. “Act the part.”
I nodded. I got where she was coming from, respected it even. But tonight I was tired. And it wasn’t only school, or Luke. It was the weight I came home to every night. It was also my mom. She’d been acting… off. Even for her.
She still left early, came home late, but now there was this added weight to her. Haunted eyes. Biting questions that came out of nowhere—Who are you talking to? How’s school? Have you said anything about our past?
But never answers. Never context. She used to overshare. Used to crash on the couch beside me with takeout and spill stories from the office as if we were co-conspirators instead of mother and daughter. Back then, it felt like we were in this together. And she’d always make time for me. Now? She was a vault. And it scared me more than anything else.
