Because under it all? I was counting down the minutes until I could get the fuck out of there and go home to her.
To fill her up again.
To remind her she was mine in every way that mattered.
The ice was where I stayed sharp. Controlled.
But she—Persephone—was where I felt alive.
And for the first time in my life?
I didn’t just want to win.
I wanted to keep her.
I dragged the towel through my hair, rougher than necessary, trying to scrub the lingering heat from my skin. The locker room reeked of sweat and tape—normally grounding, today just noise.
My head wasn’t on the game anymore.
Not really.
She kept slipping in—soft and flushed in my bed, moaning my name, grinning in that goddamn bookstore like I’d handed her the fucking moon.
I barely noticed Gideon until he dropped onto the bench beside me like he belonged there. That shit-eating grin on his face told me he’d been waiting for a moment like this.
“So…” he started, dragging the word out like it owed him rent. “Belle told me about the little ‘romance section’ moment yesterday.”
I didn’t look at him.
“She came through,” I said, voice low, almost smug. “The book was perfect. Persephone lit up like I’d handed her a crown.”
Because I had.
Not just a book. Not just a moment.
She was so used to being guarded, cornered. Watching her light up for something small—because of me—did things to me I didn’t know how to name.
Gideon’s laugh bounced off the tile. “A crown? Hades, look at you. Real boyfriend behavior.”
I shot him a glare, but it didn’t hold. The truth was—it didn’t sound so bad.
“She looked…” I exhaled hard, jaw clenched. “Like she belonged.”
Gideon leaned back like he was observing a rare animal. “I’ve seen you snap a guy’s wrist over a bad hit. But you? You look at her like she’s the one thing you’ve ever wanted to keep.”
I didn’t respond right away.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
“Yeah,” I said finally, the word falling out like a confession. “I’ve never wanted anything like this.”
Not just sex. Not just dominance.
Her.
Her fire, her bite, her stubborn silence. The way she let me pull her apart and still met my eyes like I hadn’t won yet. The way she shook when I touched her, but never broke.
That’s what wrecked me.
