His face falls into a smile.
Then he laughs. A sharp, cruel scoff.
“Are you fucking all three hockey players, Lily?”
“What!”
He walks toward me, backing me into the wall.
“I’m not,” I plead.
He stops inches from my face, so close I can smell the coffee on his breath. Then he takes a step back.
“Fine,” he says, voice suddenly calm again. “We can talk tomorrow.”
I don’t wait. I walk as fast as I can without running down the hall and into my room.
I close the door and lock it.
My whole body is shaking as I stare at the door, expecting him to bang on it. My face is wet with tears as I stand in the middle of my room.
And all I can think is—
Were they really watching my house all this time?
Every night?
My breath doesn’t come easily, but the thought that they have been outside every night loosens it a bit.
Chapter Eighteen: Jax
I have a six AM flight to Minnesota tomorrow.
Coach will lose his shit if I’m dragging ass at practice. The team’s already down after the Portland loss, and I need to be sharp. I need to show up and prove I give a damn about this season.
But here I am at midnight, parked three houses down from Tigerlily’s, watching her bedroom window like some obsessed piece of shit who can’t let go.
Zephyr bailed hours ago. He told me to get some sleep. He probably thinks I’m in my bedroom right now.
Callum’s probably passed out already, dreaming about whatever the hell Callum dreams about.
So I find myself here.
And I can’t fucking leave.
The porch light’s still on. Her window glows dim behind half-drawn curtains. The rest of the house is dark except for the kitchen.
I’ve been coming enough to memorize the layout of the house. I know exactly where the cameras are mounted.
The street’s quiet. No cars. No movement. Just me and the sound of my own breathing, leaning against my car.
Then I hear something hit a wall.
Not outside but inside the house.
The sound rips through the night—sharp, violent, unmistakable. Something thrown hard enough to explode against a wall.
I’m across the street before I process what I’m doing.
