“Screw you, Ashford.”
“Been there, done that, got the marks.”
Roman and Addie’s history is messy as hell, and when everything fell apart between them, she was the one who left the deepest scar. She didn’t hurt him on purpose. That’s not who she is, but Roman doesn’t open up easily. He keeps people at a distance, yet somehow she got through. For the first time in his life, she made him believe it was safe to let someone in.
Then she left.
They lock eyes in a silent battle until Roman surprisingly backs down first. “Fine, princess. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER
TWO
ADDISON
I pushpast the solid wall of muscle that is Roman Ashford—god, even angry, he’s devastating—while Jasper falls into step beside me.
Jesus, I just kissed Roman’s best friend.
No wonder he looks at me like I’m poison.
That’s a line you don’t cross, and I knew better.
Roman already hates me. It rolls off him in waves, and I’ve earned every bit of that hatred from him. But losing him gutted me too, deep enough that I still feel it even now. And yeah, I know kissing Zeke was probably the worst possible move if I ever wanted to fix what was broken between Roman and me, but there’s just something about Zeke that makes me forget every reason why I shouldn’t want him.
“Why do girls walk so fucking fast when they’re pissed?” Jasper’s teasing pulls me out of my spiral.
“I’m not pissed,” I mutter.
“You are,” he says, breezy as hell. “But it’s okay. I’m not offended that you’re lying to me.”
I can’t stop myself from glancing back over my shoulder, myeyes catching on Roman and Zeke trailing a few steps behind us. That kiss, as brief as it was, continues to play out in my head, and the truth is that I’ve wanted it for longer than I’d ever let myself say out loud.
My dad would have an actual heart attack if he ever found out.
His words from last season still echo in my ears:“Date who you want, you’re an adult, but stay the hell away from my boys. I don’t want them distracted.”
But he doesn’t see the way Zeke looks at me or how Roman burns beneath the surface, always protecting himself, his silence always saying more than his words ever could:Don’t come closer unless you mean to stay.
And I didn’t stay.
I walked away.
And Jasper… God, Jasper, he’s the grinning golden chaos who makes everything feel possible, even the things that shouldn’t be.
Thoughts of all three men linger somewhere deep inside me, hidden in the places good girls aren’t supposed to go. The kind of thoughts that make heat crawl up my neck and my pulse quicken with equal parts lust and shame because wanting one of them should be enough, but it’s not.
I fucked everything sideways when I started dating Roman a few years ago.When my dad found out, he came straight for me. He told me to end it, said Roman’s future hung in the balance, and listed a million reasons why his star player couldn’t be with me.
It was a conflict of interest.
Team dynamics.
He couldn’t play favorites if things went south between us.
I was hopelessly in love with Roman when I ripped us apart, and we haven’t managed a civil conversation since. He built this wall between us, brick by fucking brick, because of what I did, andthe worst part is that even though I expected these feelings to fade or at least turn into something manageable, they haven’t.
Some nights I still wake up remembering how his hands felt on my skin, how he’d whisper against my neck when he thought I was sleeping, confessing things he couldn’t say to me in daylight. Now, he barely says my name. He calls me princess like it’s a joke, but I know it’s because it’s easier than remembering the wayAddieused to fall from his lips when he was losing himself inside me.
