My throat tightens until it fucking burns. Jax’s face flashes right behind my eyelids.
Keep her safe, Reid. Watch out for her. Don't touch her.
The promise I’d made him felt like a heavy iron chain wrapping around my throat, choking the life out of me. I had sworn on everything I cared about that I wouldn't cross this line.
She was off-limits. She was his little sister.
"I'm right outside, Chlo. I'm not going anywhere," I promised. "I’ll sit right by the door. Just let me up."
"You always push me away," she whispered, and a single, fresh tear leaked from the corner of her eye, tracking slowly down into her hair. "You look at me like you want me, and then you treat me like I'm a mistake. It hurts so fucking bad, Reid. It hurts worse than the stalker. It hurts worse than anything."
Something inside my chest didn't just crack…it completely shattered. The tight, agonizing restraint I’d been holding onto for weeks snapped like a brittle twig.
Seeing her cry because of me, seeing her believe for even a second that she wasn't wanted, absolutely demolished my sanity.
"You think I don't want you?" I growled, the filter completely dropping from my voice. My elbows bent, dropping my weight until my chest was brushing hers, my face inches from her lips. "I am going out of my fucking mind every second I look at you. I lie awake in the next room listening to you breathe, wanting to tear down the wall between us. It's killing me, Chloe."
Her breath hitched, her fingers digging desperately into the skin of my shoulders. "Then stop fighting it. Please. Just... love me tonight. I need to feel safe. I need to feel you."
And just like that... To hell with the promise. To hell with Jax. To hell with the consequences tomorrow. Right now, the only thing that existed in the entire universe was the girl underneath me.
I leaned down and slammed my mouth against hers.
Reid Vance's best friend trusted him with his little sister. That was his first mistake.
Chloe Dupont is a reality TV star, a walking scandal, and the one girl Reid has hated since high school.
She's also his best friend's sister.
When Jax leaves the country and begs Reid to let Chloe stay in his apartment, Reid agrees for one reason only—He owes him.
Reid has two rules: Don't kill her and don't fuck her.
Well, he breaks both.
One drunken night turns into a secret neither of them can stop.
Chloe gets under his skin, into his head, and eventually, into his bed.
But Chloe comes with paparazzi, scandals, and more drama than Reid needs while he's fighting to protect his position as hockey captain and secure his future in the NHL.
Then Chloe's private photos are leaked, and a huge payment suddenly appears in Reid's bank account.
And the evidence makes him look like the villain who sold his best friend's sister for money.
Now Chloe hates him. His best friend wants to kill him. And his hockey career is hanging by a thread.
