Page 81 of Rule Breaker

Dane and I headed for the elevators, and he got off on the second floor while I continued to the fourth.

When I got to my room, the lights were already on, and I could hear the water in the bathroom running. I stripped off my clothes and got into bed, my body thrumming with anticipation.Sure, I was sore and exhausted from the game, but I was vibrating with adrenaline. Lust. I’d never felt so aware of my body.

When Maddox finally stalked out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but my bracelet, I couldn’t hide how much I wanted him.

Living up to our Cougar namesake, he stalked around the bed, and pounced on me. The game was over but our fun was just beginning.

CHAPTER 29

MADDOX

A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS BREAK

“Come home with me.”

“What?”

Kayden and I were in the library again, in a private room, studying. Or trying to. For the past two hours, he kept squeezing my thigh and dropping heated kisses on my neck, and it was driving me crazy. He drove me crazy. We’d been fooling around any chance we could get, and it was only getting better, hotter, and more addictive.

I didn’t just want his touch—I needed it. Craved it. We hadn’t gone any further than hand jobs and blow jobs, though, because we were always rushed. We didn’t want to get caught, either by his roommate or the students on my floor. We both wanted more, but there was never any time. Or maybe we were both too scared to take that next step. It was sex, and yet, I knew it was way more.

I was in over my head. I liked being with him. And it sparked a panic inside me. A panic that was getting bigger. The voice in my head told me I was no good for someone like him.

And now this?

“Come home with me for Christmas,” Kayden repeated.

No way. Me and family didn’t mix. I didn’t have one anymore, and I wasn’t about to face a pity party from his.

I shook my head.

“I’m staying here. I’ve got to finish up a coding job, and I’m going to enjoy the peace while the hordes of students are gone.”

“You shouldn’t spend the holiday alone,” Kayden replied.

“I spent Thanksgiving alone, so what’s the difference?”

“You mean you didn’t go home to Toronto?”

“Nope,” I muttered. “And for what? I don’t have a home there anymore.”

I wasn’t saying that to get his sympathy. It was the blunt truth.

“What about Daniel? You said his family fostered you.”

I’d told Kayden a bit about my life back home in Toronto. Not a lot of detail. Just that I had no family left, and that I had to be fostered for a few years. Part of me wanted to spill my guts about the rest of it. The why. The other part of me wanted to stay silent. Move on. Not let it tarnish everything I was working toward. And I was still getting used to the fact that I had someone, other than my therapist, to tell.

“I did, but that was before I turned eighteen. I don’t have to go back there now. And he’s got his own family. I’m not a part of that anymore. Besides, he invited me, but I already said no.”

That wasn’t Daniel talking; it was all me. I appreciated everything he’d done for me, helping me navigate life when I had to leave my father’s place. But being around Daniel, his wife, and his kid made me wish for things I wanted but would never have. My mom, the only family I had, was gone. Now it was just me.

“I still want you to come home with me,” Kayden implored.

I stared at him. At the honeyed eyes, golden freckles, and wide smile that had a chokehold on me. One that was getting way too tight. I couldn’t breathe, and I needed to be let loose.

Meeting his family sounded like dating. And I didn’t want Kayden to think we were in any kind of relationship at this point. Nothing beyond sex. And hockey. And school. Okay, maybe we were friends who fucked. Fuck buddies. No, I wasn’t anyone’s ‘buddy.’ In fact, trying to put any kind of label on what was happening made me itchy as hell. Relationships had rules, and the only ones I followed were my own.

“No,” I repeated, and shoved his hand off my leg. “Fucking around has been fun, but it’s time we call it quits.”