Page 12 of Pucking Possessive (Kings of Castlebrook #2)

CALLUM

T he second I knock on Lilac’s dorm door, I hear her loud-ass roommate cursing from the other side.

She used to room with Madi until Hayden stole her away to live at our house.

Talking to Chapel Sterling is like biting into a lemon and not swallowing.

I’d say I don’t know what made her so bitter, but the truth is, everyone knows.

My cousin, Caiden Grey, is the culprit, and because of him, we all have to deal with her.

"If it’s another hockey player, I swear to fucking God?—"

The door swings open, and there she is. Lilac Fairbanks.

My fake fiancée. My obsession. My fucking everything.

I spent the night trying to figure out who threw that rock on my truck, and trying to get Adam to talk to me man-to-man.

He’d turned his phone off and his roommate said he thought he went to the casino.

Lilac throws her arms around me, and I scoop her up.

I know she’s just playing her part, doing what I told her about pretending we’re together in private and in public.

But damn if she doesn’t feel fucking good.

I should have had her stay with me last night, but the truth is, I needed to get myself together.

I kissed her last night and almost came in my jeans; I wasn’t prepared to have her in my bed.

I almost forget there’s another person in the room until her roommate steps into view, glaring.

Chapel.

No bullshit, zero patience, hates all things hockey, which I’m not sure why because it’s a bull rider who did her dirty. Whatever, I don’t really care.

She groans. "Fuck me. I can’t win."

I grin. "So you missed me."

She pulls her long auburn hair up into a messy bun and crosses her arms over her chest like she’s not sure if she can take me to the ground. I’m six-foot-four, and just by the scowl on her face, I’m not sure either.

Lilac fights a smile. "He’s nothing like what you’ve heard about him, I promise. He’s so sweet to me."

Chapel scoffs, arms crossed. "I know a virgin when I see one. He can handle a hockey puck and that’s about it.” She looks from Lilac to me and then says, “Don’t touch my stuff."

She’s out the door before I can reply.

I smirk. "She’s a peach."

Lilac laughs, locking the door behind her. "She won’t say why she hates hockey players, but I have to hold her back when she sees Hayden on campus. His face sets her off." This makes me chuckle because Hayden would revel in this information.

We head down the hallway together, her arm brushing mine, and I force myself not to reach for her hand even though every cell in my body is screaming to.

I don’t want to overwhelm her, and I’m far past all of it.

We’d spend the day wrapped up in my sheets if it were up to me.

I’m past the point of no return. The dorm building smells like cheap floor cleaner and burnt popcorn, and I hate that she has to live here.

She doesn’t belong in this sterile, shared-space bullshit.

She belongs somewhere warm, safe. With me.

When we step outside, the air hits her cheeks, and she pulls her cardigan tighter around her.

I press the unlock button and lead her to Hayden’s SUV.

I borrowed it because my windshield is being repaired.

I move ahead and open the passenger door for her, holding it wide. She blinks up at me, caught off guard.

"Wow. I didn’t know what a gentleman you are,” Lilac teases me.

I help her in gently, my hand steady on her waist, and once she’s seated, I reach across and buckle her seatbelt. Then I lean in and press a kiss to the tip of her nose, just like I used to when we were kids, and she scraped her knees or cried over something Adam said to her.

"Only for you, bambi,” I tell her.

She looks at me like she doesn’t know whether to laugh or melt, so I close the door and circle to the driver’s side, trying not to let how much that moment meant actually show on my face.

As I pull out of the lot, Lilac glances at me. "Did you talk to my brother last night?"

"Tried," I say. "Couldn’t find him anywhere."

She rolls her eyes. "He was probably home tattling on me. My mom has called me twenty-six times today."

My hand tightens on the steering wheel. "What’d you tell her?"

"Nothing. I’ve been avoiding her calls," she says, softer now. "I wanted to make sure you were sure about this whole fake engagement thing. We could still say it was a prank. Or a joke. No harm, no foul."

I pull into the parking lot of the academic quad and shift the SUV into park. Then I turn to her.

"Lilac," I murmur, reaching out to cup her face.

Her breath catches and I pull her to me slowly, like I’ve imagined doing a thousand fucking times through the night. My fingers slide over her cheek, her jaw, down to her hand, where I lace my fingers through hers and rub my thumb over the ring I put on her finger last night.

The ring that means more than she will probably ever know.

"I’m in this with you. It’s not a joke. It’s not a prank. I’ll do whatever I need to in order to keep you safe."

Her eyes glass over, but she turns her head slightly, blinking it away.

I gently tilt her chin back toward me. "You can cry if you need to, baby. You don’t have to hold it all in anymore.

” She blinks, letting her tears fall down her cheeks.

I haven’t seen her cry in the longest time, and I always assumed it was because she’s so strong, but I suspect it’s because she’s reprimanded by her parents for showing her feelings.

“Whatever you need, I’ve got it. And I’ve got you. "

She sniffs, lets out a little laugh. "Why are you doing this? You’re not getting anything out of this, Callum."

I shake my head. "Your family pretends to be perfect and they’re willing to do this to you. It doesn’t sit right with me, and I’m not going to ruin your life when I’ve spent most of mine protecting you."

She looks at me like she doesn’t understand.

I know I’m going to have to tell her everything. The things I’m hiding from everyone. The truth about who I am and who I’ve had to be to survive.

But not yet.

Right now, I need her to know she’s not alone. And that I’d rip the entire world apart just to keep her breathing.

"We need to get our story straight," I say. "We’ve been dating in secret. The pressure from your parents to be with Vincent forced us to come clean. Simple. Clean. Easy to remember."

I pause, watching her for a reaction. She hesitates just for a second, but it’s enough to make my chest ache. Then she nods, slowly, like she’s deciding to trust me.

I lean in again and kiss her. It’s soft, unhurried, but I can’t help the way my chest tightens the second her lips part under mine. She melts into me like she was made for this. For me. I groan and try to deepen it.

CRACK.

A football slams into the windshield.

"Motherf—" I curse, but Lilac is already pushing away from me and throwing the door open before I can stop her.

She storms across the lot, straight toward Adam. He’s got that smug, overcompensating look that makes me want to break him in half.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snaps. "You’re acting like a child."

He scoffs. "You’re screwing everything up. Like always."

"Why do you care? You sleep with every friend I’ve ever had.

" She shoves him and he jerks forward like he’s going to shove her back, but thinks better of it when he sees me.

“Did you throw that rock last night? Because you just did the same damn thing with your little football. It’s important, Adam. Did you?”

"I told you no, I didn’t. What else do you want from me?" he’s sneering at her, and for the first time in my life I can say I truly hate Adam Fairbanks. “Mom and Dad want you with Vincent. It’s a good opportunity. A smart one. We’re trying to build something here."

My blood boils.

It hits me.

He’s not upset because he feels betrayed. He’s upset because he’s part of it. This whole thing with Vincent. It’s a setup. A play.

He’s getting something out of this whole thing with Vincent.

I shove him. Hard.

He lunges, fists swinging, and I meet him halfway. We crash into the pavement. I pin him, my fist cocked, my knee in his ribs. He taps out.

"Your sister’s right. I think you threw that rock last night," I don’t loosen my hold on him, because he hasn’t treated Lilac right and he doesn’t deserve any mercy.

"I didn’t fucking do that," he spits, wheezing.

I stare at him, trying to read the truth in his face. I believe him. That scares the shit out of me because it means someone else did it.

I let him go, wiping the blood from my knuckles. I grab Lilac’s hand, pulling her away with me.

"Dad is fucking pissed," her brother shouts after us. "Be prepared for a fucking bad time."

I kiss the side of her head.

"It’s going to be fine. We’ll figure it out."

I want to tell her everything. That I’ve loved her in several different ways in the long time that I’ve known her. That I’ve spent every day pretending I didn’t want her while I was dying to claim her.

But I don’t get the chance.

Fucking Tara runs up to us, breathless, panicked. "Ryan... he’s dead. They found him in his car. In the parking lot with his throat slit open."

My blood runs cold.

"There were lilac flowers everywhere. Inside the car. All over,” Tara says.

“Lexi found him, and she told me everything, but she said the school had someone come in and clean it up already. His car’s been towed.

They’re acting like nothing even happened.

” Tara is a mess, but I believe her. This school is shady and all about how they look to the public.

It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that they’d sweep this under the rug so they don’t end up on the news.

Lilac’s face doesn’t change. But I see it. The way her throat moves when she swallows hard. The way her hands shake.

"I gotta go. I can’t miss another class," Tara says, then bolts.

I turn to Lilac. "It’s okay to be scared. It doesn’t make you weak. We’re going to figure this out."

Her voice is barely a whisper. "It can’t be whoever killed Mina, right? I mean, the flowers? That has to be someone specifically trying to scare me. And why Ryan? I don’t even know him."

I reach out, palm up, and she knows exactly what I want. She places her hand in mine, and nothing has felt more right.

"I don’t know," I tell her. "But I’m going to figure it out. You’re safe with me. And we’re going to talk to your parents. Together."

I walk her up to the building and kiss her gently. It’s so sweet and slow like she deserves and when it’s over, I stay there and watch her disappear inside.

She has no idea I’ve been tracking her location for a long time, but if I wasn’t already, I sure as fuck would be now. No one can hurt her if I know where she is every second of the day.

I sit on the bench across from her classroom because until I can put a plan in place to have physical eyes on her at all times, I’m not leaving her alone.