Page 6

RYDER

I wrapped a towel around my waist, using another on my hair as I stepped out of the shower.

Covering up wasn’t mandatory. Most of the guys let their dicks swing free without any shame.

It didn’t bother me one way or the other, but I liked to spare myself the interest in my piercings.

No matter how many times I explained the process, someone always asked about it once they caught a glimpse, and I had better things to do than discuss having my dick pierced.

The usual noise filled the locker room: laughter, lockers slamming shut, the low hum of post-practice energy winding down.

My muscles still buzzed from the workout I always got on the field, a steady ache settling in my shoulders and legs.

The shower shoes Sanjana always cycled in for me squeaked against the floor as I walked, each step pressing into sore calves and thighs that felt stretched tight but solid, in a good way.

From the showers, Dougie’s unmistakable voice echoed through the steam, belting out an N-Sync song in a dramatic falsetto.

A chorus of groans and laughter followed, but that didn’t stop him from going all in.

A few of the guys caved and sang along like a fucking choir, their voices ranging from surprisingly decent to completely off-key.

Same shit, new day. Dougie always picked a different song, anything from country to heavy metal. The man was a living-breathing jukebox.

I moved to my locker, grabbed my lotion, clean clothes, and deodorant, feeling every pull and flex in my shoulders as I got dressed. Cade and Xander were on either side of me, talking about some chick who wanted a two-man.

I was too busy trying to ignore the fact that there was one person notably missing.

Ashton had showered fast, said something about meeting his girl, and then got the hell outta there.

If I had her waiting on me, I wouldn’t have even bothered with the locker room.

I’d have insisted we shower at home, so we could both unwind differently.

Together. But I wasn’t the one she was going home with.

Not tonight, anyway.

I popped the cap on my lotion, ignoring the rest of the room. A locker slammed. Someone laughed too loudly. Cade was saying something to Xander that I didn’t catch. “You look like you’re about to kill someone,” he leaned over and warned.

“Do I?” I glanced at him with an easy grin, smoothly correcting my expression.

“Sure do, kiddo,” he quipped, closing his own locker.

“Kiddo?” I laughed.

“Which one of you is older again?” Stu, one of our defense players and a dead ringer for Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, asked as he came around the corner, ass naked and still dripping wet because someone didn’t teach him how to use a fucking towel.

“This fool,” I replied affectionately, motioning toward my brother.

“A whole four minutes,” Cade boasted.

Xander laughed, well aware of our true family dynamic. Cade was months older than me, not minutes, but hood-twins were frowned upon in the uppity town of Hemlock Heights.

Legacy tended to be everything, and our father didn’t want anything to tarnish ours, so we ran with us being twins.

Fraternal, of course. It was a necessary compromise.

Better than explaining how we were both blood brothers and cousins since our dad was fucking two sisters.

My mother lovingly raised us both. We were close as brothers could be, cut from two different molds.

My hair was black as night; Cade’s was between dirty blonde and brown depending on the time of year.

My eyes were light, and his were dark. Where I thrived on control, Cade chose chaos.

I was calculated and strategic; he was impulsive, always looking for the next adrenaline rush.

We balanced each other out, and the world only saw what we wanted them to.

He might have been off the rails at times, but he had his own kind of brilliance, too, a way of navigating life by breaking the rules, while I made sure things fell into place.

Above all else, he was fiercely loyal to those he loved.

Especially me. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but I knew Cade would get his hands dirty on my behalf in a heartbeat, no questions asked. I would do the same for him.

He turned and leaned against our row of lockers, arms crossed, his expression casual. There was a knowing look in his eyes that told me he already knew where my mind had gone. My brother could read me better than anyone and had a way of seeing straight through whatever mask I wore.

“I will never understand why you chose this route to get our girl.”

“In case you missed a few chapters, I didn’t exactly have a choice.”

“That piece of—.” He stopped himself, remembering where we were.

I covered him with a laugh no one would question.

“Just relax. Everything’s gonna work out.

” His voice was calm again. The same tone he always used when he was trying to ensure I remained level-headed.

Usually, it was the other way around, though I wasn’t sure if it was me he was telling that to right now or himself.

Likely both. There was only one part of my life where I had started slipping up.

One person who fucked with my head without even trying.

I shot him a look of gratitude. He had just reminded me that no matter how shifty shit got, I had control.

“I’m good,” I assured him, running a hand through my hair, still damp from the shower. “Let’s get out of here.”

The three of us said bye to a few of the guys and then left the locker room, making our way to the parking lot.

It felt good outside. The cool air was a nice reprieve from the heated steam.

I immediately caught sight of Brooke standing by my truck.

A smile spread across her face when she spotted us.

“I’ll meet you guys at the house,” Xander said, splitting off to go to his car.

I acknowledged him with a nod and crossed to my ride. “Have you been out here alone this whole time?”

“No, Roxxi and the others just left.” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me.

I gave her a quick kiss, smothering my agitation.

I caught a whiff of her signature body spray and looked down at her.

Appearance-wise, she was a cheerleader cliché through and through.

In reality, she was extremely down-to-earth.

Unlike in high school, none of the girls on the Crowsfell squad carried themselves like self-absorbed, higher-than-thou bitches.

That wasn’t to say some hadn’t tried. They just didn’t make it past the final boss, Roxxanne Sterling.

Roxxi had a zero-tolerance policy for bullshit.

Was she rich as hell like the rest of us?

Absolutely. The golden apple of her parents’ eye?

Without question. They would raze this entire town if it meant protecting her.

She had us, too, and that in itself was a statement.

She never allowed any of that to inflate her ego or be a reason to treat others badly.

If anything, she always made sure people were treated accordingly, and that could go either way.

Pissing her off was never in anyone’s best interest. If someone went low, Roxxi was going lower, straight down to hell with a grin on her face.

She was Sanjana’s first new friend when we started second grade.

Once I accepted that I would have to share my girl, in this regard at least, I allowed and then encouraged their friendship.

They met Arianna and Cloe the year after, and the rest was history.

Not seeing any of them anywhere or hearing Roxxi’s Ducati fade away as she drove off, I wondered how long ago they’d actually left.

Brooke was too considerate to tell me she’d been standing out here alone for any substantial amount of time.

I already knew where the girl I wanted to see the most was.

That didn’t stop something dark twisting inside me at the thought of him with her.

Possessiveness, jealousy, whatever the fuck you wanted to call it, rose up fast and hard.

Ashton was the one guy who managed to slip through the cracks and ask Sanjana out without me or one of the boys shutting him down. Too many to count had tried and failed before him.

Everyone knew she was ours, collectively.

It wasn’t a claim that needed words; it was unspoken in the way we stood between her and the rest of the world.

It was known to plenty that I wanted more.

That I needed her to be mine in a way no one else could touch.

The thought consumed me, creeping into the quiet spaces of my mind and tightening like a vice around the organ in my chest that had her name carved into it.

I’d never forgive myself for things getting to this point.

Letting deadweight, Ashton Hayes, of all people, become a footnote in our story.

I’d known he was interested. I could see it in the way he hovered near her, the way his eyes tracked her every move.

I knew all the tells because I wrote the playbook.

I should have done something about it, but again, this wasn’t the first time a guy had looked her way.

A blind man would. All they needed to do was listen to her talk or hear her laugh.

And she smelled incredible, always lathered in shea and cocoa butter with a subtle hint of the Santal Royal perfume I gifted her.

Making sure guys kept away from her was like a full-time job.

Things had been a different kind of chaotic when Ashton made his move, and that’s the only reason it happened.

Between football, keeping an above-average GPA, and the pressure my dad was putting on me to be more involved in family matters, I had been stretched thin.

Being a Voss came with responsibilities, ones that had me moving in circles most people couldn't even imagine. With all that going on, I wasn’t keeping close enough tabs on Sanj.