4.

Lori’s POV

My eyes snapped shut. I couldn't tell them about Lucas. Not yet. I couldn't even process it myself.

"Travis cheated on me," I croaked. My voice sounded raw, completely ruined. "With Elena. On my freaking bed."

Jessica’s jaw dropped. She gasped so loud it filled the quiet space. "That absolute piece of garbage! Wait, you and Travis? Since when were you guys even a thing?"

"We’ve been going out for six months," I confessed. I choose to stare at the coffee. "He wanted to keep it a secret. He was supposed to tell everyone last night. Instead, I walked in on them."

"Oh, Lor," Ann sighed. Shifting closer to me, she encircled my shoulders with her slender hands. And wrapped me in a long hug.

"I'm going to squeeze that son of a bitch," Jessica curse under her breath. While moving back and forth. "And Elena? That plastic Barbie is dead to me. But where did you go after? We called you like a million times."

My heart did a violent, heavy stutter against my ribs. "I just... I drove around. I wanted to clear my mind."

It was so obvious that I was lying. But it is better than telling them the truth.

My roommates insisted that we went out for lunch. So by 1pm, I dressed myself in a bag jeans and top and followed them. I also didn’t forget my sunglasses since the last thing I needed was someone from the party recognizing me.

"Look who just walked in." Jessica nudged me.

My breath immediately caught in my throat as soon as I glanced up.

Lucas Miller.

Around him were some of his team members. They were giggling at something one of them was describing. The grey hoodie he was putting on made his big shoulders even broader. With his damp hair, he actually looked like the golden campus boy everyone called him.

He might have sensed that I was looking a him, because his eyes suddenly turned to my direction. And he stared back at me.

His smile faded. A dark smirk replaced it. While the intensity of his gaze deepened. It was as if we were the only ones in the hall. At some point, his gaze dropped to my lips, making me shiver as I remember how it had locked with his last night.

Shocked to my bones, I pretended not to notice his stared and started studying the menu at my laps. Meanwhile, I could feel my cheeks turning red. I wished the floor will open and take me in.

"Oh my god, he is so gorgeous it actually hurts," Jessica whispered loudly, leaning so far across the table her shirt almost touched the sugar caddy.

I froze, keeping my face stiff. "Who?"

"Lucas Miller! Look at him," Jessica gushed. Her eyes practically sparkled as she watched the hockey captain slide into a corner booth. "I swear, if that man looked at me the way he looks at a puck, I’d melt into a puddle. I’ve had a crush on him since freshman year. He’s the ultimate goal, Lor. Seriously."

My stomach dropped into a bottomless pit.

I cleared my throat and looked at Ann. Unfortunately, she was agreeing to what Jessica was saying. The guilt began eating me right at my chest. How would I tell Jessica that the same guy she had a massive crush on took my virginity? The worst part is that she was already making a mental note on how to ask him out.

The knowledge alone would shatter her. And will split our friend. Which is the only good thing I had going on.

My face remained pinned at the menu, while I hoped Lucas doesn’t approach us. I muttered a silent thanks to the universe when he finally settled at another table far from ours. Even though I can still feel his gaze occasionally.

---

"Come on, Lori! It’ll be fun. You need to get out, cheer on the school, and forget about Travis!"

Against my bitter protests, Jessica and Ann had dragged me to the campus ice rink later that evening. The stadium was packed, a chaotic sea of school colors, roaring chants, and the freezing chill of the ice cutting through the humid air of the stands.

We managed to get seats near the glass, courtesy of Jessica’s determination to be as close to the action as humanly possible.

The moment the team skated out onto the ice, the crowd erupted into a deafening roar. Leading the pack was Lucas. He looked massive in his heavy hockey gear, the captain’s 'C' bold against his chest. He exuded an aura of absolute power and control as he skated a warm-up lap, his skates cutting sharply into the ice.

"Look at him!" Jessica yelled over the roaring crowd, clutching my forearm tight. "Look at those arms! Can you imagine what it feels like to have those arms around you?"

Yes, my mind screamed. Yes, I can.

A vivid, overwhelming flashback slammed into me. The chill of the ice rink vanished, replaced by the suffocating heat of Lucas’s dorm room. I remembered the exact weight of those broad shoulders pinning me down against the mattress. I remembered the fierce, unyielding grip of his fingers on my wrists, forcing me to submit to his rhythm. I remembered the gravelly sound of his voice telling me I was his.

My breath hitched, a sudden, betraying heat pooling deep in my lower abdomen. I forced myself to look away from the ice, clutching my denim jacket tightly around my chest.

The game was a brutal display of dominance. Lucas played like a man possessed, checking opposing players into the boards with a terrifying level of aggression that matched the wildness I had witnessed behind closed doors. He scored the winning goal in the second period, and the entire stadium went wild, people jumping up and down around us.

During the celebration, as the team crowded around him near the goal, Lucas turned his head.

Through the thick sheets of plexiglass separating the fans from the ice, his eyes found mine. Even with his helmet on, the intensity of his gaze was unmistakable. He raised his hockey stick slightly in my direction, a subtle, private salute that nobody else in the crowd would ever notice.

But I noticed. And my heart nearly leaped right out of my chest.

"Did you see that?!" Jessica squealed, jumping up and down beside me on the concrete. "He looked over here! Do you think he was looking at me? Oh my god, Ann, he totally looked at our section!"

"Yeah, probably, Jess," Ann laughed, clapping along with the rest of the fans.

A fake smile plastered on my face. While I hide my shaking hands inside my pockets. One look at Jessica’s love struck face as she watched Lucas had guilt twisting me.

I wondered how I will ever get out of this. Travis will make a big deal over it as soon as he finds out about Lucas. Elena’s reaction might even be worse. She might end up snapping me into two.

And what about Jessica, my best friend and sworn sister. She would crash out and would never talk to me until we graduate.

The game ended as soon as the buzzer sounded. I stole one long last look at Lucas right before he moved towards the locker rooms. I winced, knowing deep down inside me that my secret wasn’t entirely safe with him.