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Twenty One
publish date:
2026-05-28 04:22:32
Latest chapter
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Fifty Seven
JEREMIAHThe rhythmic, high-pitched beep of the heart monitor was the only thing standing between me and a murder charge.Morning sunlight slammed hard against the plastic window blinds of the UCLA Medical Center intensive care unit. The harsh glare cut across the sterile white linoleum, highlighting the chaotic tangle of clear IV tubes snaking across the hospital bed.My primary objective was keeping my anger contained enough to stay in this room.Athena lay completely motionless under a massive, inflating plastic Bair Hugger blanket. A machine hissed violently in the corner, pumping continuously warmed air over her frozen body. Her skin had lost the terrifying blue tint from the arena, replaced by a sickening, translucent pale white."Like I told the triage nurse, son."The voice scraped like rusty metal.Detective Vance leaned against the heavy wooden doorframe of room 412. He wore a rumpled tan suit smelling heavily of stale coffee and stale cigarette smoke. He didn't even bother
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Fifty Six
ATHENAFrost coated my eyelashes, sealing them together with heavy, frozen crusts.My only goal right now was surviving the next sixty seconds. The Los Angeles night outside was supposed to be warm, but inside the Ashford arena, the industrial HVAC system roared like a jet engine. Sub-zero air blasted directly from the overhead vents, chewing through my thin jacket and biting directly into my bones.Dragging my body across the dark rubber matting, the friction scraped the skin completely off my knees. I needed shelter. The open hallway was a wind tunnel of freezing death.Hitting the wooden edge of the home team penalty box, I hauled my dead weight over the low bench.Curling into a tight ball on the floorboards, violent, uncontrollable shivers wrecked my entire body. My teeth cracked against each other. The darkness swallowed everything, broken only by the tiny, useless green standby lights on the overhead jumbotron.Clack. Clack. Clack.The sharp sound of hard-soled dress shoes hitt
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Fifty Five
JEREMIAHI ripped the athletic tape cleanly off the roll, the sharp sound echoing off the concrete walls.Sitting in the corner stall of the Ashford locker room, I wrapped the blade of my composite stick. The room smelled of fresh sweat, floor wax, and intense, quiet focus. Friday’s qualifier was barely forty-eight hours away. My singular goal was keeping this roster completely insulated from the academic warfare currently trying to swallow our coach whole."Carter," I called out, tossing a spare roll of black tape across the room. "Your gap control on the penalty kill is sloppy. Close the neutral zone faster today."Catching the tape one-handed, Carter nodded. "Got it, Captain. Sub-three second transitions. Coach Cole will run us until we vomit if we miss the mark again."A heavy, metallic thud echoed from the entrance.The double doors swung open, hitting the rubber stops with enough force to rattle the hinges.Three men walked into the locker room.Arthur Ashford led the pack. Wear
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Fifty Four
ATHENAWe'd fucked for hours. My pussy was still sore.And now, lying in the center of the bed, the heavy duvet draped over our bare legs. The digital clock on the nightstand glared a harsh red: 3:14 AMMy head rested on Jeremiah’s chest. His heartbeat pulsed steadily against my cheek, a slow, grounding rhythm. His arm wrapped tightly around my waist, keeping me flush against his side even in sleep. Total, utter exhaustion pulled at my eyelids. For the first time all week, the anxiety vibrating in my ribs vanished.BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.A piercing, high-decibel shriek violently shattered the quiet.I jolted upright, my heart instantly slamming into my throat. "What is that?""The perimeter alarm." Jeremiah rolled out of bed with terrifying, immediate speed. The sleepy lover vanished, entirely replaced by the lethal protector. "Someone breached the back patio gate."The keypad in the hallway continued its deafening, rhythmic screaming.Jeremiah shoved his legs into a pair of gray sweatp
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Fifty Three
ATHENAStaring at the boy who used to be my entire world, the leftover adrenaline from the dance floor instantly curdled into pure, venomous disgust. The neon pink lights of the hallway cast harsh, ugly shadows across his face.Jeremiah shifted his weight. The muscles in his arm coiled like thick steel cable. He didn't speak, but his massive frame angled forward, completely ready to tear Luca apart with his bare hands.Reaching back, I pressed my hand flat against Jeremiah’s chest. *Stand down.*"You are bargaining with a felony, Luca," I stated, keeping my voice entirely dead and flat."I’m offering you a lifeline," Luca corrected, stepping closer. The smell of cheap tequila radiated off his crimson Westmore jacket. "Sienna paid a TA to plant that midterm. She set the trap, not me. I have the text messages on a burner phone. I can hand them to Dean Hayes tomorrow morning and clear your name entirely.""And the price is me.""The price is us going back to the way things were," he insi
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Fifty Two
ATHENAHeavy bass vibrated through the floorboards, rattling the soles of my boots.The Bruce mansion sprawled across the edge of a Hollywood Hills cliff, a massive monument to excess. Neon lights bathed the crowded living room in harsh shades of magenta and electric blue. The air tasted incredibly thick, choked with the smell of cheap beer, marijuana smoke, and cloying, expensive perfume.Hundreds of bodies crushed together. Shouting voices competed with the deafening rap music blasting from ceiling-mounted speakers.Standing near the massive marble kitchen island, I held a red plastic cup filled with lukewarm water.Tessa leaned against the counter next to me, wearing a tight black dress, her eyes scanning the chaotic room like a sniper."Okay, the hostility in this room is literally tangible," Tessa shouted over the music. "I’ve counted at least twelve Westmore hockey players glaring at us since we walked through the door.""Let them glare." I took a sip of the water. "We aren't he
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Thirty Five
AUTHOR'S POVTick.Tock.Tick…The facility had gone dead silent. The team had cleared about an hour ago, leaving the long, sterile hallway smelling of stale sweat, industrial floor wax, and the metallic tang of hockey gear. Athena sat hunched over on a cold metal bench, staring blankly at the flo
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Three
(Athena's POV)Shame!That was all I felt before I could even open my eyes. It was heavy and ugly, like my body remembered before my mind could register. And when I finally blinked awake, the white ceiling above me swam into focus. I was at the College hospital. Great.I let out the smallest bre
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival Two
(Athena's POV).For a second, I thought I heard him wrong because there was no way Luca Ryder had just looked straight past me and called who?“Sienna?” My rival?The crowd screamed, while I just stood there, frozen at the edge of the rink with my hand still over my mouth like a complete idiot, t
Rejected by my team, Claimed by the Rival One
(Athena's POV)“Ew. Girl! Stop staring at him like that before I throw up.”I laughed under my breath, gripping my hockey stick tighter as I turned to look at Tessa, my best friend.We were near the player's bench, the rink screaming loud around us as both schools packed the arena like tonight mean
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