Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 217

Chapter 217

BRANDON’S POV

I stood on the ice, the freezing air of the arena crisp against my face, and relished the absolute, paralyzing shock painted across Julian Vance’s bruised face.

I wasn’t surprised to see him here. In fact, I had planned it.

When Henderson, the head of the scouting committee and a close personal friend of reine, had called me early this morning while I was still at the hotel, he had mentioned a promising hockey team in need of a major corporate sponsor to secure their final run.

The moment he muttered the team’s name, a dark, pleasant realization had washed over me. It was Julian’s team. I had already known Julian was lingering around like a pathetic ghost.

Before I even left Aria’s house this morning, my security team had radioed me. They had spotted his sports car parked in a secluded spot down the block, partially hidden under an old oak tree.

“Sir, we have eyes on Vance,” my lead bodyguard had whispered through the earpiece. “Should we move him? Drive him off the property?”

Lear

“No,” I replied, a cold, calculated smirk forming on my lips. “Leave him right where he is.” I knew exactly what Julian wanted. He wanted to cause a scene, to inject himself into our lives again.

So, I gave him exactly what he deserved: a front–row seat to his own irrelevance. I had deliberately let him hide in the shadows and watch me step out into the morning sun with Aria and Amelia.

I let him watch the bright, beautiful smile Aria gave me when I wrapped my arm possessively around her waist. I let him watch me play the role of the protector, the father, and the man, the exact roles he had thrown away.

And now, seeing him stand on the blue line, suffocating under the weight of his own defeat, was everything I had hoped for. In this game of love and war, Julian Vance was completely outmatched.

He was playing with sticks and pucks. I was playing with empires and chess pieces. And I would always emerge victorious.

“Mr. Brandon,” the coach said, his voice dripping with an eager, desperate desire to please me. He practically bowed as he gestured toward the line of sweaty, exhausted players.

“We are incredibly honored by your presence today. This team has the highest stats in the league, and we are fully prepared to take the finals.”

I kept my expression perfectly neutral, my dark eyes never leaving Julian’s face. The boy looked like he wanted to murder me right here on the ice, his knuckles turning white around the helmet tucked under his arm.

The coach stepped closer to Julian, tapping him on the shoulder pad. “I want to introduce you to our team captain, and our star player. This is Julian Vance.”

The irony was beautiful. Julian’s father thought his name carried weight, but in my world, the Vance name was just an account balance I could liquidate if I felt like it.

I took a slow, deliberate step forward, my leather shoes firm against the rubber matting on the ice. I adjusted the cuffs of my grey overcoat, letting the silence stretch between us until the tension in the arena was thick enough to cut with a knife.

With a calm, mocking smirk playing on my lips, I extended my right hand toward him.

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Chapter 217

Rulan Cance. Igaid, any voice smooth, deep, and entirely controlled. Tve heard quite a bit about you. Let’s see if your performance on the ice is as impressive as your reputation”

The coach noticed the suddens suffocating silence stretching between us and nervously cleared his throat. He nudged julian hard in the ribs, practically begging him with his eyes to behave.

“Julian, take Mr. Brandon’s hand,” the coach urged quickly, his voice tight with anxiety. He turned back to me, offering a frantic, placating smile.

“Mr. Brandon, I assure you, Julian is our star player. One of the absolute best to ever grace this rink. You saw him out there just now during the practice drills, his speed, his precision. He’s the backbone of this entire offensive line.”

I kept my hand extended, my eyes locked onto Julian’s blazing, bloodshot glare. I could see the raw fury vibrating through his entire frame.

He looked like an animal trapped in a cage, humiliated that the man he despised held the keys to his entire future. “Yes,” 1 said smoothly, a slow, mocking smile cutting across my face. “I saw him on the rink. He did well.

The double meaning hit Julian like a physical blow. He knew I wasn’t just talking about the hockey drills. I was talking about the driveway.

I was talking about the fact that I had seen him hiding under that oak tree, watching me claim everything that used to be his. Julian’s jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might shatter.

Slowly, deliberately, he ignored my extended hand, letting it hang in the freezing air between us. His teammates shifted uncomfortably on the blue line, a collective gasp rippling through the row.

“I would like to have a word with you,” Julian rasped, his voice dropping into a dark, venomous growl. “In private.”

The coach’s face instantly drained of color. “Julian! Absolutely not, you don’t demand to speak to him that way. Mr. Brandon is a busy man, he doesn’t have time for your-”

“It’s fine, Coach,” I interrupted calmly, lowering my hand back into the pocket of my grey overcoat. I didn’t break eye contact with Julian for a single second. If the boy wanted to bleed, I/was happy to hand him the blade. “I can spare a few minutes for the team captain.”

The coach let out a shaky breath, clearly relieved that I hadn’t pulled the sponsorship immediately, but his eyes still shot warning glare at Julian.

Brand

“Right. Of course. Boys, head to the locker room and clean up! Give Mr. Brandon and Julian some space.” The rest of the players didn’t need to be told twice.

They skated off the ice as fast as they could, the heavy metal door of the rink clanking shut behind them. Henderson gave me a knowing nod and stepped back toward the main lobby with the coach, leaving Julian and me completely alone in the massive, echoing arena.

The silence between us was heavy, broken only by the hum of the cooling system beneath the ice.

Julian stepped off the ice and onto the rubber matting, standing just a few feet away from me.

Up close, he looked completely unraveled. The dark circles under his eyes and the tension in his shoulders showed exactly how much the last few days had beaten him down.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Brandon?” Julian hissed, his voice echoing fiercely against the empty stands. “You think you can just buy everything? You think you can buy my career now, too?”

I stood perfectly still, my hands resting loosely in the pockets of my overcoat. I looked at him the way I would look at a

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Chapter 212

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“I don’t need to buy your career, Julian.” I said smoothly, my tone deadpan and calm. “Your friend Henderson asked for a sponsor, and I happen to have the capital. If your team is as good as the coach says, it’s just business.

“Don’t give me that corporate bullshit!” Julian stepped closer, his chest heaving under his heavy hockey pads. “You knew I was here. You knew exactly what you were doing this morning, too. Letting me sit out there like an idiot while you-

“While I took care of my family?” I interrupted, my voice dropping into a low, lethal whisper that instantly cut him off. I took a step forward, closing the distance between us until I was looking down into his furious eyes.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Vance. I didn’t make you sit under that tree. You chose to hide in the shadows like a coward. And you watched because deep down, you know that’s exactly where you belong now. On the outside looking in.”

Julian’s face flushed a deep, angry red. He raised his hand, his hockey gloves trembling as he pointed a finger at my chest “She doesn’t love you. Aria is only using you because she’s scared. She tasted exactly the same that morning, Brandon. I held her right in her own house, and she didn’t stop me.”

A dark, dangerous fire ignited in my chest at the mention of yesterday, but I forced my expression to remain entirely frozen. I couldn’t let this boy see a single crack in my armor.

I knew what happened that day ended with Aria in my bed, screaming my name, completely devoted to me. Julian was just desperate, grasping at thin lines to save his own deflated pride.

“Is that the lie you need to tell yourself to sleep at night?” I asked, a slow, mocking smile returning to my face. “Because when I left her bed this morning, she made it very clear who she belonged to. In fact, she told me it’s time the world knew we were together.”

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