The Hockey Roommate's Filthy Desire novel Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

JULIAN’S POV

The rain was coming down so hard the windshield wipers could barely keep up.

Water slammed against the glass in thick sheets, the streetlights blurring into long streaks of gold and white across the road. My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I drove through the empty streets.

Something in my chest felt wrong. Restless. Uneasy. I felt like there was something wrong with Aria but I couldn’t place it. I forced the thought down and continued driving.

Then, the phone on the passenger seat buzzed. I grabbed it immediately. “Yes.”

“Sir,” one of my men said through the line. “She left the coffee shop.”

My jaw tightened. “Alone?”

“Yes.”

“In this weather?” I snapped.

“Yes, sir.” I swore under my breath. After our argument earlier, I had deliberately kept my distance. The last thing Aria needed was to feel like I was controlling her life again.

But that didn’t mean I had left her unprotected.

That was never an option. I had assigned three men to watch her from a distance the moment she stepped out of the apartment earlier. Not

bodyguards.

Shadows. They would be there but she would never notice. “Do not approach her,” I had instructed them. “Do not speak to her. She must not know you’re there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You only report to me.” I knew Aria well enough by now. If she discovered I had people following her around, she would explode. So they stayed hidden.

Watching. Reporting. At first, the updates had been annoying but harmless. “She’s at the tutoring class.”

“She’s teaching one student.”

Then the next call came. “She’s being harassed at the coffee shop.” My jaw clenched instantly.

“Who?”

Students. Westbridge.”

Are they touching her?”

“No.”

“Then do not intervene.”

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Chapter

The man hesitated. “Sir…”

“Do not intervene,” I repeated coldly. If Aria found out someone had stepped in because of me, she would never forgive it.

“I’ll handle it.” But then another call came ten minutes later.

“She left.”

“Left?”

“Yes sir.”

“Where is she going?”

“She’s walking.”

“In this storm?”

“Yes.” My stomach dropped. That was when I got into the car. The rain was brutal. The road ahead was nearly invisible.

Water flooded the pavement as thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. I drove slowly through the streets near the coffee shop, scanning every sidewalk. “Sir,” the voice came through the phone again.

“Yes?”

“We lost sight of her near Ashford Street.” My grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“How do

you lose sight of someone walking in a straight line?”

“There were students around..”

“I don’t care.” Silence followed. Then I ended the call. The moment I turned onto Ashford Street, something caught my eye. A shape on the side of the road.

My foot slammed the brakes. The car skidded slightly before stopping in the middle of the street.

For a second, my brain refused to process what I was seeing. Aria. Curled slightly on the pavement.

Drenched. Motionless. My blood ran cold. I threw the door open and ran toward her. “Aria.” No response. Rain soaked her completely. Her hair clung to her face, her clothes plastered to her skin.

My heart slammed violently against my ribs. “Aria,” I said again, crouching beside her. Still nothing. A sharp fury surged through my chest.

I shrugged off my leather jacket immediately and wrapped it around her shoulders before carefully lifting her into my arms. She was freezing. Too light.

Too still.

God damn it,” I muttered under my breath. I carried her quickly to the car and laid her gently across the back seat before

mping into the driver’s seat again. The engine roared to life. My phone was already dialing.

Doctor,” I said the moment the call connected.

“Julian?”

“I need you at my apartment. Now.”

Chapter 20

“Is everything alright?”

“No.”

“How long…”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“I’m on my way.” I ended the call and pressed harder on the gas. The apartment door flew open as I carried her inside. My clothes were soaked through but I barely noticed.

I headed straight to my bedroom. The only place where I could keep an eye on her. I laid her carefully on the bed. Her lips had turned pale. My jaw tightened.

“Stay with me,” I muttered quietly. Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. The doctor arrived moments after. An older man with sharp eyes and steady hands.

He immediately stepped toward the bed. “What happened?” he asked.

“I found her on the road.”

“Unconscious?”

“Yes.” He began examining her quickly..Checking her pulse. Her breathing. Her stomach..I watched every movement with growing tension. After a few minutes, he stepped back slightly.

“She’s badly bruised,” he said. “But nothing feels broken.”

My shoulders loosened slightly. “She likely took a hit to the abdomen.”

My jaw clenched. “Her clothes need to be changed,” he added calmly. “She’s soaked and freezing.”

My eyes moved to her rain–soaked shirt. The doctor looked at me knowingly. “I’ll step outside.” The room fell silent once he left. I exhaled slowly. Then reached for the blanket beside the bed.

“This is going to be awkward,” I muttered. Carefully, I began helping her out of the soaked clothes. My movements were controlled. Precise. Strictly practical. But it didn’t stop the tension coiling through my chest.

Aria was beautiful. Even unconscious. Even pale and bruised. I forced myself to focus. Get the wet clothes off. Wrap her in something warm. Nothing else.

When I finally finished, I pulled the blanket around her and stepped back. The doctor returned moments later. “She should wake up soon,” he said after another brief examination.

“Call me if her condition changes.” I nodded.

“Thank you.” When he left, the apartment grew quiet again. I sat on the edge of the bed, watching her breathe. Slow. Steady. Alive. Then my phone buzzed.

My expression hardened instantly when I answered. “Yes.”

Sir,” my man said. “We’ve identified the boys who attacked her.”

Good. “Find them.”

“Yes, sir.”

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Chapter 20

My voice turned cold. “And this time,” I said quietly. “don’t stay in the shadows.”

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