The Hockey Roommate's Filthy Desire novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7

ARIA’S POV

By the time we reached the apartment, the kiss had already detonated.

I knew because my phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.

Notifications. Mentions. Screenshots. Westbridge didn’t just gossip, the news spread. I unlocked my screen with shaking fingers.

Westbridge Forum–Trending: Hockey Captain Publicly Kisses Scholarship Girl. Could this be the start of a relationship?

There was a photo. Of course there was a photo.

Someone had captured the exact second Julian’s hand fisted in my hair, my body half inside his car, my mouth pressed to his like it belonged there.

Like I belonged there. The angle made it look intimate. Intentional. Not impulsive. Not tactical. Possessive. My stomach flipped. “Stop reading it.”

Julian’s voice cut through the silence, low and controlled, but edged with something sharp.

I looked up. He was standing by the kitchen island, jacket off now, sleeves pushed up, jaw tight like he was holding himself together by discipline alone.

“I didn’t realize Westbridge had a paparazzi division,” I muttered, locking my phone but keeping it clenched in my hand like a shield.

“It does,” he replied coolly, not missing a beat.

“They just don’t get paid.” His tone was dry, almost bored, but his eyes were alert, calculating.

I exhaled slowly. “This is insane.”

“It’s predictable,” he corrected, pushing off the counter and walking toward me with unhurried steps. “Public displays invite public reaction.”

I swallowed. “That wasn’t supposed to become a spectacle.”

A muscle flickered in his jaw. “You kissed me in the middle of the parking lot, Aria,” he said evenly, stopping just short of touching me. “Did you expect privacy?”

I bristled. “You didn’t exactly resist.”

His gaze darkened, heat threading through the steel. “You pulled me into it,” he said quietly.

“I know,” I replied, forcing my chin up. A beat of silence stretched between us. “And you didn’t stop me,” I added, softer this

time.

He studied me then, not casually. Not lightly. Like I was a problem he wanted to solve or a risk he was deciding whether to take. “No,” he admitted finally, voice lower now. “I didn’t.”

The air shifted. Thicker. Charged. “We need a rule,” he said after a moment, tone returning to composed authority.

My spine stiffened instantly. “A rule?” I echoed, folding my arms defensively.

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Chapter 7

“Yes,” he said, holding my gaze without blinking.

“I’m not a dorm contract, Julian.”

“You’re not,” he replied calmly. “Which is exactly why I’m saying this now.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Saying what?”

“You’re not to speak to Luca on campus without me present.”

The words landed like a controlled drop of weight.

“Excuse me?” I asked, incredulous, a sharp laugh escaping before I could stop it.

“You heard me,” he said evenly. No raised voice. No emotion. Just certainty.

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“You don’t get to dictate who I talk to,” I shot back, irritation flaring hot in my chest. His expression didn’t change, but something colder slipped into his eyes.

“As long as you’re living under my roof,” he said, each word deliberate, “and using my name for protection, your reputation becomes my business.”

“My reputation?” I repeated, disbelief sharpening my tone. “Since when?”

“Since you kissed me in front of half the campus,” he replied smoothly. “You’re attached to me now, Aria. Whether you meant to be or not.” Attached.

The word felt heavier than it should have. “I didn’t ask you to threaten him,” I said, my voice dropping, tension tightening in my throat.

“You didn’t have to,” he responded, stepping closer. Not aggressive. Just certain.

“That doesn’t give you ownership.” I whispered. His jaw flexed once.

“It gives me responsibility,” he corrected.

“For what?” I demanded.

“This is for making sure no one thinks they can humiliate you again,” he said, voice sharpening slightly, emotion finally breaking through the calm.

That made me pause. “That’s not your job,” I said more quietly now. His eyes locked onto mine, steady, unflinching.

“It is now.” The conviction in his tone stole the air

from my lungs.

“You don’t get to control me,” I insisted, though it came out less fierce than I intended. He stepped closer, close enough that I felt the heat radiating off him.

“I’m not controlling you,” he said, voice dropping to something dangerously intimate. “I’m protecting what’s mine.” My pulse stuttered violently.

“I’m not yours,” I breathed. His gaze dropped to my mouth for a fraction of a second before returning to my eyes.

“Then don’t kiss me like you are,” he replied, voice almost soft, but edged with challenge. Silence swallowed the room.

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Neither of us moved. Finally, he stepped back first, reclaiming his composure like he’d never lost it.

“Be ready at eight tomorrow,” he said, turning toward the hallway. “We’ll go to campus together.” That wasn’t a suggestion.

The next morning, we stepped into campus together and after a few minutes, I saw Elena storming towards me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the fountain, her fingers tight with urgency.

“Are you insane?” she hissed, eyes blazing as she glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was too close.

“Good morning to you too,” I replied dryly, though my stomach was already twisting.

“That video has forty thousand views,” she shot back, lowering her voice but not her intensity. “Forty thousand, Aria.”

“I know.” I said, exhaling sharply. “My phone nearly combusted from the pinging.”

Elena ran a hand down her face. “Do you have any idea what you just did?”

“Kissed a guy?” I replied, attempting levity that didn’t land.

“You kissed Julian Vance,” she corrected, staring at me like I’d detonated a bomb in the middle of campus politics.

“I’ve noticed,” I muttered.

“No, you don’t get it,” she pressed, stepping closer. “Julian doesn’t lose. He doesn’t chase. He chooses.” My stomach tightened at the certainty in her tone.

“And when he chooses something,” she added, lowering her voice even further, “he keeps it.”

Heat crept up my neck. “I’m not something to keep,” I said, a defensive edge slipping in.

“Tell that to him,” she replied pointedly, flicking her gaze across the quad. I followed her line of sight. Julian stood with his teammates, posture relaxed, but his eyes were on me.

Not casually. Not coincidentally. Watching. Elena exhaled slowly. “Yeah. That look.”

“What look?” I asked, even though I already knew.

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