Rules Of Our Own (Rule Breaker Series Book 3)

JAX: Sidney said you and River are helping Mia out with her charity.

Alex: Incorrect. WE are all helping. 

Lucas: Oh yeah? What’s in it for me? 

Alex: I don’t even need to answer that. I already know Piper’s told you about it. And she’s all the encouragement you need. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Lucas: Are you saying I’m whipped?

Jax: Are you saying we aren’t?

Lucas: No. Just checking. 

River: The deal is, we do whatever Mia asks. She was stressed as shit yesterday.

Jax: Uh huh and we’re the whipped ones. 

River: I would be fucking lucky to be whipped by that girl. 

Alex: I’m blushing just reading that. 

Jax: I know what you meant, but buddy that visual. 

River: Stop picturing my girl, Jax. Or I’ll tell Sidney. 

Jax: Relax. I was totally picturing you and Alex. 

I choke on my water.

Lucas: I swear, I look away from my phone for two seconds and this is the shit you’re talking about?

Jax: Meet up for dinner?

River: Not tonight. Mia’s got a meeting with Astrocorp and we’re taking her.

Lucas: Does she know that?

Alex: She’s about to. Bye boys.

I throw on a plain black hoodie and a pair of white Adidas before leaving my room. River’s already waiting for me by the door, and my steps slow as I take him in. He’s wearing a crisp black dress shirt and black dress pants, making him look more like a member of the mafia than a hockey player, and fuck is it doing something to me. His shirt is pulled taut across his broad shoulders, and I can see the ridges of his muscles move as he takes his time uncuffing and rolling his sleeve to his elbow, exposing his muscular forearms lined with thick veins. My cock swells against my zipper, and I swallow hard, trying to ignore the fact that I’m reacting like his arms are literal porn.

Since our little workout, my curiosity has switched to something more. Something I want to explore. I just don’t want to fuck up our friendship to do it.

By the time my gaze makes its way to his face, he’s already looking at me with his piercing black eyes. His chest is rising and falling faster with each breath, and there’s a tinge of a pink flush crawling up his neck.

The hint of vulnerability vanishes, and it’s replaced with a controlled dominance that practically pulses in the air.

Fuck me. My cock stiffens and beads at the tip from the way he’s looking at me. I try to give him one of my cocky smiles, but it falters when he raises his hand and runs his thumb along his bottom lip. A shiver tingles down my spine, and I swallow against my dry mouth.

“Ready?” River’s voice is a low rumble.

“What?” I rasp.

“Are you ready to go get Mia?” He’s looking at me with a knowing gleam in his eyes but doesn’t mention how fucking dazed I am.

“Yeah, let’s go get our girl.” I clear my throat, passing him through the door, and head across the hall.

Like the smart girl she is, Mia asks who’s there before she answers. She swings it open and gives us a warm smile. She’s pulled her hair up and out of her face in a simple twist, leaving the smooth column of her neck exposed. I follow its descent over her collarbone, half-hidden under the collar of her sleek navy dress that hugs her curves and brushes the top of her knees. My mouth waters as my gaze travels down her long, toned legs and catches on her black patent leather heels. My blood heats as I drink in every detail. Everything about her looks perfectly in place, and all I can think about is taking it all apart.

“Hi.” Her cheeks pinken, and she bites the corner of her lip. “Thanks for breakfast.”

I reach for her, gripping her hip and tugging her closer to me. “Anything for you, Kitten. You ready to go?”

She pulls away from me, tilting her head to the side, and her brows pull together. “Actually, I’m about to head out. I’ve got that Astrocorp funding meeting.”

I hop up on the counter and grab an apple from the bowl, taking a bite. Her eyes follow the motion as my teeth sink into its red flesh. I swallow and give her a wink. “We know. We’re taking you.”

“Oh, I can just grab an Uber. No big deal.” The way she’s wringing her hands in front of her and the tenseness of her shoulders contradicts her words. Her lips are red from biting on them, and she’s moving in jerky movements, like a skittish animal. I can practically feel the nervousness coming off her.

I glance at River to tell him to do something, but he’s already approaching her.

He steps up to her, and she has to tilt her head all the way back. She swallows hard as he grazes his fingers down her cheek and along her neck. “I know you could. But we want to take you.”

She nods slowly in the same fucking daze he put me under not even two minutes ago. “Yeah, okay.”

He rests his palm on the back of her neck, and she visibly melts into his side. I’m good at making her laugh, but River does something special. He knows how to make you feel like he has you. He’d take care of it.

He makes you feel safe. 

Our first game on the ice for the Bruins, I’d been absolutely scared shitless. He’d caught me throwing up in the back, half leaned over a garbage can. He’d grabbed my neck, like he’s holding Mia’s now, and pulled me to my feet. I swear to God I surrendered control to him and just believed him when he said we’d fucking kill it out there, that he’d take care of me. And he did, like I knew he would, tossing me a beauty of a pass and landing me a goal in my first game. Practically unheard of. The fucking news went crazy, and people were shouting about me being the next Crosby, but I knew different. I knew it was him who made it happen and would keep making it happen.

“You alright, Alex? You look a bit lost,” Mia asks. She’s already grabbed her jacket, and River’s helping her shrug it on.

I shake myself out of my thoughts, jumping off the counter, and walk up to her, dropping my lips so they brush against her temple, fucking eating up the way she shivers. “Perfect. Let’s go get you that funding, eh?”

Her breath catches in her throat, and her teeth sink into her bottom lip before she whispers, “Then what?”

I cup the side of her neck and lift her jaw with my thumb until she looks at me. “Then we celebrate.”