Chapter 2 The Fight Everyone Wanted

Ethan’s POV:

The words shouldn’t have affected Ethan.

But they did.

The softness in my heart didn't make things better.

Instead, it made everything worse.

The locker room exploded into chaos around me players shouting, equipment crashing against the floor, coaches screaming for security but all I could focus on was Damien Cross gripping the front of my jersey like he wanted to either strangle me or drag me closer.

Honestly?

And for the first time, Ethan realised he didn't know whether he wanted to kill Damien Cross.....

Or kiss him

At that point, I wasn’t sure which one I wanted more either.

And then, his word echoed

“You don’t know a damn thing about me,” Damien said coldly.

His voice stayed controlled.

That was the problem with him.

No matter how ugly things became, Damien always sounded calm. Like he had every emotion chained behind steel walls while I stood here bleeding mine all over the floor like an idiot.

I hated him for it.

I shoved him hard.

“Let go of me.”

Damien didn’t move.

The Wolves players circled behind him while my teammates gathered near me. Nobody stepped between us yet. Nobody ever did.

Because everyone loved this.

The league.

The media.

The fans.

Damien Cross and Ethan Ryder fighting was practically its own sport now.

Phones were already recording.

Great.

Tomorrow morning, sports channels would replay this disaster from twelve different angles while analysts debated whether I needed anger management or psychiatric evaluation.

Again.

“Ryder, back off!” Coach Daniels barked.

I ignored him.

Damien’s fingers tightened slightly against my jersey. “You’re done.”

The arrogance in those two words nearly made me black out with rage.

“You think you can talk to me like that, after tonight?”

“You cost your team the championship.”

The room went deadly silent.

There it was.

The thing nobody else wanted to say directly.

The truth.

Something twisted violently inside my chest.

“You think I don’t know that?” I snapped.

Damien’s expression flickered.

For half a second, guilt crossed his face.

Then it vanished behind that icy composure again.

God, I wanted to break it.

“You made a reckless decision,” he said quieter now. “That’s not my fault.”

I laughed sharply.

“Of course. Saint Damien can do no wrong.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what everyone thinks.”

I shoved him again,harder this time,his back hit the lockers with a loud metallic bang.

The room erupted instantly.

“Holy shit—”

“Somebody stop them!”

Noah grabbed my arm. “Ethan, enough!”

I ripped free violently.

“Stay out of it.”

Across from me, Damien slowly straightened away from the lockers. His jaw tightened once, barely noticeable unless you knew him like I did.

And unfortunately—

I did.

Seven years of rivalry teaches you every dangerous little thing about a person.

I knew the exact second Damien Cross lost patience.

I’d just reached it.

He grabbed me fast enough to steal my breath and slammed me backward into the wall.

Pain cracked through my spine.

The room exploded with shouting again.

“Jesus Christ!”

“Cross!”

Damien leaned close enough for only me to hear him.

“You want to keep humiliating yourself?” he asked quietly. “Go ahead.”

My pulse thundered.

God.

Why did he always do this to me?

Why did every fight with Damien feel like standing too close to live electricity?

“You think you’re better than me,” I hissed.

“No,” Damien said. “I think you’re destroying yourself.”

Something about the way he said it snapped the last thread holding me together.

I swung.

My fist collided against his cheekbone hard enough to split skin.

The Wolves players surged forward immediately, but Damien shoved them back without looking away from me.

That should’ve scared me instead, adrenaline rushed hotter through my veins.

Blood dripped slowly from the corner of Damien’s mouth and then somehow he still looked beautiful.

The realization hit so violently it made me nauseous.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Damien wiped blood from his lip with his thumb.

“You done?” he asked.

I wanted to murder him.

Instead, I grabbed his collar and crashed my mouth against his.

The entire room froze.

So did I.

For one horrifying second, nobody moved.

Not me.

Not Damien.

Not anyone.

My brain short-circuited instantly.

What—

What the hell did I just do?

The kiss barely lasted a second before I jerked backward like I’d touched fire.

Shock slammed through the locker room noah stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

One of the Wolves players dropped his water bottle.

Damien looked stunned for the first time in human history, his gray eyes locked onto mine with something dangerously unreadable burning beneath them.

My heart stopped.

Oh God.

I didn’t mean it.

I mean, I did mean to—

No.

No, absolutely not.

The humiliation hit a split second later.

“Forget what happened,” I snapped immediately.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody even breathed.

Then one player barked out a disbelieving laugh.

And suddenly the entire room exploded.

“What the hell?!”

“Did Ryder just kiss him?”

“No fucking way—”

Phones lifted higher.

Cameras flashed, panic clawed violently up my throat.

This couldn’t be happening.

I lunged for the nearest guy recording, but Damien caught my wrist before I reached him.

“Enough,” Damien said sharply.

The command in his voice silenced half the room instantly.

I yanked free from him again.

“Don’t touch me.”But Damien kept staring at me.Not angry, not mocking but hungry for more.

The realization sent heat crawling under my skin.

No.

Absolutely not, i grabbed my gear bag violently and shoved past everyone toward the exit.

“Ryder!” Coach Daniels shouted.

I ignored him.

All I needed was air.

I stormed down the hallway beneath the arena while reporters scrambled like vultures the second they spotted me.

“Ethan!”

“Was there another altercation?”

“Did Damien Cross assault you?”

“Ethan, look this way!”

Flashbulbs exploded in my face.

I kept moving faster, my chest felt too tight, my skin too hot.

That kiss replayed in my head like a car crash.

What the hell possessed me?

I hated Damien Cross.

I’d spent seven years hating him.

So why did kissing him feel less shocking than it should’ve?

The thought made my stomach twist.

Outside the arena, freezing night air slammed into me hard enough to sting.

Fans crowded near the exits screaming my name.

Some booed.

Some cheered.

Some begged for autographs.

Nobody knew I’d just detonated my own sanity inside a locker room.

I shoved through the crowd toward the parking garage.

“Ryder!”

Great.

Not now.

I turned sharply to find Noah jogging after me.

“You seriously walking away after that?” he demanded.

“I’m not in the mood.”

“You kissed Damien freaking Cross!”

“Keep your voice down!”

Noah looked one second away from cardiac arrest.

“You’ve spent seven years trying to kill each other!”

“Exactly.”

“So why the hell did you kiss him?”

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

Because I didn’t know.

That was the terrifying part.

Noah stared harder. “Ethan…”

“I said forget it happened.”

“You think Damien’s gonna forget?”

My stomach dropped.

I hated that Noah had a point.

Damien never forgot anything.

Ever.

Silence stretched between us while distant crowd noise echoed outside the arena.

Then Noah sighed heavily.

“You need to get out of here before media catches whatever meltdown you’re having.”

Too late for that.

I already felt myself unraveling.

“I’m going drinking,” I muttered.

Noah groaned instantly. “That’s your solution to everything.”

“It works.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Maybe not.

But alcohol was easier than thinking about why kissing my worst enemy felt terrifyingly natural.

I headed deeper into the garage.

“Ethan.”

I stopped reluctantly.

Noah’s expression softened slightly.

“You okay?”

The question hit harder than expected.

Because honestly?

No.

Not even close.

I felt like my entire world had tilted sideways in the span of thirty seconds.

The championship was gone.

My reputation was worse than ever.

And now somewhere inside Blackstone Arena stood Damien Cross probably replaying that kiss too.

God.

I wanted to crawl out of my own skin.

“I’m fine,” I lied.

Noah clearly didn’t believe me.

But before he could argue further, another voice echoed through the garage.

“Ryder.”

Every muscle in my body locked instantly.

Damien.

Of course.

I turned slowly.

He stood near the arena exit still partially dressed in uniform, bruised jaw darkening beneath fluorescent lights. One side of his lip remained split from my punch.

But his eyes—

His eyes stayed fixed entirely on me.

Noah muttered under his breath, “Oh, this is a disaster.”

Neither of us answered him.

The garage suddenly felt too small.

Too quiet.

Too charged.

Damien stepped closer once.

Then stopped.

For the first time in seven years, he looked uncertain.

That scared me more than all our fights combined.

“You’re drunk on adrenaline right now,” Damien said carefully.

I laughed harshly. “You came down here to psychoanalyze me?”

“No.”

His voice lowered.

“I came to ask why you kissed me.”

He moved closer.

I stepped back.

“Forget that happened, it was a mistake”

He smirked.

“That wasn't a mistake, tell me why you did that”

I ignored him.

Took the exit door and left him without saying another word.