Jace POV
Today was the final game.
Everything we had trained for, bled for, fought for—came down to this. Regionals. Winner takes all.
I was playing against her.
Lola Sinclair.
The name that echoed in every tournament bracket I’d ever read. The girl everyone said was untouchable. The one who could spike faster than most guys. The one who was always calm, composed, laser-focused.
But none of that mattered to me now. Because all I could think about was the girl behind the name.
The one who once looked at me like I was more than just her rival. The one who made the world quieter, even when everything around us screamed. The girl I wasn’t allowed to love.
I didn’t even want this scholarship anymore. Not really. I didn’t care about the title or the trophy.
I just wanted her.
But I guess we don’t always get what we want.
I was bouncing the ball against the gym floor, warming up with my team, trying to keep my thoughts from eating me alive. Every muscle in my body was tight. My chest burned, but it wasn’t from the game—it was from her absence.
And then she walked in.
Lola.
With her team behind her, ponytail pulled tight, sleeves rolled, her expression like stone.
The Lola that everyone knew. The one who played like a machine. No emotions, no weaknesses. Eyes straight ahead. Shoulders back. Ice in her veins.
She didn’t even look at me at first. And when she finally did glance over—just for a second—it was like she was looking through me. Like I wasn’t even there.
No smile. No pain. No anything.
Just cold.
And it hurt more than I wanted to admit. The whistle blew. The gym roared. It was game time.
“Let’s go, Reyes,” my captain yelled. “Start strong.”
I jogged into position, eyes on the net. Across from me, Cassian was already talking to his teammates, amping them up.
“Darla, stay sharp. Right line. Keep Reyes off rhythm,” Lola said calmly, her voice cutting clean through the noise.
We served first. The ball flew over the net. Lola moved like a shadow—smooth, quick, deadly.
“Block it!” I yelled. “Two up!”
Cassian smirked as he jumped, but I met his block with equal fire. The ball bounced back into their zone.
“Move, Bree!” Lola shouted. “Up—now!”
Back and forth. Point after point.
My legs were screaming. Sweat poured down my back. The ball slammed into the floor over and over, but neither team gave in. This wasn’t just volleyball anymore. It was a war.
“You’re getting slow, Reyes,” Cassian called out, grinning across the net.
“You’re getting cocky,” I fired back, narrowing my eyes.
Lola stayed quiet. But she played like a storm. Sharp. Focused. Her serves were clean. Her spikes were brutal.
And still, every time I looked at her, all I saw was the girl I’d kissed. The girl I’d broken. The girl I lost.
Halfway through the second set, we were tied.
The crowd was wild. The gym was shaking. Every movement felt like it was being watched by a hundred eyes, every step loaded with pressure.
Cassian leapt up for a spike. It was fast. Brutal. Coming down hard, straight at our side. I jumped to block it. I remember the exact second it went wrong.
My ankle rolled the second I touched the ground. It twisted hard. Too far. And my knee—God—it just buckled.
Snap.
The sound was loud. Too loud. Then everything stopped.
My body hit the court with a thud that knocked the breath out of me. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even think. Just pain. Blinding, burning pain.
Gasps echoed across the gym. A whistle blew.
Someone screamed.
But I couldn’t focus on anything except the fire crawling up my leg.
I grabbed at my knee, trying to breathe through it, but my eyes teared up. My teammates were crowding around me, shouting my name.
“Jace—what the hell happened?”
“Someone call the medic!”
“Don’t move him—don’t move!”
I couldn’t hear them anymore. It was all a blur. My ears rang.
And then—I saw her.
Lola.
She was already sprinting. No hesitation. No cold expression. No ice in her veins. Just her. She pushed past people, her face no longer unreadable—but terrified.
Her eyes locked on mine as she dropped to her knees beside me.
“Jace!”