Micah’s POV
I woke up to my phone vibrating violently against my nightstand. I groaned, rubbing my crusty eyes as I reached for it. It was ringing for the fifteenth time.
My heart dropped into my stomach when I looked at the screen. I had completely slept through my morning alarms. The lock screen was flooded with missed calls, mostly split between Raven and the contact name I had saved last night: 8" Brat.
I checked the time at the top of the screen. It was almost noon. I cursed out loud, throwing my blankets off and rushing out of bed. I was already incredibly late for my afternoon classes, and my father would absolutely murder me if my attendance record slipped.
I scrambled into a pair of dark jeans and a plain hoodie, throwing my camera, notebooks, and Raven’s file into my bag. I locked the front door behind me, ran out to the main street, and quickly flagged down a passing cab. As the taxi tore down the road toward campus, I tried to use the rearview mirror to fix my messy hair and check the state of my exhausted face.
I still could not believe I had overslept so badly. My phone started vibrating in my palm again, and this time, I slid the screen to answer it. It was Raven.
"Hey, look, I am on my way to school right now and I can explain—"
"Micahhhhhhhh!"
Raven shrieked so loudly into the microphone that I had to violently pull the phone away from my ear. Up front, the cab driver actually flinched and glanced back at me in the mirror to make sure I wasn’t being assaulted.
I gave the driver a small, apologetic nod, thoroughly embarrassed, and quickly turned down the speaker volume. "Can you please not scream into my ear?"
"Not scream? Are you out of your mind?" Raven gasped, her voice buzzing with an insane amount of hyperactive energy. "Our media website has been crashing all morning ever since your article went live. Do you have any idea how many views we have on the page right now? A hundred freaking thousand, Micah. We ran completely out of physical paper copies by nine in the morning."
I looked out the window, trying my best to suppress the hot blush creeping up my neck. A mix of shock and intense pride flared up in my chest. I genuinely could not believe my very first article had pulled in that many numbers. "Uh, wow. Congratulations?"
"And that is not even the best part," Raven continued, laughing maniacally. "All of a sudden, Damon Silver has a terrifyingly massive fanbase on this campus. You were an absolute genius to pick him for the debut. But besides the numbers, the actual writing sounds so incredibly detailed. Fuck, Micah. Did you actually see his dick in person, or did you guys secretly fuck?"
"What?!" I yelled, my voice cracking in pure panic.
The taxi driver chose that exact moment to slam on the brakes, pulling over right in front of the campus gates. The man looked visibly relieved that his ride with a crazy person was finally over. I muttered a quick apology, handed him his cash, and practically threw myself out of the backseat.
As I adjusted the strap of my bag and walked through the campus courtyard, I realized Raven wasn’t exaggerating at all. The atmosphere on campus was completely different today. Everywhere I looked, groups of students were huddled together, staring down at printed paper articles and whispering frantically. Damon’s name was quite literally on everyone’s lips.
"So, you are telling me you didn’t fuck him?" Raven’s voice buzzed through the phone, snapping me back to reality.
"I didn’t do anything with anyone, Raven," I whispered harshly, gripping the phone tighter as I hurried past a group of girls who were giggling over a copy of the newsletter. "Just end the call already. I have a class that started twenty minutes ago."
"Fine, fine. Just make sure you drop by the media office as soon as you are done!"
She hung up, and I quickly slipped the device into my pocket. I didn’t even bother checking the missed messages from Damon. I rushed into my lecture hall, enduring the professor’s annoyed glare as I snuck into the back row. For the next two hours, I couldn’t focus on a single word of the lecture. The entire room was filled with girls passing notes and whispering about how fast they needed to run down to the ice rink after class before all the good viewing seats got filled.
The moment the final bell rang, the classroom emptied out in a chaotic rush. I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and walked straight toward the journalism department. The main office was an absolute disaster area today. The staff looked entirely burnt out, moving like zombies who desperately needed coffee injected straight into their veins every single second.
Nobody even noticed me walk through the room. I navigated past the scattered layout papers and pushed open the door to Raven’s private office. She was leaning back in her desk chair, wearing a new, elaborate gothic dress with her dark hair perfectly styled around her facial piercings.
She caught sight of me and immediately started clapping her hands together. "There he is! Our absolute celebrity interviewer!"
I nervously scratched the back of my head, feeling a bit overwhelmed as she slid a fresh, glossy paper copy of the article across the desk to me. I picked it up, my eyes scanning the text I had frantically typed out at three in the morning:
VARSITY AFTER DARK
Volume One: Wrecked by the Assistant Captain
By: The_Secret_Sinner
Everyone on this campus knows the notorious bad boy and assistant captain of our hockey team, Damon Silver. We all see the heavy tattoos, the arrogant smirk, and the effortless way he dominates the ice. But none of you know what happens when the thick winter gear comes off and he traps you behind closed doors.
Damon Silver does not just take what he wants in the bedroom. He commands it.
His ultimate kink is absolute, unfiltered control. If you are lucky enough to end up beneath him, do not expect a gentle night. He thrives on dominance. He loves to cage his partners against a cold wall or press them deep into a mattress, wrapping his thick, tattooed fingers tightly around their neck just to remind them exactly who owns them. He feeds directly on your breathless gasps, your helpless shivers, and your total obedience. He will command you to look into his eyes while he completely unravels your sanity.
And for the golden question that every single person on this campus wants answered, yes, the rumors do not even do him justice.
Behind those tight compression shorts, the assistant captain packs a massive, heavy eight inches of thick skin that he expects you to take without a single complaint. He is a predator who wants to completely break you. He will force you down on your knees, grip your hair tightly to tilt your chin up, and shove his pulsing length straight down your throat until you are tearing up and begging him for mercy. He will stretch you out and use your body until he is completely satisfied, and he has the aggressive stamina to keep you awake all night long.
If you are looking for a nice guy, stay far away from the ice. But if you want a wealthy, tatted alpha who will completely wreck your body and make you beg to be ruined, Damon Silver is your ultimate sin.
The next volume drops soon. Watch the locker rooms, students. Someone is always watching.
I stared at the page, my mouth slightly open. I hadn’t expected the layout to look this intense. Right there in the bottom corner of the page was the high-definition, black-and-white photo Damon had taken of his own crotch in the bathroom stall last night, perfectly capturing the massive, heavy outline running down his thigh.
"So," Raven purred, leaning forward over her desk with a sharp grin. "When exactly is volume two coming out?"
I carefully set the paper down, a sudden wave of anxiety washing over me. "Do I really have to write a second volume about him? I thought the deal was that I could move on to someone else after this. I want to write about Noah next."
"Yeah, about that," Raven said, tilting her head to the side as if she had suddenly lost all interest in the captain. "Who actually knew Damon Silver was going to be this much better for business? I certainly didn’t. Noah Miller has always completely overshadowed him on the ice, but now, literally every girl on campus has gone down to watch the afternoon practice just to get a glimpse of Damon. At this exact rate, Damon is going to become the most popular guy at school, and he might honestly end up taking the captain title."
"The captain title?" I repeated, my voice tightening with a sudden rush of protective panic. The thought made my stomach twist into a violent knot. I absolutely did not want my stupid article to be the reason Noah lost his hard-earned position. If the crowd started chanting Damon’s name and Noah got distracted, Damon would end up looking like the superior player to the scouts.
"Huh? You seriously didn’t know?" Raven blinked at me, surprised by my reaction. "Right now, the hockey coaches are running a mandatory scrimmage. The team is split completely in half for the afternoon. It is Noah Miller’s team versus Damon Silver’s team. Whichever line wins the game gets the official captain captaincy for the rest of the session."
"What?!" I shouted, the notebook slipping from my numb fingers as my mind spun into absolute chaos.