Chapter 27
Aiden
There had to be a difference.
Lines. Structure. Control.
That was what I promised him–and what I needed to maintain, especially now that he’d given me his trust.
On the field, he was my quarterback. My player. My responsibility.
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In private? He was something else entirely.
But if I blurred those lines–if I gave him special treatment in front of the team, looked at him too long, praised him too easily, softened
when he needed fire–l’d fail him.
Worse, I’d weaken him.
So, as the team gathered for our first morning practice back on campus, I did what I had to do,
I didn’t say hello.
I didn’t offer a smile or meet the hopeful flicker in his eyes. Didn’t let my gaze linger, though it wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
He looked more striking than ever–his big blue eyes lit up when he saw me, lips slightly parted, reminding me of their warmth, their
silkiness…
Noah stood straighter the second I stepped onto the field, despite the subtle tremor in his hand that didn’t escape my notice. Ready for
something. Anything.
Instead, I walked past him like he was just another man on my team.
Because here, he was.
But it wasn’t nothing I gave him.
It was a test. A challenge. One I knew he’d feel all the way down to his bones.
I barked out the morning drills. Assigned laps. Paired him with players he didn’t seem to get along with from day one. Pushed him harder, longer, until the look in his eyes shifted from confused to pissed.
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Good.
…
:
I kept it relentless. Every step he took, I was there, correcting his form, his posture, the way he gripped the damn ball.
“Noah,” I snapped as he finished a sprint. “Straighten your spine. You’re dragging like you’ve got weights strapped to your legs.”
“Yes, Sir,” he mumbled, winded.
“Louder.”
“Yes, Sir,” he barked this time, and a few heads turned. I didn’t care. Neither did he.
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The boys were used to me being hard, but today, they saw something else. I wasn’t just hard–I was precise. Especially with him.
Practice game started. The air thick with heat and anticipation. I assigned Noah quarterback, put him up against our best defenders, and
gave him zero slack. He stumbled once–slipped on a cut route–and I was already at his side.
“You call that footwork?” I growled low, too close for comfort. “You plant like you’re playing hopscotch.”
He opened his mouth, probably to explain, but I cut him off with a sharp, “Run it again. You do it right, or you don’t stop.”
Noah bit down on whatever comeback was at the edge of his tongue and nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
The drills dragged on. Every mistake, no matter how small, earned him a consequence.
A bad pass? Extra push–ups.
Late pivot? More sprints.
Wavering focus? A lecture in front of the whole team.
Some of the others flinched. One of the linemen even muttered, “Damn, Coach,” under his breath.
But this wasn’t about punishment–it was about conditioning. Discipline. Trust.
I needed Noah to understand that if he could endure me at my toughest, he could handle anything the world threw at him.
I wasn’t just building his body. I was building the man.
But he didn’t know that. Not yet.
By the final run–through, his shirt was soaked, chest heaving. His throws were sharper, tighter–but his fuse was running out.
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Chapter 27
:
I watched him closely, saw the tension climbing up his neck. His mouth was tight. His hands curled too hard around the ball.
And when I called out one final drill–another rep, with no break–he snapped.
“For fuck’s sake, what more do you want from me?”
Silence.
Everyone froze.
Even the sun seemed to pause.
I met his eyes. Saw the storm brewing there. The exhaustion. The pride. The ache.
And beneath all that, the need.
I stepped forward until we were almost chest to chest.
“I want you to be great,” I said, voice low and even. “And I want to see if you still say ‘Sir‘ when your pride’s bleeding.”
His jaw clenched. His throat worked.
“…Yes, Sir.”
I nodded. “Good. Now drop and give me fifty. You’ll count each one out loud. And when you’re done, you’ll thank me.”
He dropped to the grass, humiliated and trembling, and started to count.
“One… two…”
The rest of the team watched in stunned silence.
“…three… four…”
Some of them exchanged looks. A few turned away. But I didn’t flinch.
“…twenty–two… twenty–three…”
This wasn’t about them. It was about him. About building him from the ground up.
“…forty–eight… forty–nine… fifty.”
He stood, red–faced, arms shaking, breath shallow. “Thank you, Sir.”
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Chapter 27
I didn’t smile. Didn’t praise. Just gave a single nod.
“Everyone hit the showers. Not you,” I stood next to him.
As they all walked away not wanting to meet my gaze, he did. And then I felt it-
That flicker of something dangerous and beautiful.
He was learning.
And he was mine.
When I finally spoke, my tone shifted. Softer. Controlled.
“Get up.”
He did. Sweat trickled down his temple, breath shallow. But he stood tall. Waiting.
I nodded toward the empty bleachers. “Come with me.”
He followed.
Once we sat, I let the silence hang for a moment, let the air settle between us. This was still training–just a different kind.
“I know what you were expecting this morning,” I said finally. “You thought it would be different. Easier. That maybe now that we’ve
crossed that line, you’d get something softer.”
He didn’t answer.
“But that’s not what you need, is it?”
His voice was quiet. “I… I don’t know.”
“You do. You need to grow, Noah. To push past the boy who wanted approval and become the man who doesn’t wait for it. I will never humiliate you in front of others. But I will never hand you what you haven’t earned either. Not out there. Because I see what you’re
capable of, and I won’t let you settle for less. Not on the field. Not in life.”
He swallowed, something in his expression breaking open. But he didn’t speak.
“You’re not just a submissive. You’re a leader. And my job–on both fronts–is to make sure you become the best version of yourself. Even
when it hurts.”
He looked up at me slowly. “So… this morning wasn’t about ignoring me.”
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Chapter 27
“No.” I leaned in slightly. “It was about respecting you.”
That word hit. I saw it. Felt it.
And when I placed a hand gently on his shoulder, he didn’t flinch.
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“This is how we do it, Noah. Two worlds. One goal. You give me everything, and I’ll make sure you never have to walk alone again.”
He nodded once. Quiet. Grounded.
And just like that, the boy who’d come to me looking for rules and punishment… sat beside me craving so much more.
And I would give it to him.
In time.
I stood up and thought for a moment before dismissing him. Then, I changed my mind.
“Follow me.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
