The Night the MVP Walked In On Me

POV: Ethan

"I like Marcus."

I spat the words into the pitch-black living room. They tasted like ash.

"Bullshit," I growled.

I kicked the heavy oak coffee table. It didn't budge.

Rain hammered the floor-to-ceiling windows of my Seattle penthouse. 2:30 AM. I hadn't slept a single second. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face in that concrete tunnel. I saw the panic in her eyes and the way her lips trembled when she screamed another man's name to get away from me.

"You're her brother," I said to the empty room, pacing across the hardwood. "You protect her. You watch out for her. That's the deal."

I laughed, a harsh, ugly sound that echoed off the glass.

"Since when do brothers want to pin their sisters to a wall and fuck them senseless?" I asked the shadows. "Since when do brothers buy the apartment next door just to track who comes in and out?"

I stopped pacing and dragged both hands down my face.

For twenty years, I played the role. I beat up the kids who pulled her hair in elementary school. I scared off the college guys who stared too long at her legs. I told myself it was just habit. I told myself I was keeping her safe.

The truth was finally out. Today, when she pushed me away and claimed she wanted Marcus, something inside me violently snapped. I didn't want to protect her from other men. I wanted to destroy any man who looked at her.

A sharp noise bled through the drywall.

I froze.

My penthouse shared a wall with her bedroom. I made sure of that when I signed the lease, demanding the owner sell me both units.

"Lily?" I asked the darkness.

A muffled, broken sob answered me. She was crying into her pillow.

"Don't cry," I muttered, taking a slow step toward the wall. "Just tell me the fucking truth."

Then, the crying changed. A high, wet moan slipped through the plaster.

My blood turned to ice.

"No," I whispered.

Another moan. Louder this time.

*Marcus.*

The team group chat flashed behind my eyes. Marcus got the green light to fly to Miami for knee rehab. I saw the notification hours ago.

"He didn't get on the fucking plane," I snarled, my hands balling into fists. "He's in there."

He was in her bed. Touching her. Making her scream exactly like she did yesterday when I shoved that pink plastic toy inside her dripping pussy.

Rage blinded me completely. I tore my front door open and stormed into the hallway.

"I'm going to kill him," I swore.

My bare feet slapped the cold tile. I stopped in front of 4B. I raised my fist.

"Open the fucking door, Lily!" I wanted to scream. I wanted to shatter the wood into splinters.

I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. If I broke it down and saw his hands on her skin, my career was over. I would beat him to death on her rug.

My hands shook violently. I yanked my phone out of my gray sweatpants.

I hit his contact.

The line rang twice. Static hissed in my ear.

"Cole? What's going on?" Marcus's voice came through, heavy with exhaustion.

An airport PA system echoed loudly in the background. *Flight 409 to Orlando is now boarding.*

"Where the fuck are you?" I demanded.

"Miami," Marcus replied. "I just landed. Knee rehab. You forgot?"

I stared at the brass numbers on her door. "Miami."

"Yeah. Why are you calling me at two in the morning?" Marcus paused. The line went totally quiet on his end. "Wait. Are you calling about her?"

"Shut up," I snapped.

"Did something happen with Lily? Because she looked terrified in the tunnel today."

"I said shut the fuck up, Marcus."

"You need to back off her, Cole. You're suffocating the girl."

"If you ever look at her again, I'll break your other knee," I promised.

I ended the call and dropped the phone. It hit the carpet runner with a dull thud.

He was three thousand miles away.

Lily was alone.

I pressed my forehead flat against her door. The wood felt like ice against my burning skin.

Another sob drifted through the crack beneath the frame, followed by a wet, frantic gasp.

She was touching herself.

"Fuck," I groaned.

My hips jerked forward on pure instinct, grinding my rock-hard erection against the solid door.

The suffocating jealousy vanished. A raging, violent fire took its place. She was crying because of me. Because I cornered her. Because I forced her to lie. And she was rubbing her clit because she couldn't stop thinking about my hands on her.

"Cry for me, Lily," I whispered to the door, my nails digging into the painted frame. "Show me how bad you want it."

A muffled whimper leaked into the hallway.

"Use your fingers," I commanded, my voice a low scrape, even though she couldn't hear me. "Pretend it's me. Pretend I'm stretching you out right now. Spread those thighs for me."

Her voice spiked. The crying turned into a sharp, desperate wail.

"Ethan..."

The name punched straight through the wood. It exploded in my chest.

"I'm right here," I answered, my voice completely wrecked.

"Ethan! Please!" she cried out again, the sound shattering into a million pieces as her orgasm hit.

Pure, arrogant joy flooded my veins. My cock throbbed so hard it sent sharp spikes of pain into my stomach. I grabbed the brass handle.

"I'm coming in," I told the door.

I was going to turn it. I was going to walk straight into her bedroom, rip the silk sheets off, spread her bare thighs, and bury myself so deep inside her wet pussy she would forget how to speak. I wanted to fuck her until she admitted the truth.

"Open it," I ordered myself.

My knuckles turned white.

But I didn't turn the knob.

Her words from the tunnel echoed in the quiet hallway. *I like Marcus.*

She lied because she was terrified of me. If I kicked her door open right now and took what I wanted, I would break her completely. I couldn't just be the massive athlete who overpowered her. I needed her to beg me for it to my face. I needed her to surrender.

"You're lucky I'm walking away," I breathed, letting go of the brass handle.

I took a step back. The cold hallway air hit my sweat-drenched chest.

"You're mine, Lily," I swore to the closed door. "I'm going to make you admit it."

I turned around and walked back to my penthouse. I shut my heavy steel door and slid down the metal until I hit the floor.

I stared at my shaking hands in the dark.

There was no more brotherly bullshit. I wanted to own Lily Bennett. I wanted to consume her entirely.

And tomorrow morning, she was going to find out exactly what happens when you try to run away from me.