"Fuck, did you see her at practice? She's so tiny I'd probably destroy her with my dick." I roll my eyes and scoff at the immature locker room talk that I'm constantly subjected to. I used to be all for random hookups, but I had respect for the girls I shared beds with at least. If you've literally been inside someone, I think they deserve more than to be reduced to what's between their legs.

"She's a virgin, so you just know she'd be tight as hell." My head snaps around to look at Harrison, the biggest asshole on the team, and a complete douchebag with the trust-fund to back him up. I glare at him, waiting for him to say her name so that I have to beat his face in.

"Aurora is a virgin? No fucking way." Another guy asks, floored by Harrison's statement. I would've been too if I hadn't gotten to know her. It's still hard to believe considering how beautiful my girl is, but nobody has the right to share this matter or have an opinion on it. Who the fuck goes around telling people shit like that anyway?

My fists are balled by my sides, willing him to stop talking before I force him to, but he looks around and basks in the attention of spilling someone else's secret. "I know right? I bet she'd scream if I―" I lose it before he's even able to finish his sentence. Harrison is tall, but he's scrawny and looks like a child compared to me. I rush forward and grip the collar of his polo shirt, lifting him off his feet and slamming him against the wall of the locker room, narrowly missing the shelves above his head.

"If you finish that sentence, I'm going to come into your house while you're asleep and wake you up with a pillow covering your face," I growl quietly enough so that nobody else can hear my threat. The entire locker room goes silent, everyone stopping to witness us but not one of them stepping in to stop me. Harrison just smirks despite the flash of fear in his eyes a second ago when his feet left the ground. I'm breathing heavily, waiting for him to surely trigger me with his next words.

"You'd know all about it, wouldn't you? Heard you were in the shower with her before she ended up in the hospital. Did you fuck her too h—" I slam his head against the wall with a hand over his forehead, ending his sentence, before throwing him to the ground and climbing on top of him. I don't waste any time before my fists start trying to cave his face in. I feel hands grabbing at my back, probably trying to pull me off of the dickhead before I murder him but I only react when I hear Chase's voice cut through the madness.

"I stay back to talk to the coach for five fucking minutes and the locker room turns into a boxing ring. Why the fuck is Maddox trying to kill Harrison?" Chase booms when a few of the guys are able to restrain me and pull me off of Harrison's body. Nobody even bothers helping him, they just stand and watch him spit blood onto the floor, knowing that he deserved it.

"You don't want to know," Theo mumbles to Chase, and his face screws up in confusion. He glares at me and mouths "Aurora" and I nod, shrugging off the guys' hands with the promise of not hitting Harrison anymore. He stalks out of the locker room alone with his tail between his legs, but I know this won't be the last of it. He'll no doubt be pressing charges against me and I don't legally have a good enough reason for having started the fight.

"For all we know, he could've been mauled by a bear," Reece says jokingly and I smirk at him. The rest of the guys nod and a few of them pat me on the back on the way out, showing me their support. Looks like Harrison may not have any witnesses. Hopefully, my bloody knuckles won't be enough proof of my aggression.

"I don't want to know what he said, but thanks for defending her. I'm not ecstatic at the idea of you two, but I know she's safe with you so... that's not nothing," Chase says, leaving me alone in the locker room, smiling from his version of acceptance towards whatever is going on between his sister and me.

Aurora's door flies open and so do my eyes from the surprise. She's smiling at me standing outside her door and she's leaning against her door frame, looking up at me like she's holding back laughter. I look at her questioningly. "I could hear you pacing out here for the past fifteen minutes." She giggles and I sigh embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm even here," I say, turning around but her small hand grabs my bicep and halts me in my step. I turn back around to face her and she steps sideways.

"Come in." She smiles and gestures for me to enter her room, so I do, not able to resist. I stand awkwardly beside her bed and she crawls onto it. I watch her white shorts ride up and I look away quickly, not wanting to get a hard-on from staring at her in pajamas. She sits against her headboard and looks at me curiously, patting the spot beside her and I waste no time getting close to her. She looks over my black joggers and black t-shirt and I smirk when I see her gulp before she looks back up to my face.

"Why are your hands bloody? I noticed at dinner." She mumbles and I curse for not at least wrapping them up. I shrug in answer to her question but she won't take it, turning to face me and glaring. I sigh.

"Harrison, a guy on the team was being an ass, so I kicked his." Her eyes widen and she bites her lip, looking away from me. I feel regret for a second when I see her expression but that disappears when I remember what he was saying about her, not caring who heard.

"Did he deserve it?" She asks, looking back at me and directly into my eyes. I nod slowly, not wanting to speak in case my voice betrays how affected I am by just that one look. She nods, accepting mine as an answer.

"Why did you come to America for school?" I ask, wanting to get to know more about her, everything to be precise. Also wanting to change the subject. She immediately goes quiet, inhaling a sharp breath and looking away from me. I can tell something is bothering her and as much as I want to know, I don't want to push her.

"I just wanted to be somewhere new." She says, and I can hear the hesitance behind her vague words. Is she running from something? Someone? I nod in understanding and a comfortable silence takes over the room. I could just sit here, not even talking, and be content because of my proximity to Aurora. I'm not sure how I feel about that though, so I stand up abruptly, moving towards the door in order to collect my thoughts.

"Maddox, can you please stay?" She whispers and I'm torn. Hesitating with my hand raised and reaching for the dor, one look at her pleading face over my should and I'm turning around. I walk back to her bed, climb in beside her, and put my weight on my elbow to look at her. She lies on her side with her hands folded under her pillow, staring into my eyes with her piercing green ones.

I stare back, neither one of us feeling intimidated between our eye contact for once. Both of us are unwilling to look away. Aurora scoots her body closer to mine, and I wrap my arm around her waist to drag her the rest of the way. She cranes her neck to continue looking up at me and she's so close that her chin rests on my chest.

I lean down and peck her forehead, making Aurora close her eyes and sigh with what looks like bliss. I smile genuinely at this girl, who has been in my life for such a short time and has already managed to turn it upside down. Not that I'd do a thing to try and put it back to how it was. This is my new normal.