I was this close to punching the next person who opened their mouth to give advice. Everyone needed to calm the fuck down and let Kris take his time.

Poor baby was struggling as it was.

Was he my baby? No. But after practicing with him for hours and trying to make him comfortable speaking in front of the camera, I very much felt like a mother. A very angry mother who was hanging by a thread and trying her best not to commit a felony.

"You're doing great, Kris. It's okay. We can do the take again," I said, offering him a gentle smile before nodding to Tyler. He nodded back and went back to looking into the camera, probably starting afresh.

Someone snorted behind me. "Like heck he is."

I snapped around so fast that I almost sprained my neck. But that didn't stop me from glowering at the freshman who was standing against the living room wall of the hockey house for absolutely no reason. All he had done for the past hour that we had been trying to record was spew unsolicited advice and crowd the space with his unrequired presence.

When he saw my eyes on him, he lowered his head and pretended to check his phone. He better keep that empty head of his down before I smash it against the wall.

It was Saturday and after a lot of delays and changes, we were finally kicking off our interviews. With the hockey season starting, both the media team and the guys had a lot on their plate. On top of that, the board had decided to give the hockey team a separate YouTube channel which meant we would be requiring a lot more content than short clips.

Apparently, the number of players on the team who had a chance of going pro was a lot higher than ever before. And the university wanted to bank on it. I'd overheard Coach's conversation the other day and got to know that coaches of big NHL teams were already showing interest in some of the guys. Now it was our job to make sure that they saw their best moments.

Kris had wanted to go first and get done with it so that he wouldn't have to simmer in anxiety until his turn came around. I had agreed by saying that it was a good plan but now I wasn't so sure. Maybe he needed more time.

Dylan had volunteered to do his interview simultaneously so Kris wouldn't feel alone. And even though Kris was taking way longer to answer a question and we had to do retakes every few minutes, he had been surprisingly patient and supportive. My thoughts about him were slowly changing to positive.

"Uh... Yeah, I have been playing since I was eight. But I had learned skating even before that. My mom was a figure skater. She used to bring us to the ice rink every now and then and that's how I developed an interest in skating and later hockey," Kris said. I noticed how a smile formed on his lips and his green eyes twinkled as he talked about his mom.

My heart warmed on seeing the happiness on his face. I could bet he had a very loving mom. At the same time, the ugly feeling of jealousy filled my chest. I never had the chance to experience anything like that. My mom never waited around to introduce me to new things.

Sometimes I wondered if I would have turned out differently if my mom had been beside me throughout the years. If my likes and dislikes would have been different had she been there for me. But sadly that was all I could do. Wonder.

"Evelyn?" Noor placed a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I blinked at the notepad in my hand with all the questions and cleared my throat. "Sorry," I mumbled. "Same question to you, Dylan. When did you start playing hockey?"

As the camera turned to Dylan, he gave a wide grin. "I started playing around seven I think. We have a small lake in my hometown that freezes in winter. All the kids used to skate there. The older kids would play hockey after everyone went home. I guess that's how I developed an interest."

The interview went on like that. Kris became more and more comfortable as time passed. Dylan's company and crude jokes were definitely helping. They both had fallen into a rhythm and now I didn't even have to repeat the question. I would ask once from the side and then Kris and Dylan would answer one after the other.

We were halfway through when Atlas bounded down the stairs, taking me by surprise. I was under the assumption that he wasn't at home since I hadn't seen him around when we'd arrived in the morning.

After his proposition last week, I hadn't come face to face with him, always looking around my shoulders and sneaking around to postpone our inevitable run-in for as long as I could. I knew I couldn't avoid him for long with the project throwing us in each other's orbits so often but I needed some space from him and his alluring presence.

Because the way my body had developed a will of its own and reacted very strongly to Atlas, it wouldn't have been long before I found myself in his bed again.

And I needed to prevent that from happening.

No matter what.

Judging from the look on his face, he was as surprised to see me as I was to see him but he was quick to recover. Atlas blinked a few times and cleared his throat before walking down the remaining stairs and coming to stand beside me. My skin prickled with awareness of his proximity and I briefly wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

He looked as tempting as ever in his black muscle tee and his gray sweats that hung low on his waist. His dark hair was ruffled and sticking up on one side. The same way it'd looked when I had run my fingers through it and—

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I averted my gaze and cleared my throat. I couldn't let my mind wander in that direction. Especially when he was standing so close to me wearing a sleeveless t-shirt that displayed all the corded muscles of his strong arms.

The same arms that had so easily lifted me— Stop!

"Is everything okay, Rosy?" Atlas asked in a whisper, bumping me with his shoulder such that our bare arms brushed against each other. The annoying smirk on his lips told me that he knew exactly what he was doing.

I glared at him and his smirk widened. "What are you doing?"

"Just asking about your well-being. You look a little red there," he said and then leaned down to whisper in my ear. "And thirsty. Do you need me to bring you water?"

To my utter embarrassment, my cheeks flamed even more at his words. "What I need you to do is—"

"Evelyn?" My gaze snapped back in the direction of the living room at the sound of my name. All eyes were on Atlas and me. "Are you okay?" Veena asked, looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine," I said, plastering a smile on my face and stomping on his shoe-clad foot. "Perfectly fine."

Atlas hissed when everyone diverted their attention back to the guys who were now speaking about their most cherished memory of hockey.

"Always resorting to violence," Atlas commented.

A smirk formed on my lips when he took a step back to create some distance between us. "It does its job," I said, shrugging. "Now, what do you want? I already told you I'm not agreeing to your proposition."

"I got that. Loud and clear. But then you need to stop looking at me like that," he said.

"I'm not looking at you like that."

"You are."

"I'm not!" I hissed. Atlas suddenly tapped the side of my waist and I looked up at him. "What?"

He nudged his head to the side of the room. I followed his gaze to see Derek giving us a funny look. Fuck. This couldn't get any worse. I shot Derek a smile hoping he would look away but he just raised his brow in question, his gaze flitting back and forth between Atlas and me. Double fuck.

As a last-ditch attempt to look less suspicious, I lowered my head and pretended to read my notes.

"You're not convincing anyone, Rosy," Atlas said, mirth clear in his tone.

He found this funny. Of course. My position was at stake along with my reputation and integrity. I was barely hanging by a thread and Atlas Griffin found the entire thing funny.

I whirled around to face him, all thoughts of being discreet long forgotten.

"I wouldn't need to convince anyone if you just maintained distance from me," I snapped.

"And the distance is bothering you because?"

My left eye twitched as I stared at his stupid, handsome face and wished I could obliterate him with my stare. I was about to give him a piece of my mind when Kris interrupted.

"Uh... Can we take a break?" he asked, his voice nervous as he looked at everyone.

Forcing my attention to Kris, I gave him a small smile. I could use a break too. "Of course, we can. Let's start again after half an hour or so."

There was a collective sigh and a rise in murmurs and chitchats as soon as I said that. The whole house had gone eerily silent for the interview, completely opposite to the obnoxious loudness I was used to whenever I visited.

"Hey, captain!" Dylan greeted as he stood up and stretched. He was extremely flexible for his build. "I see you have finally decided to leave your bedroom and grace us with your presence. Was there someone more interesting in your room who left through the backdoor?" he asked suggestively, a smirk on his handsome face. He even wiggled his eyebrows for effect.

My head immediately snapped to Atlas. Was he seeing someone else already? So soon after proposing the no-strings-attached agreement to me?

Atlas met my gaze for the briefest second before scowling at Dylan. "I was just sleeping. Believe it or not, some of us have more things on our plate."

Dylan raised his hands in defense. "Nothing wrong in getting that beauty sleep. It makes your skin glow even though your face is ugly," Dylan said and laughed at his own joke. I was really warming up to this guy.

My attention went back to Atlas who was already staring at me. It was as if he could read my mind and everything that had just gone through it. I immediately turned away, clearing my throat and taking a step back. "Uh... I'm going to go use the washroom," I said to no one in particular.

"Steve just went to take a shower. And he's going to take his sweet time," Holden, another freshman, said with his brows furrowed cutely. He was one of the sweet ones on the team and reminded me of a giant golden retriever. Although he was just nineteen, he was almost the same size as Atlas. He also got the most adorable blush whenever I talked to him. "You can use m—"

"Go to my room," Atlas said, interrupting him. It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order.

I looked up at him in question but his face remained impassive. "Where is your room?"

He gave me an incredulous look. Of course, I knew where his room was. I had spent more than enough time in his room the last time I was here. "Oh c'mon Rosy—"

I discreetly kicked his ankle and gestured to the others in the room with my eyes. Realization dawned on his face and he cleared his throat. "I mean c'mon I'll show you," he said, turning around.

I wanted to face-palm myself but instead quietly followed him up the stairs, hoping no one picked up on anything. Atlas's room was on the second floor at the far end of the corridor. We walked briskly without saying a single word or even meeting each other's gazes.

He opened the door and let me walk in first before shutting it behind us with a soft thud. The space between us sizzled with desire as we stared at each other and in the next moment, his lips were on mine.

"You are infuriating!" I said, pulling away for a second before claiming his lips again.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Atlas said as he pinned me against the door. "What does this mean?"

I scoffed. "Oh c'mon, Griffin I'm sure you are educated enough to understand the meaning of infuriating."

He rolled his eyes and smacked my ass. "Of course, I know what infuriating means, smartass. What does this kiss mean?"

The embers of desire that had reignited themselves in me were immediately doused as the question washed over me like ice-cold water. I stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, unable to speak. What was I even supposed to say? I had no excuses or explanations.

I tried to wriggle out of his hold, ready to dash out of his room but Atlas lifted me off the floor and wrapped my legs around his waist, trapping me between him and the door. He narrowed his eyes at me and smacked me again. "Not this time. You are not getting out of here before answering my question."

Pursing my lips, I struggled to free myself again but he only tightened his arms around me.

"Fine!" I said seeing there was no other option. "You were right. I cannot ignore you or this... whatever it is between us."

"Good to know." Atlas gave me an amused smile. "And what solution have you come up with? Just so you know my offer still stands."

I narrowed my eyes. "Dylan said—"

"He was just messing around. I haven't touched anyone other than you since maybe three months ago. You're the only one I have been with and I do not intend to change that any time soon. That is if you want the same thing."

I didn't know what to say. Should I be happy? Relieved? I had no business feeling either of those emotions. I settled for a nod but that somehow seemed to please Atlas as a wide grin spread on his face.

"Were you jealous, Rosy?" he asked. "Kind of cute."

"Jealous? Me?" I scoffed. "Why would I be? Don't flatter yourself, Griffin."

The grin didn't fade from his face. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," he said with a shrug. "So... what's your final answer?"

The way his onyx eyes were looking at me with a mix of desire, hope and something else cracked the last of my defenses. With a deep inhale, I nodded. "Yes." Atlas' face lit up like a kid who had just received a jar full of his favorite treats. He was about to say something when I interjected. "But I want us to have some rules."

He arched his brow. "What kind of rules?"

"No sleeping around with others. I don't want to catch some nasty STI. No offense but I cannot trust a third person to be clean and careful," I said.

"Fair point. I wasn't looking to involve anyone else either," he assured.

"No sleeping over. That's how strings get attached and neither of us wants that. So we'll treat this exactly as it is. A mutually beneficial agreement. Nothing more nothing less. Also, if either of us wants to end the agreement, it'll end immediately. No questions asked."

"Fine. Anything else?"

"One last thing, no telling anyone about our agreement. I don't know about you but I cannot lose my position as the media head."

"Done," he said and the mischievous grin was back on his lips. "Now, should we seal the deal?"

"Seal the deal? What are you—"

Before I could finish my question, his lips crashed down on mine in a searing kiss. My eyes fluttered shut as his tongue pushed past my lips and explored my mouth like he had been starving and I was his last meal. Sparks erupted all across my body and all thoughts in my mind faded away except one. That I wanted more of this, more of him. It terrified me how much power his simplest of touches held over me.

How much power he held over me.

Atlas pulled back after a while, grinning like the devil in disguise. "Welcome to the hookup pact, Rosy. You're in for a ride."