Page 57 of Pucking Bad Boys

I truly think that Gen would back off if she thought I had a real girlfriend. And that’s my end goal.

This thing between Talia and I might be starting as fake, but if I have my way, it’ll become real before the semester is over.

Becks will really set his sights on Talia if he thinks she’s mine, but I’ll deal with that. It’s a risk I need to take to get what I want.

“I can’t believe I’m even considering this,” Talia says.

But by the look in her eyes, I know I got her. She wants to say yes.

“I’ve only ever read about fake dating in books and seen it on TV. How would a fake relationship even work in real life?”

I hadn’t gone that far, but I’m good at thinking on the fly. I’ve honed that skill on the ice since I was old enough to wear skates.

“We would have to sell it. So we can’t tell anyone that it’s fake.”

Talia begins shaking her head. “I agree, but have you thought about my brother? If Tucker thinks you’re going out with me, he’ll kill you.”

“Ok, maybe we keep it secret from everyone but Tucker. He knows how many problems Gen has been giving me. He experienced it firsthand when he started dating Taryn. Leave Tucker to me. If he thinks that you’re helping me for the sake of helping me keep my head in the game, he’ll be ok.”

“Fine. What else?”

I shoot out all the things that come to my mind. “It has to be as official as possible. So we change our relationship status on social media, you come to every home game in my jersey. We go to parties together and make sure we’re seen together on campus as much as possible.”

She nods along to every item I mention, so I dare to take an even bigger risk. “To really sell it, we need to convince people we can’t keep our hands off each other. So we need to build on last night’s kiss. I’m pretty sure someone must have filmed it.”

We take out our phones to check and I’m right. Our kiss is trending and has been shared by a few gossip blogs on campus, and the views are climbing steadily.

“Fine. But how will it work between me and Becks? How do I behave with him? If he thinks I’m with you, won’t it look bad if I flirt with him? I hate cheaters, and I don’t want him to think I’m one.”

“True,” I nod. “But hear me out. You don’t want just a hookup with Becks, right?”

She shakes her head. “I’m not a hookup kind of girl. I tried, and it isn’t for me.”

That doesn’t surprise me. “Then, at first, just get to know him as a friend. He’ll just start hovering around you when he sees us together. Becks isn’t the kind of guy who would jump into a serious relationship right off the bat, anyway. When we think we’ve convinced Gen and everyone else that you and I are an item, you can start complaining to him about the way I treat you. Say that I put hockey first and I’m not as dedicated to you as I should be.”

Fuck knows that I’ve heard those complaints on repeat over and over for years.

“He’ll let you confide in him and offer you a shoulder to cry on.” I continue. “And then once you think you two are close enough, you and I will have a public breakup. And trust me when I guarantee you that Becks will swoop in and want to be your knight in shining armor.”

Talia is chewing her bottom lip, still not completely sold on my plan. “But doesn’t that bother you? If we break up publicly like you suggest, people will think you’re an asshole.”

“Let them think I’m an asshole. Everyone on campus and beyond already thinks that. Didn’t you see how that stupid reality show painted me?”

She shakes her head. “No. After the way they screwed me out of the money at the last second, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it.”

“They labeled me asThe Bad Boy of Hockey. Aside from a few scenes with game footage, they show me with a different woman on my arm every episode. They say I left a trail of broken hearts in my wake by the time summer training was over. They even hinted that a couple of the cuts that were made on the cheerleading team were my fault because I tempted the cheerleaders into breaking the no fraternization rule.”

“Is it true?” Talia asks.

“Not really. I was careful when I hooked up with someone at camp. I didn’t want to cost them their spot on the team. And I wasn’t the only one who did.”

Talia agrees with me. “That’s true. There was a lot of hooking up between players and cheerleaders.”

That’s still a sore point for me. “Exactly. And I hate that they pictured me as this heartless player. I was always upfront with every woman I was with that it was just one night. I never promised anything more than what I intended to give.”

“So why perpetuate that bad boy image?”

“You know how that stuff works. Once you get a certain label, it’s hard to shake it. But if it works for our plan, I don’t mind.”