Page 39 of The Fake Out

“Figure it out yourself, asshole!” I screeched at him.

That caused my brother to look up from the client he was working on. I gave him a glare as I slid my leather jacket on my shoulders. I didn’t have time for this. I was having a shit day already. The hot water was out upstairs, so I took a cold shower, and then the interview was a no-show, and I had back-to-back clients who were indecisive. I could use a drink or several, and as much as I didn’t care about sports, I was excited to see Blaise on the ice and hang out with Dinah. That tiny brunette was a trip, and she’d explain all the hockey shit to me.

I passed Olivia on my way out. She gave me a sad smile and a big hug. “I needed that,” I said.

She laughed. “I know. When can we hang out so you can fill me in on the details?”

I sighed. When I walked downstairs into the shop with my hair still wet this morning, she laughed at me and asked if I ever went home.

“I have off tomorrow. Maybe we could go shopping?”

Her dark eyes lit up. I hated shopping, like loathed it with a passion, but Olivia lived for that shit. Then she got suspicious. “Wait, why?”

I couldn’t answer her because Seth was breathing down my neck again. “Roni?”

“What?”

“Are you at least gonna let me know if you’re coming to my wedding? Lily needs to know for the seating chart.”

I gritted my teeth and turned to my ex. “Yes, Blaise can come. We’ll be there.”

“Awesome!” he cheered.

That proved the only reason he wanted me there was because of Blaise.

He didn’t want to let bygones be bygones; he just wanted my famous boyfriend to be there. My famous fake boyfriend, who was good at eating pussy and liked to spank me and call me a bad girl. It was too bad I didn’t do relationships anymore because Blaise would have been perfect for me. But I would never again let someone break me down into a million tiny pieces like Seth had. No matter how much chemistry I had with them. Or how hot they were. It wasn’t enough to put myself through that shit again.

“Ugh, goodbye!” I snarled and got out of there before he could drag me into taking one more client.

I felt bad leaving Olivia in a lurch with a furrowed brow on her face, but I’d explain everything to her tomorrow. I needed her help to find a dress for the wedding anyway, and I knew she loved that enough to forgive me.

I was still stewing by the time I got to the arena and found Dinah. Her green eyes grazed across me, and then she shoved her beer in my hand. “Here, you need this more than I do.”

I hugged her tightly. “Oh my God, you have no idea!”

I took the beer she handed me while I watched the players on the ice coming out for warm-ups. I wasn’t completely ignorant when it came to hockey, so I knew what warm-ups were. Dinah’s smile got wider when her boy-toy tapped the glass with his stick.

I flinched at the sound of a puck hitting the glass in front of us. I turned and almost glared at the blonde giant standing in front of it with a cheeky grin. The same grin he wore last night before he went down on me. I clenched my thighs together just thinking about it. Blaise tapped two fingers against his heart, and then pointed at me.

I didn’t know what that meant, but I repeated the motion back at Blaise. He smiled at me before he tore off down the ice.

“Um, that’s adorable,” Dinah said with a grin. “I’m so happy for you, V. You deserve to find happiness after that asshat.”

“Guess who I have to see every day now?”

She frowned. “Eds told me. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too,” I whispered.

I wanted to tell her I was pretty sure this Lily person was the other woman, and she got pregnant, so that’s why Seth left. I don’t know what would have hurt more, him leaving like he did or him telling me about it. Maybe he thought it would have hurt me less. Even though it cut my heart into tiny specks until there was nothing left. I was dead inside, a cold, feelingless person, but I was okay with that. Being cold-hearted was better than getting hurt again.

We settled into our seats as the game started. Blaise never told me what position he played, and it confused me when Dinah explained that he protected the blue line. Whatever that meant. I also gave her a strange look when she explained Blaise didn’t put up a lot of numbers, but he was a good stay-at-home defenseman. I swear, I needed a dictionary to figure out what she was talking about.

“Oh my God, you really know nothing about this game?” Dinah asked with a laugh.

I shook my head, my black and red curls bouncing around my face.

I watched the players on the ice and saw one of the Bulldogs get possession of the puck. But I focused on what number 44 was doing. Blaise was such a big man, but there were a lot of big burly men on skates, hitting each other into the boards and speeding across the ice. Truth was, of all the sports, I liked hockey the most, but I never bothered to learn the rules.