Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“And you’re sure because?” Bryce asks.
“Weston is a pro athlete. No way did he go from VIP night to suddenly saying she’s his girlfriend. The only logical answer is she’s posing as his girlfriend all while she’s managing Samuels’ surly rep. And together that tells me she’s some kind of puppeteer. Pulling all the strings. She’s up to something. If it looks like a stunt, talks like a stunt, and quacks like a stunt, it’s a stunt. She’s running some sort of great experiment too and I have a feeling what it is.”
“What is it?”
“Well, I have a little more intel,” she says, sounding like the cat who ate a box of canaries. “I spoke to her ex a week ago…”
Trina gasps, then presses her lips together even harder, as if she’s holding back tears. “Sweetness,” I say gently, trying to make her feel better during what’s sure to be the worst part.
Then, Jasper’s voice fills the room. “She was mocking hockey when she broke up with me. She hates the sport! Every time I watched a game she was insulting it. Now she’s spending all her time with pros? She’s up to something. She’s always up to something.”
“You ass,” Trina seethes, and I want to wring that guy’s neck all over again. He might have laid off her if Abby had called him yesterday, but this was a week ago.
“So this proves what?” Bryce asks.
I don’t have to see Abby to know she’s drawing a deeply satisfied breath as she says, “I’ll be waiting to see what her endgame is. Launching a PR company? Announcing her own podcast? Because this is how you do it. With something bold and public, and with two celeb studs at your disposal. I mean, they were useful to me. I dated both of them during my How Many Boyfriends stunt earlier this year.”
I hiss.
Ryker slams a fist against the counter.
Trina breathes fire.
“Oh, damn!” Bryce calls out with a cackle.
“Either way, girl, if you’re listening, let’s do something together! We can conquer the world. Find me and we’ll join forces.”
I hit end. That’s enough. That’s fucking enough. I don’t care that she named me after all. That she named us. But I care deeply that Trina’s getting dragged through the mud.
In her beautiful teal dress that clings to her curves, she’s frozen, drawing deep breaths.
This is not okay. I can’t let this spiral. I step away from the counter, jaw clenched, running my hand through my hair, trying to devise a plan, stat.
“I’ll fix this,” I bite out.
“It’s okay,” Trina says softly but her voice is empty. She’s clearly shocked. “I’ll be fine.”
“No. This is not fine,” I say, anger rising inside me, but also determination. I’ve spent my whole damn career as the good guy. I’m the player who’s friendly and outgoing, who plays well, wins games, and loves the sport.
I don’t fucking cause trouble.
But this? This is trouble.
And I have to fix it for everyone. For her, for me, and for my friend. He’s trying to rehab his rep, and I won’t let this blow up all his good work. Besides, we made a pact to be friends in public.
Time to implement it.
Before anyone can say a word, I spin around. “Look. You’re moving out tomorrow anyway,” I say to her. “If anyone asks, we’ll say we became fast friends. No one needs to know the date tonight was fake because it’s none of their fucking business. I’ll tell my teammates not to say a word and they’ll have my back. But I’ll let the press know you’re a friend. That’s the truth. We’re all friends.”
Ryker shakes his head, his eyes filled with fire. But he’s quiet.
“What? We are. No one fucking knows what we did. We presented to the world as friends. So we went on a date. Big deal. We’ll just say we’re friends. This is why we made a pact, guys. We made a pact the other morning to act like friends, to be friends, to effectively look out for each other as friends, right?”
Ryker breathes out hard but nods like it pains him.
“Yes. We did,” Trina says on a rough swallow. “This is the pact,” she says, getting it, like she always has. “But what about Charlotte?”
I cycle back to Friday, but I feel okay about it. “We never did anything in public. We don’t have to say a thing. People made assumptions. Abby is making assumptions. We’re just friends.”
Trina looks at me like she’s eaten something sour, but she says in a hollow voice, “Friends.”
Ryker crosses his arms. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”
I fling my arms up. “Someone has to triage. I don’t want our girl taking the fall. Do you, man?”
Ryker’s jaw ticks. “Of course I fucking don’t. But that’s not what this is about.”
I don’t need this shit right now. “Then what is this about? I’m trying to fix the problem. What are you doing?”