Page 65 of The Publicity Stunt

"Fine," he growls and steps back.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lyons," Rudy says and steps inside.

"Merry Christmas, cheater."

Kace whips his head to his father with wide eyes, and Rudy looks equally shocked. Even though his father made a comment after their game in Canada, this comes out of left field, even for him.

"Maybe this was a mistake," Rudy says.

"I think a lot of what you've done lately has been one giant mistake. How do you look at yourself in the mirror?"

"He screwed up, and no one argues that," Brett says. "But-"

"No!" Victor shouts. "No, you don't get to end that statement with a 'but.' Especially you. Regardless of what goes on between these two, you were supposed to be Kace's friend. And you knew Bri, too, from what he says. So, you know what? Rudy may have pulled the trigger, but you loaded the damn gun. Who the hell raised you, because you should know better than anyone that anything that happens between men should never take down a woman. Never!"

Kace leans back against the wall and watches the scene play out. Only a handful of instances where his father has gotten this angry comes to mind, and every single one of them has been aimed at Kace.

"This is my fault, not Brett's," Rudy says. "Please don't be angry with him."

"You and Kace weren't friends because you're an immature jerk. But Brett and Kace were still buddies. If anything, he should have done everything in his power to keep his mouth shut because it's clear you, Rudy, cannot be trusted. With anything."

Pushing off the wall, Kace looks directly into Brett's eyes. "You destroyed someone who never deserved that. You proved to her that people are just out to hurt her, except it's not you two she sees hurting her. You took me down with you, and I will forever regret telling you anything, Brett. In fact, I regret ever deciding to build a friendship with you two. If I hadn't, Bri wouldn't be hurting and humiliated right now."

Brett looks at Rudy and back to Kace. "If you hadn't befriended us, we might not be in the NHL living out our dreams."

"What dreams?" Kace shouts. "In case you've both missed it, I've been benched because of the shitstorm you caused. You did shitty things, and I'm the one penalized. But that's how you want it, isn't it, Rudy? But forget the NHL. I don't even care about the game anymore. I had something I wanted more than the game, and I lost it. I lost it because I shared a secret with someone I thought was my best friend."

"I know you're angry," Brett says and shakes his head, "but the NHL has been our dream since middle school, Kace."

Biting his lip, Kace looks at the ground. "I do. I mean every word because all I can hear at night when I try to sleep is the cry of pain Bri let out while her security team literally threw my ass out of the stadium after we saw your interview. No matter how much I tried to tell her and everyone else you're a fucking liar, it didn't matter. The pain is on me because I trusted someone I shouldn't have, but I won't make that mistake ever again. My dream changed the moment I fell in love with Bri, and now I have no dream. You helped take that from me."

"How do we fix this?" Rudy asks. "Maybe we can go to the press and tell them our side.”

“Well, Rudy's side. He can publicly tell them the shitty things he's done to you this past year, and that he was just trying to get back at you," Brett says.

"You don't get it," Kace says. "You can't fix this. There is no fixing it. She won't talk to me. Her team has been told to keep me away from her. I lost her. I lost everything."

"Kace-"

"I'm... I'm just done," he says and walks upstairs to his old room. Punching men out on Christmas seems wrong no matter how badly he wants to do it.

Sitting on his bed, Kace pulls out the second present and quickly unwraps it to see a media player and headphones. He chuckles sadly at how much it feels like she made him an old school mix tape. Hitting play on the only playlist on there, his breath hitches as he hears her voice.

"Merry Christmas, Kace. I wanted to give you the first few songs from my new album because you inspired me to write them. When we aren't together, and I'm not on stage, I've been writing like a mad woman. It's been a long time since someone has inspired me to write like this, and I'm so thankful. Thankful for the inspiration but also thankful I met you. It's been a whirlwind the past however many months, but I wouldn't change a thing. I hope you like what I have so far. Oh, and I love you."

Lying on his back, he plays her message on repeat, wishing she was right next to him rather than just on the recording he plays. Tears sting at his eyes every time "I love you" sounds in his ears.

"I love you, Bri. I never got the chance to tell you, but I do."

He listens to the five songs, all talking about new love and desire she never knew before. She sounds so happy and in love, and it breaks his heart knowing the woman who wrote this isn't here anymore. She's been replaced with someone as brokenhearted as he is, and it kills him. This carefree, happy, and in love version of her should be the way she feels every day for the rest of her life.

Victor knocks and walks into his room. "Are you okay?"

Kace wipes his eyes, pulls out the headphones, and sits up. "No. The second gift she gave me is the first five songs on her new album. Songs inspired by me when we were solid. The message says she loves me, and I was waiting until this morning to tell her I loved her."

"Did you get her a gift?"

Reaching over the side of the bed, he pulls out a wrapped jewelry box. "I brought it with me just in case she wanted to show up and talk. Deep down, I knew she wouldn't, but I wasn't ready to give up hope."

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