Page 121 of The Trophy

Cash’s tone sounds sincere. “Dude, I admit that it took me a second to get on board with sharing her, but this works. The four of us. Having the woman I love and my best friends always by my side is better than I could have ever imagined. I would never do anything to derail our plans.”

Blaze agrees. “Ditto.”

I sigh, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. “I believe you. If you’re on board with our relationship, there’s no reason for you to do something like this. Any money the person who posted could have been paid for leaking that information, would be peanuts compared to what a pro NHL contract will pay. But if that’s the case and neither of you did it, I hate the only alternative.”

Cash and Blaze look confused. “Is there only another alternative?”

I nod, swallowing the bile that coats my tongue. “Yeah, the only other person who could have leaked that is Lakyn.”

CHAPTER 25

BETRAYAL

CASH

Ishake my head, as if that could make what Luca just said sound less ridiculous.

So ridiculous, that Blaze barks out an incredulous laugh. “Lake? You can’t be serious. Luca, she would never. I would look at any of the girls you hooked up with before you met Lakyn. Fuck, even one of our teammates, despite the fact that the post sounds like it was written by a chick; anyone could fake that. I mean, Topher threatened us to do this. Even if we didn’t out him to Bay about the dare, the motherfucker might have decided to fuck with us just because he can.”

Blaze has a point. “Yeah, that’s right.” I back him.

Luca doesn’t look convinced, a dark look in his eyes as he pulls on his hair clearly frustrated.

“No. It can only be one of us four.”

I don’t understand. “Why? What makes you so sure?”

He drops a real bombshell. “That post talked about my piercing. No one knows about it except for the four of us. I removed it when I got to campus because I didn’t want to get any issues or questions during all the medicals. Then I thought it would be easier to just leave it. I put it back in for the first time the night of my auction date with Lakyn. I wanted to impress her or shock her, I guess.”

I still can’t believe it. “Come on, are you serious?”

Luca glares at me. “Like a fucking heart attack. Think about it, have you ever noticed it in the locker room? Before or after LA?”

I think about it, long and hard—no fucking pun intended—because what he’s suggesting sounds impossible.

“How the fuck would I remember?” I huff, frustrated. “With all respect, it’s not like I’m staring at your dick when we change before or after practice. Besides, the showers have partial partitions and even if they didn’t, I still don’t fucking stare at other dudes’ junk.”

Luca’s shoulders are tight with tension, his jaw ticking. “Believe me Cash, I don’t want this to be true. I’m going fucking crazy trying to figure out any other possibilities, but there are none. You, Blaze and Lakyn are the only people who have ever seen my piercing or know about it, aside from the guy at the tattoo parlor in New York City who actually put the damn thing in.”

I still refuse to believe it. “Well fuck, that’s another person. Couldn’t that guy have told someone?”

This time it’s Blaze who gives me a reality check. “That doesn’t make sense, Cash. That post was written by someone who knows our team and obviously goes to school here.”

Luca nods. “I can’t fucking believe it. I don’t want to believe that Lake would betray me like this. I never even asked her to sign an NDA because I trusted her. How could I have gotten what kind of person she is so wrong?”

No.

This is what I’m fucking trying to tell him. “Lake doesn’t care about money,” I bite out. “She works so hard, but she would never have sold your secret to the media.”

Luca is on the verge of tears, I’ve never seen him this way, not even after a hard hit on the ice. “I’m not saying that, Cash. Maybe she let it slip with Bay. They’re twin sisters after all.”

That makes more sense. “That could be it. And Bay could have told Topher in confidence.”

Luca’s expression doesn’t brighten. “It doesn’t matter if that’s how it happened. Lake knew how important trust was to me, how many times I’ve been betrayed before and I thought she understood. Even if she let it sleep by accident, that still means I can’t trust her.”

No, that’s bullshit. “I can’t believe it was her.” I insist.

Thank fuck Blaze is on my side. “Luca, there must be another explanation.”

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