Page 98 of The Fake Out Flex

It was my first year playing in the majors, and the Swifts were visiting a children's hospital. We spent time with the kids, hanging out, talking, playing some b-ball with those who were up to it. The press were there covering it. It was meant to be a simple puff piece, some good PR for the team while raising awareness for the hospital.

When the story came out, I read it online and made the fatal mistake of scrolling down into the murky waters of the comments section.

The vast majority were positive?—

Heartwarming to see my favorite team taking time out of their busy schedules to bring joy and smiles to the sick children.

What an incredible gesture by the team! I'm sure the kids and their families appreciate it.

The Swifts rock! The players are great role models, both on and off the ice.

Unfortunately, a small section of comments weren't.

I will never be able to erase from my memory the vile, disgusting things I read. What sort of sick, deranged individual makes jokes about sick kids or uses derogatory language I wouldn't even think, much less have the gall to express?

After that, I doubled down on my efforts to do everything in my power to protect Oakey and make sure he never has to experience anything like that.

"The majority of people are good, Fraser. We can't let our lives be dictated by the tiny percentage who aren't. If people are truly so messed up that they'd make fun of a kid with an intellectual disability, that says everything we need to know about them."

"I understand. Logically. But I don't want Oakey to ever have to go through that. He's an innocent kid. He doesn't deserve it."

"I agree. But we can't shield him forever. What we can do is make sure that if or when something bad happens, we're there for him. Say what you want about our family, but we are always there for each other."

"Yeah. We are."

"You can't keep living your life with these walls up. You have to let people in."

"I let people in," I lie, and she clocks it instantly.

"That's not the way Tori sees it."

I take full advantage of the opening to deflect away from myself for a moment. "I still haven't forgiven you for setting me up with her, by the way. What made you think we'd be a good match?"

"She's nice, pretty, and down-to-earth…for an influencer."

"Big caveat-slash-red flag right there."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea she'd morph into such a publicity-hungry monster. But stop deflecting and deal with what we're talking about."

"Which is?" I pretend not to know, smiling goofily.

"You and your guardedness." She punches my arm softly. "There's taking time to get to know someone and build up trust, and then there's…well, you. You move at the pace of a tortoise with two broken legs."

"It was never going to work out with Tori," I say.

"Why?"

Because she's not Evie.

"Because I wasn't in love with her," I answer honestly. "And we wanted different things, aside from our approach to publicity."

"I know."

"Huh?"

Dawn drops her head. "She told me."

"What?" I straighten, my heartrate kicking up a notch. "What do you mean she told you?"

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