Page 72 of Hat Trick

“I hate you,” I tell her, knowing she knows what I’m really trying to say:You’re the bestest friends ever, and I love you both to pieces.“I’ve done a lot of soul-searching recently, and I realized . . . sometimes your family are the people you choose.” I think of Charlie, Zoe, Manuel. “I don’t know. Not to be sappy or anything like that, but I love you guys. That’sall.”

Charlie throws a hand to her forehead in a fake swoon. Not to be outdone, Zoe pretends to collapse on the platform, but considering she’s wrapped up in a tight dress, she nearly stumbles and goes down face-first.

Laughter bubbles up within me. My girlfriends are sarcastic and ridiculous and I wouldn’t have them any otherway.

“Are we ready for the next round?” Nina asks, coming back into the massive dressing room with an armful of gowns. “I know we’ll have the perfect one in themix.”

“You need something that’s going to give Beaumont a hard-on the minute he sees you at the end of the aisle,” Charlie announces with a flamboyant wink. She points at her crotch as though to further elaborate herpoint.

“Really?” I ask, settling back in my seat with my own champagne flute in hand. “I was thinking something romantic. Andre is always trying to make youswoon.”

“Andre Beaumont?” Nina murmurs, and I can tell she’s a Blades fan just by the high pitch of her voice. “Do you all know MarshallHunt?”

I sit up a little straighter at the mention ofMarshall.

Charlie lays a hand on my leg.Down, girl, that hand says. Over the last year, both Zoe and Charlie have learned to deal with puck bunnies galore. Me, on the other hand? I’m brand new at the game and am not enjoying the lick of jealousy weighing down mylimbs.

“We do,” Charlie says evenly. “He’s a good friend of ours, as is hisgirlfriend.”

Her words smooth my ruffled feathers—somewhat.

“Poor girl,” the consultant tells us as she unlaces Zoe from her current dress and sweeps it off to the side. “I hate to be her when she realizes that her boyfriend is about to be kicked off the team. Terrible stuff. The Blades aren’t going to be the same withouthim.”

What in the world is she talkingabout?

I yank my phone out of my purse and switch off Airplane Mode. I’d sent Marshall a text earlier in the day to let him know I’d be out with the girls wedding shopping. My leg jiggles with nerves as the internet comes back to life on myphone.

Like a scroll out of a nightmare, text after text after text pops up on thescreen.

All fromMarshall.

I close them out, hand trembling, as I open the internet browser and type in hisname.

HitENTER.

Deepbreath.

One by one, articles flood the Googlesearch.

Marshall Hunt Discovered in Illegal Fighting Ring in Brockton, MA: What Witnesses AreSaying.

NHL Star Marshall Hunt Caught Dealing Drugs: Will The Boston Blades Cut HimNow?

Uncovered Secrets: Boston Blades Forward Marshall Hunt Nearly Murders Father InYouth

My hand closes over my mouth. “I’m going to besick.”

Charlie snatches the phone from me, her gaze skimming the headlines. “You need to go tohim.”

“I-I . . .” I don’t have any words to say. None atall.

“Ow!” Zoe shrieks, and it’s not until I lift my eyes to her face that I realize she’s trying to distract Nina. “Careful with that pin. I bleed like crazy. Trust me when I say you don’t want this gown turningred.”

“Charlie,” I whisper frantically, “what do Ido?”

With a hand to my face, she forces me to look at her. “Do you remember when you were all upset about him turning you down? And Zoe asked if you would give Hunt your kidney if it ever came topass?”

“Well, yeah. But what doesthis—”

---