Page 39 of My Pucking Mate

FUCK!All men turn to me, ready to fight, just by the tone of my voice alone.

Barely moving, I tip my head in the direction of the problem.

Standing against the railing of the rink, with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, is India. And judging from the look of her, she just saw everything.

Shit, what do we do?asks Benny.

There’s nothing we can do until after the game, so right now we play and we win, then we deal with this after.

They all offer a clipped nod as a response, and we finish our drills as the game is about to begin.

I can only hope that Leera doesn’t see her.

I learned my lesson from the last home game about trying to split my focus between Leera and the game. This time, I give her little looks, but mostly I’m focusing on the game so we can get this shit over with and I can be with her.

We’re up one to zero at the end of the first period. As the team stands to head to the locker room, I place my gloved hand on the barrier as Leera bashfully does the same.

I don’t like her leaving my sight. I should have brought her a pack guard, but I wasn’t thinking. When she’s with me, she doesn't need a guard, but I won’t be there with her during intermissions or immediately after the game.

Sighing, I know there’s nothing I can do about it now, so I hurry into the locker room with the men to prepare for the next period.

30

Iwatch him skate towards the locker room, and I am finally cooling off. Between our moment before the game, watching him play, and then just now, him not leaving without acknowledging me, I’ve been all in a tizzy of emotions.

Zoey giggles next to me, “Girl, you got it bad!” and I can’t even deny it. No wonder people swoon after athletes; when you know one of them is yours, it changes the game completely. Every time he was hit, I would gasp. Each time he had the puck, I was tangling my fingers together. And, oh my gosh, when he made that goal, I came unglued! I wonder if it will always feel like this.

The waiter comes by to see if we want anything. Since it’s free, we definitely do! “I’ll take a pretzel with cheese and, uh, whatever cola you carry.” He just nods, finishes scribbling, and looks over to Zo. “I’ll take the same!” And with that, he scurries away.

“Isn’t this incredible?! Can you imagine how much these seats cost?” She says it a little more loudly than I’m comfortable with.

All of a sudden, her whole body freezes for a microsecond before her eyes narrow viciously when I hear, “Of course you couldn’t imagine or ever afford these seats.”

Just the sound of her voice makes me want to claw her eyes out a little. I slowly turn to face her. “I have nothing to say to you, India. Anything you want to say, you can say to Roman,” I say, turning back around without even waiting for her response.

I can't believe I'm having to deal with this. Has he talked to her yet?

“Well, considering you’re the one gallivanting around in public with MY fiancé, I’d say I have the right to say whatever I want to you.”

He apparently has NOT talked to her. Fuck.

The shock on Zoey’s face is too much. I should have given her some kind of head’s up on that whole situation, but I didn’t think it would matter. I looked up so many of Roman’s games, and they were never seen together at any of his games.

“I'm sorry, but you really need to talk to Roman. This is his conversation to have with you.” I don't want to have a very public incident with India right now.

“See, that doesn't work for me. He's busy, and you're right here. So how about you go ahead and tell me what lines he fed you about the kind of relationship you two can have? Because you have no idea what you're getting yourself into, and I promise you can't handle it.”

I swear, Zoey's jaw hits the ground for a moment before she looks like she's going to fly at India. I shake my head at her, silently asking her to let me handle this. I hate confrontation. I've never had to be mean to anyone in my whole life, but I needher to understand that I will not cower and I will not deal with her.

“Look, India, the last time I checked, you’ve never been seen at a game with him. No one has. And when anyone looks up Roman Razboinic, he's one of the nation's hottest bachelors. So make a scene and have a fit if that’s what you want, but I’m not having this conversation with you, especially not here. You need to talk to Roman.” I say it with as much confidence as I can muster.

Zoey is looking back and forth between us when India finally stomps off with a huff.

Needless to say, I spend the rest of intermission explaining their situation to Zo at the human level. She’s not happy with me, and if I’m being honest, I’m not all too happy with myself. Or Roman. I knew he hadn't talked to her yet last week, but why wasn't some time this week a good time to tell her? I’ve just tried to pretend she doesn’t exist, but she isn’t wrong. I’m here in public with her fiancé. Whether the world knows about them or not, it still feels wrong.Why hasn't he talked to her?

I wasn't expecting thehuffresponse from within, and it makes me smile for a moment.

The next period is about to begin, and I hate that she was able to make me feel like a slime ball—like I’m the other woman when it's not like that, even though it is. I am the other woman. All because Roman hasn't talked to her yet.

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