Page 23 of Ice Mechanic

“Your name’s trending.”

I groan. “What now? Is it Sethburg? Trying to lie to the press again?”

The other player who’d gotten suspended along with me, Sethburg, has been on an apology tour. Honestly, he should just give up on hockey and go right into acting. The guy’s single-handedly responsible for the rise in eye drop stocks. I’m sure he bought a ton of them to help him produce so many tears on camera.

Derek chuckles. “Don’t blame Sethburg for playing the game. I offered to take you on a media tour. You’re the one who wanted to settle with money.”

I lean back in the sofa, my legs spreading wide. “You know I can’t apologize for things I’m not sorry for.”

I’m suddenly reminded of April and how she reacted when I told her the very same thing. Her eyes had widened slightly and a blush spread over her face. Watching the red seep into her freckled cheeks had my chest tightening strangely…

No, not just strange.

Scary.

I’d never felt like that before.

I need to keep my distance from that woman because I can see myself becoming addicted to making her blush.

“…I agree. She’s a looker that one.”

I sway forward, planting both feet flat on the ground. There’s no way Derek read my thoughts about April, did he?

“…the flannel shirt and no makeup schtick is cute…”

That definitely sounds like April. Although her flannel shirt is mostly for the comfort of working on cars and not a ‘shtick’.

“I personally prefer the glamorous types, but I can work with this. I’d brand her as the girl-next-door, fresh-faced, Farmer Jill…”

Farmer Jill?What?

“… It’s not a bad angle, Chance. All those glamorous, social media stars look the same now anyway. Fake this. Fake that. This woman stands out because she’s the opposite of all that. And more importantly, your fans are responding to seeing you with uh, a more down-to-earth woman?—”

“Derek, you mind backing all the way up there? I think I missed a big chunk of this conversation.”

“I was saying I could do a Farmer Jill brand?—”

“Before the Farmer Jill thing.” I wave my hand.

“Oh, your new girlfriend is trending.”

“My what iswhat?” I explode from the sofa.

“Your girl. Your lady. Your woman.”

“Woman?”

“Why are you yelling?” He gasps. “Farmer Jillisa woman, right? Not that I’m judging. I mean, it would explain the flannel?—”

“Yes, she’s a woman, but she’s notmywoman. April is…” I stop short of saying ‘a friend’. We didn’t exactly have the best interaction when we parted outside the hotel.

From the way she turned down all my invitations and tore out of the hotel’s driveway leaving skid marks behind, she’s not gung ho about seeing me again.

“If she’s not your girlfriend, why did you fight over her with some guy?” Derek sounds genuinely baffled. “Why’d you take her out to eat in front of everybody? Why’d you let so many people film it? You’re usually so careful about who you’re seenwith, so I thought… with her… weren’t you trying to make a statement?”

I lean my head back and groan.

In the height of my popularity, I jumped through hoops to make sure the paparazzi never took pictures of me and my dates. Being the source of tabloid gossip was a hassle. The paparazzi hunted me like a rabbit with a hound dog and it felt like my life was under a microscope.

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