Page 18 of The Fake Play

I chuckle. “You're adorable when you're flustered and lying, you know that?”

“Shut up.” A small, grudging smile pulls at her lips. “This conversation is over, and what happened in your bedroom never happened.”

“What never happened?”

She glares up at me. “Must you keep going? We are hours past my bedtime.”

“I'll stop. For now.” I step back, letting her close the door, a dozen ways I can use this moment to tease her later running through my head. With any luck, I might get the chance to tease her for real. A hot shiver runs through me, working me up again.

It’s gonna be a long night.

I sleep for another few hours, but after seeing Keke flustered, the sleep was fitful at best. I had to jerk off twice just to be able to relax. I gave up sleeping around seven and left early to hit the rink for practice.

The awkward tension from this morning didn't linger around too long. I have a knack for shaking things off. Keke, on the other hand, will probably be blushing every time she sees me for the rest of the day. I plan to enjoy every second of it.

When I arrive at the rink, a few of the guys are huddled together in the locker room, whispering like schoolgirls, and I can tell by the looks on their faces that something’s up. The Russians, all muttering in their mother tongue together, is never a good thing. As much as me and the guys like to talk shit about women gossiping, these four are far worse.

“Alek, what’s going on?”

He takes a stiff breath then says some parting words to Sergei, Viktor, and Olly. They scoot off, speaking quietly to each other. “You remember I told you who Sergei’s father is, da?”

It’s always like that after he’s been speaking Russian for a little while, a few simple Russian words will seep into his English. “Yeah. An oligarch, right?”

He nods, eyes on his other friends for a moment. “Sergei grew up needing to know what was happening just in case things went badly. It was a matter of life and death for him and his family. Now that he’s an adult, he still tends to do backgroundchecks on those around him, eavesdrop on conversations, simply out of habit. Please understand it’s not because he thinks bad of Coach?—”

“What did he hear, Alek?” I don’t like the sound of this at all.

He winces as he says, “He overheard Coach talking trades. Said he wants to shake up the roster, that we’ve become too complacent for his liking.”

“Fuck.” He’ll give me a chance to fix my reputation first, won’t he? Of course, he will. Coach is a good guy, and I just got Keke. He’s not going to trade me yet.

Unless he’s tired of my shit.

I shake off the thought. “What else did Coach say?”

“That was all Sergei heard before he saw Coach’s shadow approaching and he had to bail. Almost lost his listening device.”

“So, really, we don’t know much.”

“Da,” he replies with a shrug. “But it sounds like someone will be leaving the team and I don’t like it.”

Lucas, the new kid, rounds the corner and leans on the lockers, smirk on his face, arms folded. “You hear the news yet, Luke?”

I'm not about to admit to anything. “Enlighten me.”

He shrugs but the smug look on his face tells me everything I need to know. Something is happening, something big. And he knows more about it than I do.

A sinking feeling settles into the pit of my stomach.

Chapter 8

Keke

It feels strange waking up in Luke’s condo. The luxe living space is nothing like mine. My place is cozy—a nice way to say small. But Atlanta is expensive, and job hopping hasn’t helped. Luke’s place is a whole other world, especially the kitchen.

The faucet has hot running water—a simple luxury but one I don’t have—and the garbage disposal sounds like it could take an arm off. The stove looks like it belongs in an industrial kitchen, and the refrigerator is as big as my bedroom closet. The countertops are marble along with the floor. In short, it’s a modern fantasy kitchen, and it’s hardly used at all.

The glass walls give me a clear view of the city skyline, but no matter how beautiful the view is, it still doesn’t feel like home. At least not yet.

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