Page 10 of The Puck Decoy

I close the gap between us and lower my voice to only be heard by her. “Yes and think about how this looks,” I tell her. Does she not realize what being fake engaged to be married entails?

“It looks like my financé is a raging psychopath,” she spits at me, that fiery temper that only I ever seem to bring out of her finally making an appearance, which brings the attention of our current problem even closer.

Archer steps into her side once more looking concerned. “Hals, what the hell is going on?” he asks her, and the nickname breeds more familiarity between them than I thought.

I stand back and assess the two of them again. She doesn’t look uncomfortable in his presence, there is no fake mask on her face, and she lets him touch her. “Is there something going on between the two of you that I should know about?” I demand, and while Archer now looks amused by the direction of my thoughts, Hallie just looks exasperated.

“Of course there is nothing going on between us, Archer is my friend.” Her tone sounds sincere, and I soften slightly, knowing she isn’t one to lie, but then Archer cuts in before I can answer.

He slings his arm around her shoulder again, only this time his focus is on me as he gleams, “Well, that’s not technically true, Sanders, what about our night on Halloween?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, and I watch a blush spread up Hallie’s neck.

“What the fuck happened on Halloween?”

“Nothing, it was nothing, just a stupid kiss in a game,” she rushes out the words in desperation, none of them making me feel better, and all the while Archer just smiles in a way that reminds me why his best friend is Nova Darkmore.

“Oh I wouldn’t call it nothing, Hals, I still think about it when I’m all alone in my room at night,” Archer muses, moving towards her and making kissing noises.

“Archer, I swear to god,” I start, taking a step towards him, but Hallie is quick to step in between us, pressing her hands into my chest and pushing me backwards.

“Think how it looks,” she repeats my words back to me, and I lift my gaze to the people still surrounding us and waiting for more of a show.

I huff, but let her body restrain me as she turns towards my teammate. “Archer, just go, I’ll call you later, okay?”

“No, she won’t,” I mutter at her back, and she cuts me with a scathing look as Archer laughs.

“Whatever you say, Sanders,” he shrugs, looking between the two of us one last time before he saunters off in the direction of the gym.

We both watch him leave, a few other people joining him in their retreat until we are mostly alone, which is when she turns on me. “What the hell was that?” she snaps, pushing me in the chest, and I stumble back in surprise at her outburst. “You can’t just ignore me for days and then show up at my classes and accost me, Joshua, I’m not your fucking pet.”

Her anger shocks me, and the only thing I can do in defense is go on the offense. “No but you are my fiancée, and people need to believe that, so the only hockey player who should be hanging off your damn neck is me.” I know my argument is ridiculous, but for this plan to work, everyone needs to believe that our engagement is real.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, he was not hanging off my neck, Archer is just like that, he is touchy feely with everyone.” She shrugs, standing her ground completely, and all it does is infuriate me even more.

“Well he can be that way with everyone except the person who is going to be my wife,” I tell her, not backing down from our heated discussion.

“Do you see a ring,” she claps back, holding up her empty finger. “I’m not your wife yet, Joshua.” She drags my name out like it offends her, and I have to crack my neck to stop myself from losing my temper any further.

“No, but you will be, come Spring,” I tell her in contempt, shoving my phone at her, allowing her to read the countless emails that discuss the venue, the flowers, the food, and more.

I watch as her eyes scan across my phone reading message after message until she finally sighs in defeat, “Well, shit.” Shit indeed. I see her shoulders tense as she takes in the amount of information about a wedding neither of us wants until she shakes her head and shoves my phone back at me. “None of this is ideal, but it’s not an excuse for you to be rude to me, or my friends,” she scolds, her mask of indifference now perfectly back in place.

“Archer Gray is not your friend, he’s the campus whore,” I snap in anger, and I see the corner of her mouth tug up into a slight smirk, yet still she holds her ground as she stares at me. “Fine, I’m sorry,” I add, not even sounding convincing to my own ears and still she just glares. “Hals, come on,” I plead in a softer tone. “I’m sorry, okay, it’s just everything is stressing me out, my father has invited us to dinner which will no doubt be another test,” I snarl as my phone starts ringing in my hand, and I spy the number that won’t leave me alone. “And this damn fucking wedding planner won’t stop calling me and I just feel like everything is out of my control.”

The words tumble out of me and I see Hallie’s demeanor finally soften as she sighs, stepping towards me, plucking my phone from my hand and rejecting the call. “So take back the control,” she tells me simply, her thick lashes fluttering as she looks up at me.

“This weddingwasme taking back control, but apparently I can’t even get that right.” I don’t mean to sound so self-deprecating, but when you spend your entire life being told you are good for nothing in private, and god's gift in public, it’s bound to give you a complex.

Ignoring my outburst, Hallie looks at me the same way she always does, without pity, without shame, without reason, and for a second I get lost in her stare. Just like always it calms me, but then she opens her mouth. “Let’s get married,” she statessimply, so simply that I can’t help but laugh at how infuriated she makes me.

“Hallie, we are getting married, I asked you like four times, remember? You made me get on my knees,” I recall for her, and that almost smirk turns into a full on knowing smile.

“Oh trust me, Joshua, I remember you on your knees for me vividly,” she purrs, in what sounds a lot like flirting, that it almost throws me off, before she adds, “I meant now, let’s get married now, this week, our way, take back the control.”

I mull over her words in my mind, thinking she is crazy at first, but then I realize her idea is perfect. My father wants control over every little detail so he can boast about it to all of his friends, well not this time. This time I am going to beat him, and Hallie is going to help me.

“My father wants us over for dinner on Sunday afternoon,” I tell her, and all she does is shrug.

“So let’s get married on Saturday,” she replies simply. So simple and matter of fact that I can’t even respond, I just stare at her. There is no one around us anymore yet still she closes the space separating us and places her hands against my rapidly beating heart. “Josh, the only upper hand your father has is holding the wedding over your head, so take it from him, then take him down.”

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