Page 34 of The Puck Decoy

Game, set, match, burn.

I’ve never been one for confrontation, it’s not in my nature, and as her words hit me like a brick wall, I have to force myself not to react.

“Oh yeah?” Archer drawls, taking more delight in the situation than I am. “Then how do you explain this?” He pulls the folded up newspaper featuring the picture of Josh and me from Saturday, and displays it flat on the desk in front of him for her to see. “It was a lovely ceremony, half the team was there,” he boasts, and technically he isn’t even lying.

Brianna snatches it up and her jaw drops, like actually drops open wide as she stares at the picture of us, her smile long gone. “This is unbelievable,” she mutters, before casting her dark stare towards me. “I didn’t even know you guys were dating, and no offense but you’re not exactly his type.”

Another hit right in the fucking gut.

Why is it when people say no offense, they always follow it up with something really offensive? I’m all for being a girl’s girl, but seriously, right now, fuck this bitch.

I smile as sweetly as I can manage. “Well I’m a private person, and my husband respects that, and I haven’t slept with anyone else on his hockey team, so maybe that holds some appeal to him.”

Archer snickers beside me as her jaw drops even wider at the sound of someone dishing her the same disrespect she goes around giving others. “That’s funny because out of themanygirls I know Josh has slept with, he didn’t respect any of them, and trust me, there are a lot. You might wanna remember that while you're on your knees for him,” she smiles, before adding. “Maybe I’ll remind him of all the fun we’ve had together next time I see him.”

Bile rises in my throat and I have no reasonable comeback to her statement, because what can I say? That as his wife, I in fact, don’t know anything about what he is like in the bedroom? How stupid would that be?

“Oh fuck off you little viper,” Archer snarls, clearly done with her mouth. “Josh hasn’t touched you in over a year, and I have to be a bottle deep into anything before even thinking about coming near you, so do us all a favor and disappear.”

His words have my eyes bugging out of my head, nevermind hers, and I can’t help but feel sorry for her a little. That is, until she flips her hair and replies, “Give my love to Nova, he alwayshad the best dick anyway.” Before sauntering away to the other side of the room.

“Well that was fun,” I say dryly, trying and failing to shake off the whole interaction, when Archer crowds into my space.

“Fucking ignore that bitch, Hals, Josh has had a no touching rule on you from the moment you arrived, and now we all know why. Unlike her, he actually cares about you, hence that pretty little diamond ring you are now toting around. So some people might be jealous, but fuck them, you’re the one who gets to keep him forever.”

His words are kind and are obviously meant to make me feel better, but really they hurt me more than everything Brianna just said, because they aren’t true. Yes I am wearing his ring, and I am his wife, but that’s it, it’s just a ring and a piece of paper, nothing more. I will never know him like those girls do, and he will never know how much I wish all of this was real.

“Thanks, Arch,” I force out, because short of confessing my love for Josh to him– which he wouldn’t understand–I have nothing else to say. I focus back on my drink and drain the rest of my hot chocolate, just in time for our professor to arrive and our class to begin.

I spend the next hour making notes, yet not really taking in a single thing our teacher is saying, and by the time we are done and are ready to pack up, I feel so drained that I could literally pass out. I should go home, I have a ton of homework to catch up on from over the weekend, and I know climbing into bed with Percy would make this day feel a whole lot less horrible, but for some reason I can’t make myself do it.

“Are you heading over to practice now?” I ask Archer, as he moves to leave, and he pauses to look at me.

I’m not sure what he sees on my face but it has him holding out his arm for me to hook mine through. “I certainly am, wouldyou like me to escort you to the viewing area so you can perve on your husband, Mrs. Peters?”

I scoff a laugh in the hopes of trying to deny what he just said, but then I remember he believes the lie we have painted, the one that isn’t that hard a lie for me as I reply, “Yeah, actually, I think that is exactly what I need.”

Which is how I find myself freezing my ass off at the rink as Archer leaves me to rush off and get changed, and I move round the bleachers until I reach my best friend. “Looks like we both had the same idea,” I muse, as I find Maddie sitting in one of the lower rows with her phone out.

She has always been a staple here, constantly coming to watch Josh’s practice and games to show him some support, and I’ve joined her many times, but I think her presence has more to do with the team captain than her brother these days.

Her eyes flick to mine in surprise, before she moves her bag to make space for me. “Nova and I are having dinner with his mom after this, so I said I’d meet him here,” she smiles wistfully, and it makes me so happy to see her so comfortable and in love.

They are still in the honeymoon phase, so it’s basically night after night of listening to her headboard bang against the wall, but hey that’s what ear defenders are for, right? I’m so happy for her, hence why it was easy to agree to Josh’s insane wedding plan, because it means she gets to have this.

“How is my favorite sister-in-law?” she asks with a smirk, and I roll my eyes as I plonk myself down next to her.

“Tired and cranky,” I tell her, as I search my bag for a snack and she laughs. “I didn’t sleep last night, and then they were sold out of my usual lunches in the cafeteria which means I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“I mean, you could've just had something else,” she starts before she trails off and laughs again. “Sorry, forgot who I was talking to for a second there.” Then she takes pity on me andreaches into her own bag, pulling out a chocolate muffin and handing it to me.

“Neeve?” I question, wondering if the muffin is from one of her bodyguards' wives who always sends food and treats for us, and she nods. “God, I love you,” I mumble, taking a big bite, before adding, “And I love Neeve.” The muffin is delicious and hits just the spot, right in time for the players to start filtering out onto the ice.

I spy the number nineteen first, and his eyes automatically search the stands until they land on Maddie, and then he is skating over towards us without pause.

“You’re not wearing my jersey, Princess, I thought I warned you about that,” he teases, ignoring his coach as he yells at him to start warming up.

“Nova, I can’t wear it everyday and then in bed, it would get too dirty,” she complains, but all he does is shake his head.

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