Page 44 of The Puck Decoy

“Oh gross,” Maddie complains. “Come on, Charmer, get me to the party so I can drink away the memory of my best friend saying that to my brother,” she snaps, dragging him down the hall.

“Anything for you, Grim,” he tosses back, following after her like a lost puppy, as the other guys follow him too.

When I look back at Josh he is still watching me carefully, and just as I am about to open my mouth to ask him if he’s ready to go too, he cuts me off. “Careful, Tink, because the next time you proposition me, I might just take you up on it,” he warns before pushing away from me as if that threat didn’t just fall from his lips, and all I can do is watch him leave. When I don’t instantly follow him, he turns to walk backwards towards the door as he calls out with a smirk, “Well, are you coming?”

Fuck. I just might be.

And like a dog to his bone, my feet move towards him without my permission, making him smile even wider.

“This party is going to be fun,” he adds, opening the door for me, and slipping his hand into mine as I pass by.

Even the December chill of the night sky can’t cool me down as I walk with him side by side. “I really need a drink,” I finally croak out, and all he does is laugh.

All in all it was a pretty standard Flyers game that I survived, now I just have to survive the afterparty too.

Two hours later and the party at my house is in full swing, yet the anger from the post-game confrontation is still clinging to my skin like a straitjacket.Fucking Joey. I’m not sure why his presence pissed me off so much, but when I walked out of the changing room and down the hall in search of Hallie, and I found her with him, I just saw red. Every fucking detail of the shit he said about her came rushing back, and not even the memory of the bones in his arm breaking beneath my fingers could tame me.

I was on her before I could even take my next breath, pulling her body into mine before that prick could ever lay another finger on her. The only thing that stopped me from hurting him again was her. Her body against me, her hand atop mine, both grounding me in a way I can’t really explain or understand, Ijust knew I needed to protect her. Just seeing him made me act fucking stupid, and I haven’t been able to look Hallie in the eye since we left the rink.

Careful, Tink, because the next time you proposition me, I might just take you up on it

What the fuck was I thinking saying that to her?

She’s my little sister’s best friend, my best friend, my fake wife, yet flirting with her is not only becoming easier, but also like a second nature, like I should have been doing it all along. Not that I can take all the blame, when she was the one putting such devious ideas in my head regardless of how made up they might be. This ruse is pushing against the boundaries of my restraints, especially given how long it’s been since I’ve been with someone. I’m dripping with the need for release and itching for control, and it seems the band around my finger has sent me crazy, because it has me looking at her in a way I never have before.

Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I take another sip from my beer and pretend not to watch the way her hips sway as she dances with Maddie across the room. Long gone is the jersey with my name across her back, and now every prick is staring at the way that little white top of hers clings to her breasts like a second skin. They don’t seem to care about the ring on her finger, and I seem to care way too much because I have to forcibly stop myself from going over there to show every prick here who owns her.

“You okay there, killer?” Gray asks, interrupting my thoughts, as he comes to a stop next to me and pours himself another drink.

I don’t bother looking at him as I respond, keeping my eyes on my wife, while Maddie leans in and whispers something in her ear, before turning and leaving her alone. “I’m fine, Gray,”I snap, not in the mood to make idle chit chat with him, but of course the fucker doesn’t relent.

“For someone who just gained himself a smoking hot wife, you look like someone pissed on your parade,” he muses, just as Reign joins the fray.

“Don’t fucking talk about my wife,” I snap, making him smile even wider, my eyes still watching Hallie as a few girls approach her and start talking to her.

“He’s right, Peters, you look miserable as fuck, do you want a cup of tea?” Reign asks, coming to lean on the counter beside me.

“Not everything can be solved with a cup of fucking tea, Alexander,” Archer complains, as if this is an argument they have often.

“That’s because you don’t appreciate a good Earl Grey,” he tosses back, and I do my best to drown them out.

Which isn’t hard considering Hallie’s gaze flicks from the group of girls to me, and then back again. And that’s all it takes for me to know something is wrong, and I move my focus to the girls around her, noticing someone I didn’t before.

Brianna.

“What the fuck?” I mutter aloud, making Gray and Reign stop their incessant argument, and follow my line of sight.

“Oh fuck me, Brianna’s not starting her shit again is she?” Gray complains, tossing his drink back immediately before discarding it.

Again.

“What the fuck do you mean again?” I grit, turning towards Archer, and he holds his hand up in defense.

“Hey don’t kill the messenger,” he starts, and when I take a step towards him, he quickly adds, “She was giving Hallie shit in Econ a about you guys getting married.”

His sentence is barely even finished before a fury like no other is flooding my veins. I toss my own drink into the sink and start heading towards them, ignoring the curses from both my teammates. I push through the crowds of people lingering around the downstairs of my house so I can get to her.

Coming behind them, as Brianna purrs, “What was it again, girls? Face down, ass up, and no speaking, that’s how he likes it right? All of the control and none of the emotion.” And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they are talking about, not when I’m sure I have drunkenly sunk my dick into all of them at one point or another.

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