Page 90 of Once Upon a Fake Date

I kissed the top of my forehead. “Thank you. Best girlfriend I could have asked for.”

Her eyes glittered with emotion. Maybe she noticed I didn’t sayfake.

Tilting her chin up, I stared into those violet irises for a beat before pressing a soft kiss against her lips. “It’s my ex.”

“Your ex?” Audrey repeated.

“Yeah. She texted me. Apparently, she’s coming to the game this weekend.”

“What?” Her eyes widened, and she furrowed her brows. “But… why?”

I sighed. “That’s the question of the hour, really. I guess she wants to talk.”

“Do you think she’s trying to get you back?” Audrey wrapped her arms around herself. She was wearing a pretty pink wrap sweater over her dress today, all of her hair piled on top of her head in a tight bun except for her bangs and a few strands in the front.

God, she was beautiful.

A snort slipped from me before I could stop it. “She’d be stupid to try. I don’t want to be with her.”

Audrey fidgeted with her sleeve. “You don’t?”

“No.” I curled one of her loose strands of hair around my finger. “I don’t.”

I didn’t want my ex—I wanted her. I hoped she knew that.

She let out a breath. “Okay. Should we go try that lift again?”

Kissing her again, a little deeper this time, I intertwined our fingers. “Yeah. Let’s go, sunshine.”

Her smile was enough to brighten my entire day, all thoughts of my ex and my former teammates coming here forgotten for now.

My heart was racingas I stood in midfield, waiting for play to resume. It was the third period of the game, and we were up by two, but it wasn’t a big enough lead for me to feel comfortable. We’d won the last face-off, but lost the ball, and the opposing team had gotten the last goal.

We both had our best face-off players out there—Taylor for CU, while Dallas, one of my old buddies, was on the opposing side. The two met in the middle, leaning down toward the ball as the ref made the call, holding position until the whistle blew. Finally, we were back in play, both battling for the ball. Taylor pulled it away, sending it towards me, and I was immediately in motion.

Scooping up the ball, I rocked it back and forth with the head, keeping it in place as I raced to the net. The shot clock was ticking, telling me I had less than sixty seconds left to attempt a shot on goal.

I could see Samuel out of the corner of my eye, ready to take the pass as the other team’s players caught up with me. Lining myself up to send the ball to him, Raf came out of nowhere, swinging his stick forcefully at me, taking the wind out of me.

The ball fell to the ground, and I winced, thankful for all the protective gear on my head and chest. Though I was sure at the angle he’d gotten me, I’d have a nasty bruise on my arm later.

A whistle blew, thank fuck.

“Rhode Island number thirty-three, two-minute penalty for slashing!” The ref made the hand signal, and Rafael glared at me as he headed to the penalty box.

Samuel came up to me, patting me on the back. “What the fuck was that for? That felt personal.”

I took a long pull from my water bottle as I sat on the bench. “It was.” How could I explain my girlfriend had cheated on me with him? I didn’t know why he was trying to get revenge on me, though. It should have been the other way around.

Except, I didn’t care. Maybe I should, but I didn’t.

He raised an eyebrow as Derek came over, standing in front of us. “You good, Maxwell?”

I nodded. “Will be, after we kick their asses.”

“That’s my boy.” He pumped his fist in the air. “Let’s get ‘em.”

CHAPTER 27

---