Page 67 of The Pucking Proposal

My head whips to my sister, my eyes wide, and I quickly scan the room, looking for Joy despite Rayleigh saying she’s not here anymore.

Shit! I’m not only busted by my sister, but Mollie knows about me and Joy!

“So you are seeing Mollie?” June accuses.

Wait. Seeing Mollie? What is she talking about?

I blink, trying to wrap my head around what they’re saying all at once. I’m not getting there fast enough apparently because June backhand smacks my chest. “Dalton!”

“What?” I grunt. Looking from June to Rayleigh, who’re both scowling at me, I sigh. “Iamhaving a secret affair, but not with Mollie.” My face screws up with revulsion at the very idea. Shaking my head, I hiss, “With Joy. But she asked me not to say anything. Damn nearbegged me not to. And then ordered me to stay quiet. Says it’s for me and Shep’s benefit so we don’t fuck up the season. So keep your fucking voice down.” I look around us to make sure no one has overheard me say the one thing I’m not supposed to say in public. Or to anyone.

June and Rayleigh lock eyes, having some sort of silent girl conversation I’m not privy to, and then they turn back to me in unison. “Wait. We need to get this figured out,” June snaps. “Who exactly are you seeing, fucking, hooking up with, dating, et cetera? Whatever you’re calling it. I need to knowallof them, One-Night. Right now.”

Hearing my nickname on my sister’s tongue disgusts me and makes me ashamed of my previous behavior. “Joy. Only Joy, for months now,” I insist.

“Seriously?” Rayleigh says again, but this time it has a completely different meaning. She sounds almost hopeful, like someone just said they’re handing out free puppies and ice cream later.

How do women do that? Make a single word have a thousand different meanings depending on tone and body language. It’s a gift, one I wish I had and could comprehend because I’m lost.

“Oh shiiit,” June mutters, looking horrified. She narrows her eyes, looking over her shoulder to scan the crowd behind her. She must see something or someone that pisses her off because she starts to move away, bowing up again like she’s about to throw hands.

I grab at her arm, dragging her attention back to me. “What’s going on?” I demand.

June swallows hard. “This is bad, Dalt. That Mollie girl introduced herself to me in the bathroom, said you and her are fucking. Well, she made it sound like alotmore than that, and a lot more recent too. She told me that you’re in a relationship but keeping it secret because she’s a cheerleader and you’re a player. Apparently, there’s some big plan to come out as a couple in the offseason so you can date publicly next season without breaking the rules.”

None of what she’s saying makes any sense. None of it’s true.

“That’s total bullshit,” I tell June. I glance at Rayleigh to see if she can make sense of it, either, but she seems as baffled as I am. “I’ve barely talked to Mollie in ages, much less done anything else with her.” I don’t have to spell out what I mean. Both women know exactly what I’m talking about given my reputation.

The fire in June’s eyes is gone, turning to dread like she doesn’t want to tell me the rest. “Joy was in the bathroom. She heard everything.”

It takes me a second to piece it all together. I feel like I still don’t understand the expressions on June’s and Rayleigh’s faces. It’s like five slap shots are flying at me at once, and I’m still catching up with everything. They look like somebody died ...

“Shit, did Joy fuck her up? Do I need to get bail money together?” Joy’s not a fighter. She’s too classy to throw down at the drop of a hat, but she is scrappy and I wouldn’t put it past her to claw Mollie’s eyes out. But surely we would’ve heard the racket if there was a catfight in the bathroom of Chuck’s. It’s busy, but that’s the kind of thing that gets noticed.

“She left,” Rayleigh intones flatly. “She was trying not to cry.”

It’s then that the full impact hits me.

Joy actually believed Mollie’s delulu-land lies. Joy just believed her, and ... left.

What the actual fuck?

I’m gonna give Joy a piece of my mind and ask what the hell is running through hers as soon as I find her, which becomes my new priority mission.

Halfway to the door, Mollie intercepts me, stepping directly in front of me and placing her hand on my chest. She smiles up at me like everything’s fine, except she’s burned my whole world to the fucking ground and is standing on the ashes of the one thing I was working so hard to build.

“Everything’s okay now, baby,” she purrs. “We’re okay.”

Red flashes in front of my vision. “What the fuck are you talking about? There is nowe, Mollie.”

She laughs like I said something funny. “Of course there is. You always come back to me.” She dips her chin, looking up at me through her lashes, and says in a pouty voice, “There was the bank teller, then me. The redhead, then me. You were supposed to fuck this one and come back like you always do, but you took too long and I got impatient, so I took care of her for us.” She walks her fingers up my chest to my cheek, where she pats me. Hard. As though she’s punishing me for a scenario that exists only in her mind.

I flinch, putting a solid foot between us as I knock her hand away because I suddenly grasp that I have had no real idea who Mollie was until now. I thought she was clingy, trying to make our few hookups into something more. I didn’t know she created an entire fantasy life in her head where we are something more than previous fuck partners.

“Took care of her?” I repeat, realization dawning. “You knew Joy was in the bathroom, listening to your lies. How long have you known about me and her?”

“A while.” Mollie waves a hand dismissively, as if Joy is a bothersome gnat in her fantasy. “But it’ll be fine now. We’ll get through the season, you’ll get the call we’ve dreamed of, and ... Oh! I already talked to June about planning your signing party. Hopefully, it’ll be a blue-and-red Otter theme so we can stay close to our friends.” She grins widely like what she’s saying makes any sense.

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