Page 28 of Breakaway to You

Piper opened her mouth to tell him what I assumed was no, but my body was already up and moving.

I put my arm around her and tucked her against my side. “Yes, she is.”

Her body stiffened next to mine, and I squeezed her shoulder, silently telling her I got this.

Jordan’s eyes bugged out. “You?” He shook his head. “No way. Piper wouldn’t go for a has-been when she could have me.”

Piper’s arm wrapped around my waist, her eyes narrowing on Jordan. “He’s not a has-been. He’s the player who had an assistanda goal tonight, onyourwatch.” Her hackles were raised, and knowing it was for me was extremely hot.

Jordan looked between the two of us, his features angrily distorting his face. “You thinkIgo from woman to woman?” He looked at Piper incredulously, pointing at me. “He’s notorious for it. He’s not worth it, I can promise you that.”

Piper’s grip on my waist tightened, and I inwardly cringed at Jordan’s words. He was exaggerating, but it wasn’t exactly false. My reputation was more for not settling down rather than making the rounds with lots of women. Yeah, I’d never been seen in public with the same woman twice, but that didn’t make me a cheater.

“I don’t go from woman to woman when I’m committed to one,” I growled. “And what I feel for Piper is different. She’s the only woman I want.” It surprised me that with those words, I didn’t have to lie. What I felt for Piperwasdifferent, and shewasthe only woman I thought about—couldn’tstopthinking about.

He rolled his eyes at me. “Different. Sure.”

“I’m not your girlfriend anymore.” Her voice was harsh. “I can do whatever I want and date whomever I want. My life is none of your business.”

Jordan’s jaw clenched, his lips pressed together. “I’m not giving up, Piper.” He pointed at the two of us. “I don’t believe this for a second. Eventually we’ll be back together.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

A full minute passed while the two of us continued to stare at the open doorway, Piper still under my arm. My brain tried to catch up with everything that had happened, but it was a lot to untangle. Had I really said I was Piper’s boyfriend?

I hadn’t planned on jumping up and claiming to be Piper’s new love interest, but the way he’d kept pushing her, insinuating that they would be getting back together eventually, had made me want to shut it down so forcefully that he wouldn’t bother her again. And what better way than to say she was in a relationship with someone else? Her having a new boyfriend was a sure-fire way of letting Jordan know she’d move on. Except it seemed like he wasn’t buying the charade I’d put on and would still be harassing her about getting back together. So now my plan didn’t sound so great.

Piper pushed away from me. “What the heck was that?”

Chapter11

Piper

What had he been thinking? Pretending to be my boyfriend? I’d been so surprised by his statement, I hadn’t had a chance to deny it. But then Jordan had insulted Zeke, and I couldn’t let that slide. Zeke was twice the player Jordan was, and from the little bit I did know about him, a better person too. I was not proud of how blind I had been to who Jordan really was.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” Whether his look of surprise was from my outrage or how he had gotten us into a fake relationship, I wasn’t sure.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” I asked, throwing my arms out to my sides. “Why did you tell him you’re my boyfriend?”

“I was trying to help you.” He mirrored me, throwing up his arms as well, like I was the exasperating one.

“Help me? I didn’t need your help.” Jordan was annoying but nothing I couldn’t handle. “Especially if that help is you being my fake boyfriend.”

I couldn’t even believe that sentence had just come out of my mouth. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be talking to Zeke Lawson about being my boyfriend, even a fake one.

“It’s not like it was premeditated,” he said, running a hand through his hair, something I noticed he did often. “I saw that punk badgering you, and I wanted to put an end to it, so I did. I didn’t necessarily think it all the way through.”

“You think?” I shook my head, closing my eyes. What was I going to do if word got around that Zeke and I were dating? Would my job be at risk? Would the other players treat me differently?

I had tried so hard, since I got the job with the Wolves, to remain as professional as possible with the athletes. I didn’t want a repeat of what had happened with Jordan. I didn’t even want anything that could be misconstrued as something going on between me and a player. Now, here I was in a pretend relationship with one.

Although if I had to be in a fake relationship with someone, Zeke was a great choice. But that was beside the point.

“Maybe we can pretend this whole thing didn’t happen,” I suggested, desperate to fix the situation. “It was just the three of us in here, so no one else is the wiser.”

He nodded. “True. And it’s not like we’ll be seeing Jordan again soon.”

My shoulders relaxed a little. Everything was going to be fine. It didn’t seem like Zeke and I were actually going to have to fake being a couple.

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