Page 36 of Breakaway to You

I thought Zeke couldn’t get any hotter, but I was wrong. Possessive Zeke was extremely sexy, and this side of him was now my new favorite.

“All right, all right,” Holden sighed before turning to me. “How good are you at darts?”

“Why don’t you play me and find out?” I asked. My voice held a hint of sass while I gave him a saccharine smile.

Zeke let out a low chuckle before pulling me close and placing a light kiss on my cheek, like my sassiness was endearing to him.

Oh, heaven help me. Pretending to be Zeke’s girlfriend was turning out to be way better than anything I could have imagined. That kiss really had been out of this world, and with the possessive way he held me against him and how he refused to stay here unless I stayed with him, my resolve was crumbling.

This man was all sorts of trouble. Trouble for my job. Trouble for my reputation. Trouble for my no-more-hockey-players rule.

But most of all…trouble for my heart.

Chapter14

Zeke

Tonight had gone very differently than I’d expected. I figured I’d do my post-game therapy session with Piper and then head back to the hotel alone. Never would I have imagined blurting out being Piper’s boyfriend, then following her to a bar, then locking lips in the sexiest kiss of my life, then ending the night playing darts with the team, her by my side as we committed to the fake relationship. It was like I had stepped into an alternate reality. One that I was finding way more enjoyable than my actual life.

I’d been lying in bed replaying the night’s events. I might have replayed a particular part of our evening a few times, but anyone who had experienced a kiss like that wouldn’t blame me.

As I thought of Piper, I reached for my phone. It was late, but it hadn’t been that long since we’d said good night in the elevator. I guessed spending the whole evening with her hadn’t been enough—now I wanted to text her. Just to tell her thank you for being a good sport. Not because I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Zeke

Thanks for sticking around tonight.

I stared at my phone, hoping she was still awake. Soon the ellipses appeared on my screen, and I smiled.

Piper

You didn’t really give me a choice.

That was true. If I’d had any hope of enjoying my time in a bar, then she’d had to be with me. That just wasn’t my scene anymore. But apparently now wherever Piper was—that was my scene.

Zeke

Sorry I was so caveman-ish tonight.

Piper

Don’t be.

I liked it.

I sat up in bed at her response. Was she flirting with me?

Yes, we’d flirted at the bar in front of everyone, trying to sell that we were a couple, but now that it was just the two of us texting from our separate hotel rooms with no prying eyes, there was no need to keep up the pretense.

I sat there staring at my screen, wondering how I should respond. Should I say something flirty back? Should I move on to another topic to keep the conversation going? Or was I supposed to not reply and end the conversation here? I had only wanted to thank her, and I had done that.

I rubbed a hand down my face. Gosh, it had been so long since I’d liked a girl this much. I had no clue what I was doing. I felt like I was in high school again.

Come to think of it, I might have actually been more confident in high school. I had referred to myself as The Zeke Man, after all. And then with Anna I had never worried about what to say next or how to act. I’d always been a confident guy. Some might even say overly confident.

With Piper, though, I was feeling anything but confident.

Zeke

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