Page 111 of Call the Shots
I didn’t really believe Elijah. King being a shitty boyfriend was one thing, him having a violent, fucked-up past was another. Holy fuck. Was June making excuses for him? Was that why she was fine with him never coming over? I sank to the bench in the locker room. “About King? Yeah.”
“I didn’t think you’d find out,” she admitted. “I wanted to tell you but my NDA is solid, and I’d never want to hurt King.”
“What’s an NDA?”
“A nondisclosure agreement, saying I wouldn’t talk about anything that’s happened between us.”
“What?”
“I can’t believe this. If Elijah knows, half of the hockey team knows about the fake relationship?—”
I jerked up. “The what?”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Fakewhat?”
“Fake relationship?” June paused. “Wait…?”
“What the fuck is a fake relationship?”
“Isn’t that what…you wanted to…talk about?”
“Uh, no, I wanted to talk about how King has charges from high school.”
Silence.
“Um…” June struggled with her words. “I—I told you? I’ve been so worried about everyone else slipping up—you need to sign an NDA too. Oh my god?—”
“What’s a fake relationship?” I repeated, confused.
“A fake relationship is where you’re ‘dating’ for the cameras,” June explained, like she wasn’t smashing into me like the window in the rage room. My heart stopped so suddenly, I could feel it when it started pumping again. “We've been doing it since freshman year. I’m not actually dating him, he’s like my brother.”
“Bear?” Denali strolled in. “Where’d you put the screwdriver?”
I yanked down the phone. “If you interrupt this conversation, I’ll punch you in the throat so hard, you’ll have to whistle calls to the team.”
“Jesus Christ.” He backed up. “Fine.”
I shifted away from him, hiding the call. “So, dating…?”
“Oh, yeah, important conversation,” Denali muttered on his way out.
“No, not dating. Wow. I can’t believe you know. I thought Elijah was telling you about the weird situation we have.”
“Uhhh…” My ears were ringing. “What?”
I didn’t speak for the rest of the call as June unloaded backstory about Coach Lawson and how her football friends owed him everything, especially King. I couldn’t focus worth a damn because my brain kept spinning with the new information.
“Sorry, I’m using you as a diary,” she apologized. “I’ve been holding this in.”
“You can unload on me any day.”
“Really? Thank you, Bear.” She hesitated. “The lawyers will email you an NDA. If you sign it, I’ll tell you everything.”
