Page 117 of The Proposal Pact
How am I supposed to focus on the game when he looks like that?
“Stop staring or we’ll miss the whole first period of the game and our food will be cold,” Clover says, yet not even bothering to hide his smug grin. The bastard knows exactly what he’s doing to me and my vagina.
He sits next to me, the heat of his skin warming up mine as the scent of his shower gel makes me lightheaded in the best of ways.
I’mdyinghere, in short, while he starts scooping up the food.
“I hate you,” I mutter, and he chuckles. The sound low and sexy, damn it.
“Hate you back, little menace.”
“Man, I wish those coral plates would be all done already. Don’t you think they’d look good here?”
“I hate you even more right now.” I send him a glare with no heat behind it and Clover knows it, breaking into a fit of chuckles because the guy doesn’t waste a single moment to tease me over it.
So, my love for coral is still a work in progress, but no way will I decline those gifts from his mom.
With a dramatic huff, I make a plate for myself, and we get lost in the hockey game. This has been our routine for the past two weeks. It took one mention of how much I enjoyed watching it with him, and he hasn’t missed a game ever since.
On nights when he has to stay at the station longer, we watch the game in the break room. Yes, Clover still gives me shit for the beers that I smuggled in there, and yes, I do it the next time again as well.
I don’t know if it’s because this marriage is fake and all that, but living with Clover has been as easy as breathing. Where I thought I’d have to adjust to someone else and spend my days compromising, is not the case here. No, it simply feels like nothing in my life changed. Only got a hundred times better.
Sava, the Outlaws goalie, is on a roll today, saving puck after the puck from all angles, and soon enough, Outlaws score the first goal of the game as the crowd boos them.
“Ugh, I’d boo your ass if I was there! So what, it’s not your home team, acknowledge talent where it’s deserved! Did you all see that goal Abel just scored? Did you see the angle?” I shout at the undignified crowd.
Clover chuckles silently. “Easy, killer, they won’t allow me to carry my gun in there.”
“In where?” I ask, but my eyes are back on the screen, watching the faceoff.
“Into the arena.”
“Why would you need to go into the arena with a gun?”
Anez wins the faceoff and makes a pass to Abel.
“To defend you against the crowd you are so determined to decimate. Or maybe I should worry about the crowd more.”
“Huh? Clover, you’re not making any sense—oh, come on!” I cry out when the puck misses the net. “Wait, do you have some kind of assignment at an arena? You haven’t told me about that.”
“A game, Sophie. We have a game to watch at the arena.”
“What game?”
“Outlaws versus Vipers. I got us tickets, didn’t I tell you already?”
I freeze, slowly turning toward Clover who just spoke so nonchalantly, you’d think we were discussing our grocery list for the next week and not tickets to an Outlaws game.
“Didn’t you tell me?” I utter slowly, bulging my eyes out at him and then scream, “NO! No, you did not tell me! Clover! Are you freaking serious right now? You got us tickets? As in, me and you?”
“Um, yes?”
“But that’s like a five-hour drive from here.”
“Sure, something like that. You said last week at the diner that you wanted to see them, no?” I stare at him, my mouth opens as tears start to sting my eyes. “Oh, hell, are you going to cry right now?”
“No? Yes? Maybe?” I tell him through a teary voice.
