Page 90 of Three Pucking Words
Bodhi’s head cocks, and recognition has his eyes narrowing curiously. “Did you say Decker, as in—”
“Decker Sports Systems,” Max cuts in, with the same cocky grin he always has when talking about himself. “Did Honor tell you about our hockey games? I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to get them out if it weren’t for her.”
I want to shrink. To disappear.
Of courseBodhi would have heard about Max Decker and his stupid multi-million-dollar video game franchise. It started off as a pipe dream that didn’t seem like it was going to go anywhere. After all, plenty of games existed within the sports realm already. But my ex-husband believed he could make the hockey version of Madden into the next best-selling game in the industry.
And he did.
Bodhi doesn’t react as though this is all new information to him. “I don’t suppose those unanswered texts you mentioned were leading to her helping you with more games, were they?”
The question has me glancing up at him, then over at Max. Max’s grin slips only a fraction by being called out.
“Maybe I just wanted to talk to my girl,” Max tells him in challenge. It seems bold considering Max, who’s by no means short, looks small in comparison to the pro hockey player who’s even closer to me than before.
“Funny,” Bodhi muses dryly. Heat surfaces on my face as his arm tightens around me, locking me against his ribcage. I suck in a breath when his fingers massage the soft, fleshy part of my hip. “She sure doesn’t look like your girl right now.”
Mom clears her throat. “Oh, boys. No need for a measuring contest.”
But the ‘boys’ ignore her.
And so do I.
“Guess I should have known this would happen,” Max says, studying the way Bodhi holds me. “You always were a chubby chaser, weren’t you, Hoffman?”
I choke on the breath I take. Becauseseriously? This prick knows I’ve been sensitive about my weight since I started gaining it. He watched me try fad diet after fad diet with no luck or result. And he brings my weight into this?
For the first time since Max and my mother approached me, Bodhi takes a lengthy step forward with his fist clenched. “I swear to God, if you say another word about her—”
I put a hand on his chest, afraid of what he might do. “He’s not worth it,” I tell him, meaning every syllable of it.
Max baits him, not paying me any mind. “Or what, Hoffman? You’ll hit me? Go ahead. That sounds like a great payday to me. I’ve got a few more ideas that could really improve the next game launch and that kind of money would—”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Bodhi all but growls.
I hold up a hand toward both of them, looking only at Max. “Do you care about anything that we’ve been through? About hurting my feelings? Or is the only thing you think about how to get more money for yourself and your stupid game?”
The man I married, who took so many of my firsts, who I thought would be mylast, says the one thing that puts the final nail in my coffin. “It was never anything personal, Honor. We both know you got plenty of benefits from it.”
Benefits.I know exactly what he’s referring to, but I would give back every single penny that was awarded to me if it meant saving my peace of mind. If it meant not going through amarriage that inevitably broke a part of me, I would give it all up no questions asked.
Bodhi reaches out and cups my hand when he sees me tense. And Ihatethat Max is right.Hatethat I can’t deny it.
I haven’t touched the money I got from the divorce settlement, even though I could have. I could have moved anywhere in the country. Hell. I could have gone anywhereoutof the country. If I swallow my pride, I’d have my own place in the city rather than living at my father’s guest house.
My lawyer told me I should have requested more considering my family’s funding in the company that continues to grow, but I didn’t want more money. I didn’t want the boy in front of me to hold it over to my head.Justlike he is now.
“Now, now,” Mom cuts back in, reminding me she’s there to watch the pitiful downfall of my dignity. “Fighting won’t get us anywhere.”
I shoot her a look. “Why are you even here? And why did you have to make a scene where I work? You’re banned for life, in case you’re wondering.”
Her eyebrows go up. “Is it a crime to want to see my daughter?”
It is when you’ve never given a shit about me before,I almost say. I catch myself, burying the hate-filled words. “We both know that’s bullshit, so why don’t you try again? Because I highly doubt it’s a coincidence that you and Max are here at the same time.”
They’re both from the city, but Max thrived in Chicago. He insisted he’d never leave, unless it was to go to California where the headquarters of the company that bought out his game is located. He made us move because New York was a “dead end” in his career.
There’s a strategic reason he’s here, and I know my mother is involved somehow. Unless her current man is loaded, something tells me Max is the one who decided to fund her hotel stay.
