Page 69 of Ice Ice Maybe
“No?” Mitch said, a triumphant gleam in his eye. “I did some research and I know all about you, Nolan Reid from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”
Another background check? Seriously?
“You used to play hockey,” Mitch continued. “Obviously not very well since you never made it to the pros like me. You use that skiing accident and milk that pathetic limp as an excuse to get people to believe you were forced to quit playing, but youcouldn’t handle the heat, and you gave up like the freaking pansy you are.”
“Leave him alone, Mitch,” Zena interjected.
Mitch ignored her. “You’re not even a couple, and I have proof.”
I barked out my best fake-laugh and tried to sound confident even though I was paranoid he’d found out. “Sure you do.”
“I’m serious, pretty boy,” Mitch snarled. “I scoured your social media, looking for clues, because something didn’t smell right. Then I found it. It was all there in black and white. I’ve seen it in the movies. The girl gets her friend to pretend he’s her boyfriend, to make the ex jealous. The difference is, you are the one who got Zena to agree to be your girlfriend because you want everything I have. You wanted revenge and were trying to piss me off so I would play like crap.”
Quite the opposite, Einstein.
“You’re grasping at straws,” I said. “And where is this proof you’re talking about?”
“On your Instagram page,” Mitch said. “You posted a selfie when you were walking on the beach in Carlsbad. You said life is good and you used the hashtag ‘single life.’”
“Big deal,” Zena said. “It was obviously before we met.”
Mitch smirked. “It was two weeks ago.”
Zena froze, and I swallowed hard as our plan started unraveling before our eyes. I desperately tried to come up with something that sounded legit to cover my mistake. But before I could say anything, Mitch continued.
“Don’t bother with excuses,” he sneered. “If this was really serious between you two and you’ve been seeing each other as long as you claimed, I would see a ring on that finger, which I don’t. So, the question is, why don’t you want to marry her? I’ll tell you why. Because this is a scam!” Mitch pushed me, his face contorted with anger.
Something snapped inside me.
I didn’t like Mitch having the upper hand, and before I could consider the ramifications of my actions, I pulled open the dresser drawer and grabbed Mr. Dalton’s ring. I opened the box and shoved it in Mitch’s face.
“Happy with this proof?” I said. “We’re engaged. I have to get the ring sized, but that can wait.” I pulled the ring from the box, trying not to look surprised at how big the diamond was, then walked over to Zena’s bed, grabbed her hand, and jammed it on her finger. “There. Now, you know. We kept it secret for a while, thinking Mr. Dalton wouldn’t approve. It was really hard for me to pretend I wasn’t madly in love.”
Mitch looked stunned by my action, and come to think of it, so did Zena. But she had nothing to worry about. This should get rid of Mitch once and for all.
Mitch shook his head repeatedly, looking in complete denial. “No way. I don’t believe it. When’s the wedding?”
I quickly scrambled for an answer, saying the first date that popped into my head. “The twenty-eighth of this month. A Saturday. It’s an intimate gathering, and the team isn’t invited. Just family and very close friends.”
Luckily, I had remembered the date of Zena’s parents' anniversary, just in case Mitch looked at a calendar to see if it was a Saturday.
Mitch looked completely deflated, all the air squeezed out of his party balloon. He hesitated, nodded, then said, “Well, if that’s the case, there’s only one thing I can do.”
Finally, he was going to leave us alone.
“I’m quitting the team,” he said.
He turned and headed to the door.
“What?” Zena and I exclaimed in unison.
As Mitch’s words hung in the air, Zena’s eyes locked with mine in a moment of shared panic. In that split second, we bothrealized our little charade had just spiraled into a full-blown catastrophe that could tear apart the entire team.
“Wait!” Zena called out, leaping from the bed and rushing past me in herSimpson’sT-shirt. “You can’t quit the team.”
Mitch spun around, his eyes flickering with confusion at her attire before hardening again. “I can do whatever I want.”
“The team needs you,” Zena pleaded with desperation. “Plus, you signed a contract. Are you really going to throw away fifty million dollars?”
