Page 97 of Double Pucked

I hit end. That’s enough. That’s fucking enough. I don’t care that she named me after all. That she named us. But I care deeply that Trina’s getting dragged through the mud.

In her beautiful teal dress that clings to her curves, she’s frozen, drawing deep breaths.

This is not okay. I can’t let this spiral. I step away from the counter, jaw clenched, running my hand through my hair, trying to devise a plan, stat.

“I’ll fix this,” I bite out.

“It’s okay,” Trina says softly but her voice is empty. She’s clearly shocked. “I’ll be fine.”

“No. This is not fine,” I say, anger rising inside me, but also determination. I’ve spent my whole damn career as the good guy. I’m the player who’s friendly and outgoing, who plays well, wins games, and loves the sport.

I don’t fucking cause trouble.

But this? This is trouble.

And I have to fix it for everyone. For her, for me, and for my friend. He’s trying to rehab his rep, and I won’t let this blow up all his good work. Besides, we made a pact to be friends in public.

Time to implement it.

Before anyone can say a word, I spin around. “Look. You’re moving out tomorrow anyway,” I say to her. “If anyone asks, we’ll say we became fast friends. No one needs to know the date tonight was fake because it’s none of their fucking business. I’ll tell my teammates not to say a word and they’ll have my back. But I’ll let the press know you’re a friend. That’s the truth. We’re all friends.”

Ryker shakes his head, his eyes filled with fire. But he’s quiet.

“What? We are. No one fucking knows what we did. We presented to the world as friends. So we went on a date. Big deal. We’ll just say we’re friends. This is why we made a pact, guys. We made a pact the other morning to act like friends, to be friends, to effectively look out for each other as friends, right?”

Ryker breathes out hard but nods like it pains him.

“Yes. We did,” Trina says on a rough swallow. “This is the pact,” she says, getting it, like she always has. “But what about Charlotte?”

I cycle back to Friday, but I feel okay about it. “We never did anything in public. We don’t have to say a thing. People made assumptions. Abby is making assumptions. We’re just friends.”

Trina looks at me like she’s eaten something sour, but she says in a hollow voice, “Friends.”

Ryker crosses his arms. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”

I fling my arms up. “Someone has to triage. I don’t want our girl taking the fall. Do you, man?”

Ryker’s jaw ticks. “Of course I fucking don’t. But that’s not what this is about.”

I don’t need this shit right now. “Then what is this about? I’m trying to fix the problem. What are you doing?”

“Oh, excuse me. Like you gave anyone else a chance. You’re just deciding that this is the way it is.”

Seriously? He wants to argue when we have all this stuff to deal with? I am not in the mood. “I’ve had three shitty games in a row. Now the press is saying terrible things about Trina. I’m trying to fix it. The last thing we need is this blowing up and someone saying she’s a bad luck charm for me. Saying it’s her fault my team’s losing,” I say, breathing hard, like I ran a race.

Trina snaps her sad gaze to me. “They would say that,” she says heavily.

See? She gets it. She getsme. “They love to find an enemy. That fan account that loved you the other day will hate you when the team doesn’t play well. I need to play well.” I also need to calm down. A few deep breaths and I’m settled. I’m the team captain. I need to handle this thoroughly and well. “Look, if you need a PR firm to run interference, I’ll find you one.”

Ryker rolls his eyes. “She doesn’t need a fucking PR firm.”

“What does she need then?”

He doesn’t answer—just gives me ayou’re a dicklook.

I turn to Trina, wishing I could erase the situation I’ve put her in, all because I didn’t want to be set up at a wedding. “Look, I made a mistake. I should have just gone to the wedding solo. No big deal. This is my fault and I’m sorry, but I want to fix things. You get that, right? You understand me?”

I feel a little desperate. She’s always understood me. I hope to hell she still does.

---