Her eyes twinkled with humor. “Right, right. Go on, you, kissing a hot stranger. Damn, I should’ve stayed for the show.”
I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, the kiss was, uh, nice.”
“Blew your socks off, didn’t he?”
“Not the point. So we kissed and Roger got very vocal and pissed off and yelled about how I was still his.”
“Fucking prick.”
“Gabe was great, played his role perfect. But, uh, they know each other.”
Her mouth gaped. “Uh, what? No. How?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “He’s a hockey player.”
“I know Roger’s a hockey player, but that doesn’t mean he automatically knows everyone.” Then her eyes widened and she burst out laughing. “No. Gabe’s a hockey player? Are you serious?”
“Yup,” I deadpanned. “And a goalie.”
“Fucking hell. No, wait. Not the same team, right?”
I snorted. “Can you imagine? No, Gabe plays for the new Denver team. Fucking hell.” I shook my head.
“So then what happened?” She leaned forward. “Have any popcorn in here?” She smirked and I glared at her.
“Roger was a total dick. He didn’t believe we were really together and when we assured him we were, he made some comment about Gabe taking his leftovers.”
“I will kill him with a rusty shovel,” Belinda bit out.
“I told him we were done and he needed to get out and leave me alone. Miranda and Randy also backed me up and threatened to call the cops. He finally left. After that, I blocked him everywhere.”
“About damn time. Honestly, I wish you could get a restraining order on him, but we both know it would take a lot more than him just being a nuisance and a verbal asshole to get one. Has he tried to contact you since?”
“No.”
“Good, at least that’s something. So if it was just for show, what’s going on with you and Gabe now?”
“Remember when he messaged me the other day? Apparently his team played against Roger’s the night before, and Roger got in his face and was a dick.”
“Not surprising,” she muttered.
“Anyway, Roger was giving Gabe shit and pushing him to admit that we weren’t really dating, so Gabe pushed our ruse. Made it sound like we really are a couple. So he suggested we keep up the charade for a while as backup. Post some stuff online, I go to a few games, then we let it fizzle out, just to get Roger to leave me alone for good.”
Belinda nodded. “That’s crazy, but it also makes a kind of sense. And I could seriously murder Roger. What a fucking asshole. Take a no and move the fuck on, man. He clearly doesn’t hear that word enough, and I’m glad you got out before it got worse. Do you think he might escalate?”
“I honestly don’t know. He was a decent guy in the beginning, but as soon as he got controlling, I knew I needed to end it. I thought I broke it off early enough, and I definitely didn’t expect him to keep hassling me and try to get me back. Do you think it has something to do with my dad? Which is just pathetic if it does.”
“I mean, youarethe daughter of Malcolm Albans, Hall-of-Famer goalie from Montreal.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Everyone in the hockey world loved my father. They didn’t know that deep down, he was an asshole. He’d played the role of stand-up guy around the league and in front of the media, but he wasn’t that man at home at all.
“Is Gabe the same? I mean, I know your thing is fake, but he’s also a goalie.”
“I’m not sure he knows Malcolm’s my father. It never came up, and we still haven’t officially exchanged last names. It’s not like I use my full name on Instagram.” I chuckled. “Hell, I think I still have my stepdad’s last name as mine on Facebook. Did it to piss off my dad, and I don’t think I ever changed it.”
Belinda snorted. “Bet he loves that.”
I shrugged. “For now, I’m going to hope that Gabe doesn’t know who my father is. That he just stepped up because he’s a nice guy. But based on my track record of reading guys in the past, does that make me foolish?”
