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It ends players.

So I turn and walk. Not because I’m strong.

But because I’m scared of how fucking weak she makes me.

And I don’t look back.

Champions don’t look back.

Even when it fucking kills them.

Chapter twenty-five

Katarina

Ican’tstoptouchingmylips.

It’s pathetic, really. Standing here in my bathroom at seven in the morning, fingertips tracing the same mouth that had him falling apart twelve hours ago. They’re still swollen. Still tender. Still tingling with the memory of how he felt—thick and desperate and so close to losing control that his voice cracked when he said my name.

Right before he decided I wasn’t worth it.

The mirror shows exactly what giving everything to someone looks like when they hand it back. Hollow cheeks. Shadows under my eyes that makeup can’t fix. The kind of exhaustionthat comes from lying awake all night, replaying every second of having him in my mouth, wondering what I did wrong.

Because it had to be something I did, right? Men don’t pull away from blow jobs unless the woman giving them screws up somehow.

Maybe I was too eager. Too desperate. Maybe he could taste how badly I wanted him, and it disgusted him. Maybe the way I moaned around him was too much, too honest about how wrecked I was just from having him on my tongue.

I remember the exact moment everything changed. How his breathing got ragged, how his grip tightened in my hair, how he whispered “Fuck, Kat” like I was killing him in the best way. Then nothing. Just cold air and the sound of him fixing his pants while I knelt there feeling like an idiot.

My phone starts buzzing on the counter, Riley’s name flashing like a warning signal.

“We have a problem,” she says the second I answer.

Of course we do. Because apparently my life is one giant problem wrapped in designer dresses and fake smiles.

“What now?”

“You’re viral. Those photos from dinner last night? The internet thinks you two are the next great hockey romance. Aurora’s already posted them on all the team accounts with some caption about soulmates, and the engagement is insane.”

My stomach drops. Aurora. Sweet, well-meaning Aurora who thinks everyone deserves their fairy tale ending. She has no idea she’s promoting a relationship that imploded the moment I got on my knees.

“People are calling you Canyon Bay’s power couple,” Riley continues, her voice getting more excited. “There’s already merchandise. Someone made t-shirts with your faces on them. The hashtag has over fifty thousand posts.”

Fifty thousand. Jesus.

“The charity gala got moved to tomorrow night. Last-minute sponsor drama, but they want you and Liam as the featured couple. Think red carpet interviews. Think relationship goals content for every sports blog in North America.”

I sink onto the edge of my bathtub, suddenly dizzy. “Riley, I don’t think—”

“The foundation specifically requested you two. They want interviews about young love, about supporting each other’s careers, about being role models for healthy relationships. You’re their golden couple now.”

Role models. If they only knew their golden couple consisted of a man who thinks I’m a career-ending distraction and a woman who can’t stop replaying the taste of his cock.

“I’m not sure we—”

“Whatever happened between you two, fix it.”

“Tonight.”