Page 17 of Breaking Point (IceHawks #1)

Bella

MOM

confession of the day

it’s not normal for the Tooth Fairy to give kids more than a dollar

I gave you a twenty-dollar bill because I felt so bad about forgetting to slip a dollar bill under your pillow for three nights

BELLA

I don’t remember the Tooth Fairy forgetting me???

MOM

exactly ;)

because you were so excited about getting twenty dollars you forgot

I still feel guilty for that one though

I know I’ve stepped into something I shouldn’t have when all sets of eyes turn to me with mixed expressions. Lucy looks like she caught a canary and is boasting, the man that oddly looks similar to Grayson appears to be shocked, and Grayson…

Grayson takes a deep pull of air and smiles at me.

The smile is so full of relief I wonder if my presence is saving him from a conversation he doesn’t want to have.

I give them all a small smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll just put these down and go.”

“No!” Grayson blurts out, at the same time Lucy comes toward me.

“Actually, we need you for a moment if that’s all right.”

“Uh, okay?”

It isn’t until Lucy is beside me does she finally clock the groceries. Frowning, she quickly turns to face Grayson. “Why is she grocery shopping?”

He mirrors her frown. “I don’t know. You can ask her yourself though.”

Lucy spins back to me, her eyes boring into mine. “Why are you grocery shopping?”

“Because Grayson needs to eat.” I feel like my tone says that’s obvious.

“Yes, of course he does but his chefs do the…” Her voice trails off as her eyes narrow. Spinning on her heel, she walks over to Grayson and clips him on the back of the head. The man on the couch and I gasp in unison as she scolds, “Stop firing the chefs I hire for you!”

“I wouldn’t have to continually fire them if you stopped hiring them. I told you to stop, Lucy,” Grayson snaps back, rubbing the back of his head with a wince.

“But you need to eat!”

“I’m a grown man. I’m very capable of taking care of dietary requirements.”

She huffs and pins that no-nonsense glare on the guy who I’m wondering is Grayson’s brother. “What has he been eating recently?”

He crumbles under Lucy’s death glare. “Takeout,” he blurts.

“Kieran!” Grayson scolds.

Ah. The best friend I’ve been warned to stay away from. Not related then.

“What?” he asks, lifting his hands in mock surrender. “She’s scary! She can inflict physical harm! ”

Grayson rolls his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Lucy, don’t push me. Not after the bomb you just dropped.”

Lucy waves him off. “Fine, we’ll discuss this later.”

Guilt gnaws its way through me. I did this to make his life easier, not more difficult.

Biting my lower lip, I peer over at Grayson, trying to get a read on him and the situation I’ve walked into, but he doesn’t appear to be frustrated, not in the slightest. He looks from me to the groceries and then he smiles.

A small, timid smile paired with a faint blush but a smile nonetheless that has his lone dimple winking at me.

“Am I still needed?”

“Yes,” Grayson breathes.

Lucy cuts her gaze to him before shaking her head slightly. “Yes, come have a seat.”

With the tension in the room growing by the second, I decide to remain standing. I can practically feel the energy pressing in around me.

Lucy takes a deep breath. “Grayson, due to unforeseen events, is unfortunately up for trade.” My gaze cuts to his and holds as Lucy goes on. “Due to his unflattering public appearances as of late, the organization finds him a risk to keep on board.”

Lucy’s words end with silence, a silence so eerie a tingle races down my back as Grayson stares at me. Is he waiting to see how I’ll react?

“That’s horrible and I’m sorry to hear that, but I don’t understand what this means for me. Am I losing my job?”

The worry that filled my chest leaves as quickly as it arrived as Lucy laughs. “God no. We need you.”

“More than you know,” Grayson’s best friend mumbles. At my glance, he winks. “Kieran.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Now I completely understand why Grayson warned me off him. Does this team only pick attractive players? Perhaps I’ve been missing out all these years and should go to a game .

He frowns before turning to Grayson. “What did you tell her about me?”

“Nothing but horrible things.”

Kieran scoffs.

Lucy pays no attention to their bickering. “We have devised a plan?—”

“You have,” Grayson corrects.

“Yes, I have,” she relents. “A plan that would help clean up his image in the hopes of keeping him on the team.”

I smile at that. “Well, that’s great. I hope it works.”

Lucy clears her throat, for the first time since I met her appearing…frazzled? That doesn’t seem right, but as she taps her finger against her thigh, I believe I may be right.

Lucy is nervous.

“That’s the thing, Bella. We actually need…you,” she relents.

“For?” I probe, my back straightening as the tension in the room grows to an unforeseeable height.

Kieran drops his head back with a groan. “Bloody hell, woman, just rip the Band-Aid off!” He turns on the couch, hanging over the edge of it as his grin turns into an outright smile. “Grayson over here needs you to pretend to be his girlfriend.”

“You need what?” I blurt, my gaze snapping to Grayson’s.

“You would be paid accordingly, of course,” Lucy goes on, misinterpreting my look.

A blush creeps along his cheeks and I swear I hear Kieran poking fun at him for it but my blood is rushing in my ears and all I can focus on is the word girlfriend .

I do not date.

I am no one’s girlfriend.

I swore off dating for a reason.

Snapping my spine upright, I completely ignore whatever Grayson is saying and interrupt with, “No.”