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K enzie’s hands were soft under mine, and she looked up at me with such glee at the thought of bringing me to her sister’s wedding. Obviously, I didn’t know the history, but I figured Kane was probably supposed to be her date. I’d need that information at some point, but tonight, she was sitting on her bed with me, hatching a plan for revenge.

I was a sucker for a good girl ready to be bad.

Even more so for one who’d been ballsy enough to pick me up not once, but twice, without knowing a single thing about me. It was kind of refreshing.

“I’m in. As long as I don’t have a game.”

She shook her head. “They know Toby’s schedule and planned around your games already.”

I raised a brow. “Toby?”

A pink tinge warmed her cheeks, and I had the sudden urge to ease her back against the pillows to see if she’d be as responsive a second time. Okay, it wasn’t sudden. I’d been reliving the night with her since the moment she walked out the door.

“We grew up together. No one in my family calls him Tobias.”

I snickered. “Can I call him Toby?”

Kenzie glared at me. “No.”

“Still defending him?”

Her jaw clenched. “No… yes. Ugh, why is this so hard? I should tell you all his deepest secrets and let the team roast him mercilessly.”

“But you won’t,” I pointed out. “Don’t worry. He’s already made enemies simply being himself—we don’t need your secrets to make his life hell. I have to ask though. Do you always do the right thing?”

“Why would you purposefully do the wrong thing?”

“Because it’s fun. Because right and wrong are usually gray areas. Because it’ll make your ex-boyfriend cry.”

“I’m not sure I want him to cry. Maybe a little, but I don’t want to feel guilty.”

“See, this is why you need me. I can help you navigate the gray areas.”

She frowned. “I thought we were doing this for other people.”

“I’m adding to the deal. We’re going to do all the things you’ve always wanted to but stopped yourself from wanting because it wasn’t part of the grand plan.”

“Like what?”

“Like a random hookup with a hot stranger,” I teased.

The pink in her cheeks turned into a wildfire. “I think we can check that one off the list.”

“Great idea. Make a list and we’ll work our way through it until…” I trailed off, realizing we’d have to put an end date on this at some point. “When’s your sister’s wedding?”

“Right before Christmas. It’s going to be magical.” She threw out some jazz hands along with her thick sarcasm.

“Perfect. While we’re convincing the world you’ve tamed all this—” I ran my hand down my chest, and she giggled. “We’ll convince you to embrace the unconventional. Figure out what you want.”

Her gaze turned inward, and I knew I had her. I had no idea why it was so important to me for her to move past this perfect good girl image she inhabited, but I saw hints of the Kenzie she could be if she let everything else go.

“Okay. I can make a list.” She sounded like she was convincing herself, but I’d take it.

“I’ll give you the second item, since we already took care of the first. You have to come to my games. In my jersey. Non-negotiable.”

Her brows furrowed. “Can I read while I’m there?”

“Absolutely not. I expect cheering. Whooping. Maybe some tears.”

“ Oookay ,” she drew out the word. “I can agree to active participation if you?—”

“Nope. I’m already committed to playing the perfect boyfriend on campus and at any family function you feel is necessary. All you have to do is ask.”

I wasn’t sure how I’d work my schedule, but if I could find time to party the last three years, I could make time for Kenzie. The word commitment usually gave me hives, but pretend commitment only made me tired.

Or maybe I’d just had a long day. Talking to Kenzie had mostly purged the frustration and hurt from earlier, which surprised the hell out of me, but I always worked better when I had a game plan. I’d have to keep her in mind the next time though. The thought of spending more time lying around with her, talking or not, was dangerously appealing.

Way more than going home to the judgmental assholes I lived with. Not that they’d notice my absence.

I stretched out on her bed diagonally, not nearly as big as my king, but it would do. “I should stay the night.”

“What? No. I have to get up early tomorrow to help clean up. And I thought you didn’t do repeats.”

“You can keep those sexy sweats on, I’m not talking about hooking up. Besides, they all saw us disappear in here. Trust me, sweetheart. No one is expecting you to get any sleep tonight.”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “What if I don’t want to let a guy I barely know stay in my room while I’m sleeping?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t even know your last name.”

She had a point, but I was ready to put this plan in motion tonight. “Not sure why that matters, but it’s Tanner. Reece Hudson Tanner, after my grandfather. Senior. First line center for the TU Wildcats. If this scheme works, captain too. I love peanut butter, and I’m an uncle to two ducks because my roommates are weird. There. Now you know me better. And I need you too much to murder you in your sleep.”

“ Two ducks?” Kenzie slowly lay down, propping her chin on her hand so she could stare down at me. Her ponytail trailed across my bicep like a silk tie, and everything in me tightened.

I wanted to fist my hand in her hair, tug her closer, and—no. No repeats. No relationships, no matter how tempting. “Technically, only one lives with us now, but it was an interesting summer. Any other questions?”

“Are you drafted?”

I rotated my arm, trying to recreate the feeling without being obvious. “Yeah, by Boston, but realistically, I’ll probably start on the farm team.”

“Why wouldn’t they want you to play for them if they drafted you?”

“Weren’t you basically betrothed to a hockey player? Shouldn’t you know this stuff?”

Her mouth twisted. “I know enough about the game itself, but Toby didn’t like talking about the logistics of the future. He just said he’d take care of me and to not worry about it.”

“Asshole,” I muttered.

Kenzie tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear. “I hear how it sounds now, but at the time, I thought it was sweet. You have to understand the dynamics of our families.”

“Conservative?”

“I mean… yes? But we never talked about it. Things were just expected to be a certain way. They still are. My family absolutely refuses to accept Toby and I broke up, especially my mom. Her and Toby’s mom are best friends, and they’ve been planning our wedding since they got pregnant at the same time.”

I thought of my own grandma and her insistence I’d join the family business no matter how many times I assured her I planned to play hockey until I died. “This doesn’t sound like much of a love match.”

She waved my comment away. “I don’t remember them ever forcing a relationship—until lately. We were friends, then Toby wooed me out in high school, and we’ve been together since.”

I stifled a laugh. “Wooed you?”

Kenzie smacked my shoulder. “Yes. Wooed me. He brought me flowers and lunch and texted me every night. It was sweet.”

A visceral memory hit me of her hands clenched in my hair, tugging hard as she came on my mouth. This girl deserved so much more than sweet. I had to press my lips together to gather my thoughts before I could answer.

“Your family wants you to be with someone who cheated on you?”

An awkward pause filled the space between us. “They don’t know about that part. It would destroy my mother, and truthfully, I’m not sure they’d believe me. Toby is their golden boy, and I’m just… decoration.”

The last word came out resigned, and her sadness damn near broke my heart. What was wrong with these people? I may not have been the best choice for demonstrating commitment, but I knew what it was like to be locked into a role that didn’t fit. My grandma, my coach, my friends—they all saw who they wanted to see.

“Come here,” I said gruffly, pulling her into a hug.

Kenzie’s hand hovered over my stomach like she was unsure what to do with it, so I covered it with mine and tucked her head onto my shoulder. Completely platonic. Which I silently repeated to my dick when he perked up.

She didn’t need me adding drama to the situation by getting my cock involved. Kenzie was the definition of a good girl, and no matter how much fun I showed her over the next few months, she’d still probably want the husband and babies and picket fence in the end. Hell, she deserved a stable, normal life.

But maybe one she could live on her terms—without considering the assholes around her who didn’t give a shit what she wanted.

I stroked her hair as she relaxed and struggled to find the right words. “It’s hard to pick the right path between the people you care about and yourself. My Gram wants me to stop playing hockey so I can fulfill my destiny as one of her underlings at our family business. She plans for me to take over one day, but I couldn’t give less of a shit about the company. It’s only going to get harder when I graduate and have to work my way up in the pros. My mom says to follow my own path no matter the consequences, my dad says to give in and live the easy life, and honestly, I don’t want to end up like either of them.”

My soul-baring was met with a quiet snore, and I huffed out a laugh. What the hell was I doing? I didn’t talk about my family with people. At least she’d fallen asleep before I made a fool of myself.

Kenzie needed some breathing room, and I was happy to provide it. She didn’t sign up to deal with my whining about all the pressures of being a poor little rich kid.

My feet hung off the edge of the mattress, and I was losing feeling in my toes. I’d be sore as hell for conditioning tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

A thump and a slurred apology came from the other side of her door, and Kenzie snorted partly awake. Thank god. She sat up, blinking slowly, and I used the opportunity to urge her under her covers.

Instead of heading home as I usually did, I crawled in next to her. Unlike the other women I’d been spending time with, Kenzie was under no illusions about our future. She didn’t know about my money or care about my hockey skills. For once, I let myself relax with the warmth of a woman’s body next to me.

Kenzie sighed and wiggled closer. I assumed she’d fallen back asleep, but she surprised me again by addressing our previous night together.

“You’re not going to ask why I ran?” she whispered into the darkness.

I chuckled and pulled her back against me, careful to keep my hard-on to myself. “Not tonight. Go to sleep, Kenzie.”