Page 53 of Ice Me Out

“It makes sense.” Luke sighs. “Priestly pretty much forced himself on her and then choked her and left her unconscious. That’s why she ran.”

I clench my fists, wishing that the bastard was here right now. “Motherfucker.” I growl. “Wait till I crash him against the fucking boards.”

Luke slaps my back. “See why I trust you with her?”

I take offense. “You think I’m better than Priestly? Gee, thanks.”

He grabs my shoulder, looking me in the eye. “Anyone, even the fucking Antichrist, would be better than that piece of shit. I think you could be good for Bex, Jamie. You’re fun, experienced, and I trust you with my life. I don’t expect you to change who you are, and Bex isn’t a pushover. If she doesn’t want something, she’ll let you know. She learned her lesson that night with her ex.”

His words appease me. “Ok. You know I would never mistreat a woman.”

“I know.” He nods. “Neither would Connor. Or Keene, despite how much he says he hates women. This is why I wanted her to stay with you guys in our condo. The only men she’s been close to in the past four years have been Priestly and our dad. Our father isn’t better than Kurt Priestly. He brainwashed her to cut contact with me so he could take advantage of her and turn her into a money maker on social media. The three of you are the kind of men she should want to be with. Living with you will be good for her.”

I get into my car and watch as Luke drives away. Conflicting emotions war in my chest at the thought of fake dating Bex.

I’m not a good liar and I don’t know if we’ll be able to make our relationship believable to the entire school. But I can’t deny that a part of me is excited about getting closer to her.

Fake or not, I’ll treat her right. Luke trusts me with her and I’m not going to let him down.

Chapter12

Faking It

Bex

One trash bag.

That’s all it takes to contain all my belongings.

“I don’t even have a suitcase to pack the clothes Luke bought me on Saturday.” I say to Lady Marmalade.

My goldfish swims to the surface inside her fish bowl, looking at me with her tiny, black eyes.

“I know, Lady M,” I sigh. “I could ask Luke if he has a bag I can borrow, but have you ever smelled a hockey bag? Yuck.”

As if summoned by my words, there’s a knock on the door and Luke calls out. “Bexie-Boo, are you presentable?”

“Yeah, come on in.” I answer, looking down at the Star Cove College sweatshirt and black leggings I have on.

Luke wraps me in his arms, but I’m distracted by a movement behind him.

I catch a glance of Jamie’s short blond hair, as Luke’s teammate follows my brother inside the room.

“Hey Bex.” He smiles.

Irritation crashes over me like a tsunami, and I force my face into a neutral expression. If anything, the years in my father’s house have made me a pro at hiding my emotions.

I have to remember that I can’t be mad at him and the others for not wanting me to move into Luke’s room. They just met me and they don’t owe me anything. If anyone should be mad at them, it’s my brother for not having his back when he asked for their help.

“What are you doing here?” my tone could use some work, but I got fined by my father all the time for not being the little obedient daughter he expected me to be. “If you came to help me move out, don’t worry. That’s all I have.”

God, I’m really shit at pretending to be cool when I’m not. Good thing I didn’t want to major in drama. I would have no future as an actor.

Jamie’s dark blue eyes move to the queen sized bed, where the black trash bag sits. If I needed a reminder of how much of a dumpster fire my life really is, that’s definitely it.

“No, I’m here because?—”

“Luke,” I cut Jamie off. Rude, I know, but I’ll worry about Jamie’s feelings later. “Have you heard anything from Candace? If I can’t stay at the Zeta house, do you think I could sneak into the library or somewhere with couches and hide from the staff until closing time?”