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Chapter Sixteen

PAYTON

A large crowd fills the arena tonight, but there’s only one face that interests me at the moment.

Following Luke, I leave the ice while the next line jumps over the boards to take their turn.

As soon as I sit down, I’m searching for her.

Even before I grab a water bottle to slake my thirst, my gaze makes a hungry sweep to find her.

And there she is, sitting by Sophie, smiling as she talks while her head moves back and forth, assessing everything that’s happening around me. Our gazes lock, and, even though ice separates us, there’s no mistaking the fire zinging between us.

A winded Ethan drops onto the player bench to my right and swats me on the arm. “If you stare at her any harder, your eyes are going to pop out and freeze into little round balls.”

I grin while the others laugh. He’s right, but I can’t look away.

She’s wearing my jersey again, and after her teasing yesterday—all for the sake of believability, of course—she’s occupied my head space nonstop.

I want this to be real more than anything I’ve wanted before—except for hockey. But it’s a close match .

She has to feel something for me. No way can someone fake a kiss like that. She blindsided me with that one. Here, I thought I had the upper hand, but she out-maneuvered me.

I’m just not sure she’s willing to explore a real future with me. Lily’s like a wild horse who belongs to no one. She’d more likely buck against all the “rules” as a hockey wife than go with the flow.

That thought freezes me in my mental tracks. Where did that come from? I haven’t even dated her, and I’m already imagining what she’d be like as my actual wife?

I rip my gaze from where she’s sitting with Mia and Sophie behind the net. “Then I’ll die a happy yet sightless man.”

Ethan snickers. “Just remember why we’re here. We have a date with destiny and two teams to annihilate.”

I shake my head. “You sound like Wade.”

Elias leans across Ethan. “Did you see that last shot he blocked? Didn’t know our T-man could bend like that. He pissed Jennings off good.”

Sitting on my left, Luke joins our convo. “That guy’s a goon. Don’t let him get to you, right, Pay?”

“How can I forget?” I tap my side. “But I do plan to return the favor.”

Luke bumps me with his shoulder. “Keep it friendly, man. We need you on the ice, not in the sin bin.”

“Noted, Cap, but I’m not letting him do that to me again.”

He raises his brows at me. “ We won’t let him do that again, right boys?” He makes eye contact with Ethan and Elias, our E-team, as we call them, for emphasis.

“Right, Cap,” they say in unison.

Before I can get back out there, the horn blows, indicating the end of the period. As we make our way down the tunnel behind the other team, Jennings comes to a stop near the y-split, leading to the guest team locker room .

His smug expression makes him look like a pug, and his crossed arms complete his thug-like appearance. “Didn’t expect to see you playing tonight, Maxwell. I hear those ribs kept you out of play for a while.”

I pat my side. “Good as new. Guess you didn’t hit me as hard as you thought.”

Arms down, he fists his hands at his sides. “I can remedy that.”

Luke steps in front of me and nudges me toward the locker room. “Playtime’s over.” He points at Jennings and growls, “Mess with my guy, and you mess with me. Got it?”

The briefest flash of doubt passes through his eyes, but then he presses his lips together. “See you on the ice.”

Once we’re in the locker room, I pull my shirt off and sit on the bench. “Great. Now he’s really going to come after me.”

“Don’t sweat it, Pay. He’ll get his.”

Maybe, but now my guard is seriously up, which is probably what he was trying to do—get into my head. Even thoughts of Lily can’t obliterate my trepidation about that goon, but I’m determined to play my best game.

At the start of the second period, we score a goal during the first minute, which sets the Ghost Pirates on the warpath. But Wade blocks every shot. Thankfully, Jennings hasn’t tried to make good on his threat so far. Maybe he took Luke’s counter to heart.

Then we hit third period, and things get…

intense. With five minutes left, the Pirates shoot a goal, tying the score and taking the tension to a whole new level.

On the drop, we win possession of the puck but then get an icing call.

The Pirates win the next puck drop, but my line sticks to theirs like the tape on my twig.

Ethan gets the puck, then shoots it my way for a slap shot.

Luke’s positioned in front of the crease, ready to help bring the biscuit home while fighting off one of the Pirates’ defensemen.

I get into position to take a shot on goal when Jennings does his best to eliminate me with another body check.

We both tumble to the ice, a tangle of legs, arms, and sticks.

And the harder I try to detach from him, the more he hangs on to me.

He’s like a monkey who’s decided I’m his favorite tree.

Just as I’m about to break free, he grabs my arm and pulls me down again, so I push him away. “Sod off!”

We both get back up on our blades, but he’s in my face. “What’s the matter, pretty boy? Can’t handle a little scuffle? Maybe you should go back to your real job—a royal wannabe in Tillendale.”

Everything in me locks up. I shove him against the boards. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bet I know more than you think,” he sneers.

Suddenly, Luke’s there, pushing his way between us. “Back off, Jennings, or I’ll make you wish you’d never played today.”

The whistle blows. I allow Luke to glide me back. Clearly having more to say, Jennings tries to follow, but Ethan won’t let him move. Elias and two other Pirates get into a scuffle that brings the refs in, trying to separate the tangle of arms and fists.

Luke and I head toward the other side of the rink.

Coach meets us at the bench door. “You okay, Pay?”

“I’m all good. That bloke’s a total nutter.” If that plank knows the truth about my family’s new title, who else might know? And what if he decides he wants everyone to know as well? I may have more of a pickle on my hands than a grudge-holding doucher.

“I’ll handle it. You just finish the game.”

“You got it, Coach.”

Except I wind up in the penalty box for two minutes. At least Jennings was penalized, too. We both hit the ice again with less than a minute left in the game and when the puck comes my way, I don’t waste the chance—I wind up and let a clapper fly .

We win the game by one point. But I’m not happy. This felt more like a small win in the war I see declared in Jennings’ face as he passes me on the way off the ice. This battle is far from over.

Brilliant. As if my life wasn’t complicated enough.

The look on Lily’s face when I walk out nearly makes me crack. But I do my best to appear more composed than I’m feeling at the moment. As far as my mates are concerned, Jennings is just nursing a grudge.

But I’d be a right idiot to think he’d keep my secret. It’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out. Somehow, I have to get ahead of this thing. Maybe Lily will have some ideas on how to do that.

She beams a smile at me, which I assume is for the benefit of Sophie and Mia, who are standing there as well, the ever-dutiful WAGs, looking for Luke and Ethan to come out.

I’ve seen them there so many times, half grateful I didn’t have to be responsible for anyone else besides myself, and half wondering if one day there’d be someone there waiting for me.

Seeing Lily makes me wish everything about our fake relationship was real. That she could be there, waiting for me and looking so enticing in my jersey because she cared about me as her boyfriend. Or dare I say, her husband? Just not her principal.

She surprises me by wrapping her arms around me, lifting herself on tiptoe to whisper into my ear. “What happened out there?”

I pretend to nuzzle her neck so I can discreetly reply. “We need to talk.”

A slight shiver runs over her, giving me some satisfaction that I can affect her like she has me. But it doesn’t last long. The threat Jennings poses dominates my thoughts at the moment.

When she leans back, studying me with questions swirling in her eyes, I give a curt shake of my head, hoping she’ll get the hint that this conversation needs to happen away from listening ears. Neither one of us misses the concerned glances Sophie and Mia keep darting our way.

Sophie braves the first question. “What’s going on with that guy Jennings? Coach Markelson knows about it, right?”

Luke tries to nudge her toward the exit. “Let us deal with it, Soph.”

Fists on her hips, she plants herself in place. “What did the therapist tell you and your dad last week about sharing burdens?”

Luke hangs his head. “Not sharing our problems shows a lack of trust.”

“Right. You guys are a team on the ice, but we’re all in this together off the ice.” She turns toward me. “What can we do to help?”

Lily lifts her eyes to mine, revealing something akin to confusion or surprise. I’m not sure what she’s thinking at the moment. And until I can tell her about this latest development, I’m just winging it with the rest of this crew.

I shrug. “Coach said he’d deal with it. But if I think of anything, I’ll definitely let you know.”

The others continue to chat as we make our way out to the bus waiting to take the team back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we’re off to Atlanta for our game against the Gladiators.

I can tell Lily is slowing her pace to create some distance between us and the others. When they walk outside, she tugs me back. Now, only the glass doors separate us from the others. They won’t be able to hear us, but they’ll see everything if they bother to look.

“Tell me.” Her words may be curt, but I don’t miss the concern dripping from them .

“Jennings knows who I am.”

Her eyes widen as she studies me. “You mean…?”

I nod. “He even clocked the name of my hometown. Fancy that.”

She takes a deep breath and then lets it out. “I’ll get Del on it.”

Either I’m more tired than I realized, or this situation has pushed my frustration threshold to the limit. “What can she possibly do about it? Jennings is like a feral animal.”

“Then we’ll take him out.”

I shoot my brows up. “You can’t honestly mean…you’re joking, right?”

She tucks her lips in as if she’s trying not to smile. “Yes, you dork. We don’t do things like that. But I will get Del to look into it in case there’s more going on than meets the eye. And in my experience, there usually is.”

The weight of this keeps growing. I run my hands down my face. “What if he tells the rest of my team? Or worse, leaks it to the press?”

She presses her hand against my chest, sending a wave of solace through me. “We’ll figure it out as it comes, big guy. In the meantime, let Del and me do some digging and damage control if needed.”

I cover her hand with mine and nod. On the ice, I know the fellas have my back, as I have theirs.

That’s held true off the ice as time has built friendships between us.

But this feels deeper with Lily. Like I have a true partner running alongside me on the adventure that my life has become.

She fills an empty place in me I didn’t realize existed until now.

What am I going to do when she returns to England?