Page 8

Chapter 8

So not what I wanted

Jayna

With free beer and pizza, no one questioned our sudden relationship. Which was good, because I was still rattled by that kiss. Were we going to kiss often? I’d been so focused on logistics and spin that I hadn’t considered the details of actually fake dating Braydon. He and I needed to talk, but it would be when we were in private, not partying with the Inferno.

I sat tight against him on the couch. The party wasn’t too extreme. These guys all had practice in the morning, and they might be young and bounce back quick, but we were close to the playoffs and their coach would be watching them closely. There was loud music, pizza and beer. Video games, and chirping on teammates while playing video games. Lots of talk about hockey.

Megan was in the kitchen organizing the pizza. Luke, Braydon’s roommate, was with her, and a couple more Inferno guys. From the bits and pieces I overheard, they were defensemen like her.

I’d passed on the chance to play video hockey, since I was technically working. I took photos, including a selfie of the two of us smooshed into the couch by some of his teammates. Everything was going smoothly when the Inferno captain Bats asked how long we’d been seeing each other. I didn’t know what Braydon might try to say, so I rushed to answer that one.

“Not long. Since I work for the Blaze and the Bonfire, and he’s on the Inferno, it’s kind of not allowed? But after last night…”

I turned to Braydon and put my hand on his cheek. His eyes flashed but he didn’t pull away.

“Someone was upset that I didn’t spend time with him, and now it’s all come out. Employees have to sign a nonfraternization clause, but since I’m a player as well, we found a loophole and the team okayed it.”

I turned back to Bats, making sure I didn’t let my eyes roll. The whole thing sounded so stupid to me and I couldn’t believe anyone would buy it. But we were saved by the bell—if by bell, you meant Cooper. He walked in the door and every eye focused on him.

He had his typical cocky smirk on his face. He nodded at Megan and me. “Templin, Thomson.” Cooper had his faults, but he respected our women’s hockey team. He couldn’t be around Faith and not.

Megan waved. She had a bit of a crush on him, so her smile was warm. Me, I didn’t really want a guy who was that pretty. And I definitely didn’t want a hockey player.

Cooper’s gaze moved on to the guy I was almost sitting on top of. “Mitchell. Good game last night.”

“Um, thanks. But it was the whole team.”

And Faith , but this wasn’t the time to bring up that opinion.

“I’m here to officially welcome you to the Blaze. You should check your messages, Mitch. Sorry, guys, but we’re keeping him for a while.”

I was pressed so tightly to Braydon that I felt his sharp inhale. He’d been hoping for a couple more games, but he was finishing the season with the Blaze. Maybe we could talk about that now that Cooper had broken the news.

The guys from the Inferno gathered around Cooper like filings to a magnet. He was who they wanted to be. One of the top players in the league, team captain, with awards and a ton of endorsements. Looks, money, admiration, fans—he had it all.

Someone put last night’s game on the big TV, and everyone gathered around to watch. I’d been in the press box to see it last night while I was working. Still, watching it with Cooper and Braydon providing commentary was riveting. Cooper was a defenseman, and Braydon a goalie, while I was a winger, but hearing what they’d been thinking and doing during their time on ice was fascinating.

Cooper didn’t actively brag, but the things he noticed and watched backed up his standing in the NHL. He saw the plays coming, instead of waiting to react to them when they happened.

Braydon started shaky, and he credited the Blaze with helping him.

“What was it like?” one of the guys behind us asked. Every player in this room wanted to play with the Blaze.

“It’s fast. So fast. Any mistake—someone takes advantage.”

“Get used to it.” Cooper grinned.

After the second period ended there was an awkward moment. Faith was brought in, and everyone had seen or heard of Braydon’s rant.

To his credit, he told everyone to keep watching. “What I said—it was stupid and had nothing to do with her game. She played well, and we made history.”

I hoped he believed that instead of just parroting the words. Making sure he kept saying it would be a lot easier if it wasn’t a front.

We didn’t have any more of Braydon’s commentary, but Cooper had played with Faith in college hockey for some exhibition games and he knew her as a friend, so he talked about her as a person and a player.

“Number 15, in her crease? Watch, when the play starts to move. Notice he’s suddenly on his ass? Faith hates being crowded, and she’s played against men before. She wasn’t intimidated.”

She’d drawn a couple of penalties for the teams we’d played on together because of that, but she didn’t this time, and 15 gave her more room after that.

When the replay of the game was over, Braydon’s teammates congratulated him and Cooper. Cooper handled it like a pro, and Braydon was properly deferential.

“Okay, let’s get a shot of everyone.” A couple of the Inferno gave me a look—the sure, she wants to brag that she’s been at the party look. “I do the Blaze social media, so this is your chance to get some eyeballs on you. Make sure you look pretty.”

Megan helped me get the players grouped together.

“We need you in here too, Tempo.” Cooper kept a straight face, but his eyes were sparkling with humor. I was going to suggest his next underwear shoot take place in the arena. At ice level.

He ignored my evil eye. Megan took my phone and I was shoved onto Braydon’s lap. He wrapped his arms around me, and it was nice…and so not what I wanted. This picture would be tagged by everyone as “the Inferno, with their goalie’s girlfriend.” Exactly what I’d worked so hard to avoid, even if it was my job now.

The party broke up after that. Megan had early practice and I had rehab to do before starting work. The guys all had practice and workouts. The girls had vanished during the game replay, the party changing in tone after Cooper showed up. None of the Inferno wanted him to think they were slacking off.

Cooper crossed over to where I was sitting with Braydon. As the guys left, I’d pushed off Braydon’s lap and managed to put a bit of room between us, but the couch didn’t have much support left, and his greater weight kept me sliding into him. Megan was packing up the cooler, and the rest of the Inferno were near the door, sorting boots and jackets.

Cooper eyed up the shrinking gap between us and smirked. “We don’t play tomorrow. Want to come to my place for dinner? Meet some of the team?”

Braydon straightened. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Cooper took his captain duties seriously. “Okay, I’ll let Tempo know the time and address. You haven’t been to mine, have you?”

I shook my head. Cooper had my contact info because I was involved in the team’s social media, and he featured in a lot of it. I’d seen him at Faith’s for anything social.

Braydon shot me a look. Oh, he hadn’t realized I was part of the invite? Did Cooper know our dating was for work, or was he inviting me as Braydon’s newly revealed girlfriend? I hadn’t told anyone but Megan, but I didn’t know who the suits had decided were in on this. I’d need to find out.

“Okay, see you tomorrow.” He sauntered away, several of the Inferno players still waiting, anxious to get his attention.

I ran through my schedule for the next day, making sure I could fit in this get-together. Maybe I could do some media posts during rehab? No, I wasn’t jeopardizing my return to the ice.

Wait. Cooper didn’t know about the connection between Faith and Braydon, and I’d have bet my hockey future that Faith and Seb were going to be there tomorrow night. What should I say to Braydon? I still had to tell him about the press conference tomorrow, since that had come up after he left the Blaze offices today.

I turned to him. “So, boyfriend, there’s a couple of things I should tell you.”

* * *

Braydon

Everyone finally left, except for Jayna and her teammate, Megan. Megan was a couple inches taller than Jayna, which tracked with her playing defense. She was pretty, with long, straight black hair and light brown skin. She and Luke were talking together as they cleaned up the kitchen. Luke hadn’t expressed any interest in dating during our two years together, but maybe Megan would change that?

I really wanted to check my messages, to see what Cooper had been talking about, but Jayna said she had something to tell me and headed up the stairs, where we had our bedrooms. I didn’t want to be a creep, but her ass looked good in the jeans she was wearing.

“So.” She stopped at the top, and I quickly forced my gaze up.

How had I left my room? Normally I kept things tidy, but today had been anything but normal. Pretty sure the bed was a mess, and the bathroom was leaning toward disgusting.

Jayna didn’t go any farther. She looked past me, down the stairs, but Megan and Luke were still busy.

“So?” I didn’t know what was up.

“This invite from Cooper.”

“Yeah?” Did Jayna not want to go? Wasn’t this good for our couple thing? I’d like to see what Cooper’s place was like. Pretty sure it’d be sick. And getting to know the Blaze players better would help.

Jayna twisted her lips. “Cooper’s best friend is Seb Hunter.”

“You think he’ll be there? Oh, shit.” Faith would be at this thing. I didn’t know how to talk or act with her yet. Jayna put her hand on my arm. It felt good. Like I had an ally. The only one when it came to this. “Is that why Cooper invited us?”

Jayna shrugged and her hand fell away. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s killing two birds with one dinner.”

“Who else will be there?”

The thought of me and Jayna and Hunter and Faith with Cooper seemed too cozy and like trouble could happen with one wrong word. On the other hand, if something slipped, there weren’t that many people to worry about knowing my secret. Mom and Dad had promised to play along, but that still meant a lot of people knew. Faith was one of the people we were trying to protect. Cooper had said meet the team—that meant more people, right? I twitched.

Jayna huffed a breath. “I don’t know. I could ask Faith, but she might not know either, and maybe we don’t want to make a big deal of this. I just need to be sure, can you behave around Faith?”

I was twenty-four years old, not a kid, so asking if I could behave? I tensed up, and the words of course I fucking can almost slipped out. But being around the half-sister I’d barely met and who didn’t know me was uncharted waters. Add that I’d gone off on her in that video—how would she even respond? Maybe if she knew I was coming, she wouldn’t show up.

We’d barely interacted last night. There’d been no time for more than a good-job nod between us. After the game she’d been talking to reporters, not me. Things would be awkward between us anyway, without this big thing, the thing I’d only learned about twenty-four hours ago, playing with my composure. “I’ll try. I just don’t know if I’ll be all awkward and shit.”

Jayna rolled her eyes. “There’s no way this won’t be anything but all awkward and shit.”

I’d kinda hoped she’d say she was on top of this.

Jayna pulled her gaze back to me. “One thing in our favor is that no one knows you. If you act weird, they don’t know that you’d normally be different.”

Great. I’d act stupid and everyone would think that’s how I was.

“We should definitely arrive together though.”

I nodded. I had no desire to be there on my own when I had my first interactions with my sister. Half-sister.

Jayna pulled at her lip, distracting me. That kiss had been…well, that part of fake dating wasn’t going to be a problem.

“That way Faith can’t grill me for details,” she said. “I guess we see how it goes.”

I pulled in a breath and nodded. I was not feeling confident about this.

She put a hand on my arm again, gripping gently. “There’s something else, came up after you left today.”

I tensed. That hand was letting me know I should prepare myself. “What?”

“It’s probably in the messages Cooper mentioned. The team has set up a press conference tomorrow.”

Shit. I knew it was coming, but Jayna had talked like we had more time. I should have kept my phone with me, but at the beginning of the season the guys had pranked me by stealing it and setting up a dating profile for me. I’d left my phone hidden in my bedroom at parties after that, and tonight, with Jayna taking photos, that had been fine. I looked over her shoulder toward my room. Get the phone or let Jayna tell me?

I turned back to her. “A press conference?”

“It’s set up to announce that De Vries is out for the rest of the season. His surgery revealed cancer. He and his family wanted some time to deal with this, but rumors have started, so the team moved up the presser to tomorrow morning. Since they’re announcing he won’t be playing, they need to introduce you.”

Yeah, with the team backup out of commission, the media wanted a statement from me, and to ask questions. It would make me nervous enough without the whole viral video/fake dating setup on top of that. My leg was jiggling, nervous energy pushing its way out.

Jayna held up her phone. “I’ve been posting stuff from tonight, so our dating story is leaking. I’ll be at the presser, in the background, as if I’m just part of the PR team. And I’m hoping that will divert some of the questions. I can step in and help you if things get dicey.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. This was so not the way I’d dreamed my NHL career would start. I hoped this wasn’t where it was going to end.

“Hang back after practice tomorrow. I’ll meet you there and we’ll review your statement and make some plans before you meet the reporters.”

Would I have time for my run in the morning? Only if I could fit it in before the Blaze practice, apparently. Missed this morning for obvious reasons, and I might tomorrow as well. That didn’t help the nerves.

“You’ve got my contact info—reach out if you need to. I’m your PR person as well as your girlfriend, so I can deal with whatever comes up.”

I rested my head against the wall. What a day.

“We’ll make this work somehow.” She smiled, and for a moment I believed her.

Then she turned and hobbled down the stairs. And the confidence left with her.

“Ready, Megan?”

I followed, my stomach churning. Megan was wearing her coat, Luke turning on the dishwasher. Jayna picked up her jacket, the only one left in the pile, and I took it from her, holding it up for her to put on. “Thanks for the beer and pizza, and, well, for helping me out.”

Megan smiled at me. Jayna just shrugged. “Don’t screw up anything else.”