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My stomach dipped because that was something I’d only learned today. Was this why Reed hadn’t mentioned it? Had he deliberately kept it from me?

Jeremy must have assumed my silence meant I didn’t know, so he continued. “Reed and I are playing each other this Saturday, Violet.” He repeated it a little softer this time as though he was gently trying to make it sink in. One part stuck with me in particular: the game was this Saturday.

That was the same Saturday as Reed’s winter formal. The final day of our fake relationship. I wanted to ignore Jeremy’s accusation, but a lump was forming in my throat. The fact my arrangement with Reed was due to end immediately after such a big game between him and Jeremy felt off.

“This game means a lot to everyone,” Jeremy added. “But it’s different for Reed. He will do anything to win.”

From the way he was looking at me, I knew he meant I was that anything. I drew my arms around myself, wishing I could just shut out what Jeremy was saying.

“Why would he do that?” The words rushed out of me. “Why would Reed go to such lengths to get an edge in a game of hockey?”

Jeremy’s lips twisted in a look of sympathy. “He hasn’t told you, has he?”

“Told me what?”

“That Reed and I used to be friends.”

“What?” His words bounced around in my mind, but no matter which way I considered them, I failed to believe they were true.

Reed and Jeremy hated each other. I’d heard plenty of shocking things about Reed over the last few weeks, but somehow this was the least believable of them all.

Everything else my ex was saying at least seemed plausible, but this was just a step too far.

Jeremy released a long, hard sigh. “It’s true. Ever since we were kids. We were inseparable on and off the ice.”

“But didn’t he break your nose a few years ago?”

“He did.” Jeremy nodded solemnly. “All because a girl he liked happened to pick me over him. Natalie and I got together in freshman year, and Reed couldn’t handle it.

He tried to steal her away from me, but when he realized he couldn’t, he got his revenge another way. He’s been out to get me ever since.”

Silence hung between us. I didn’t want to let Jeremy’s words get to me, but I couldn’t seem to shake the things he’d told me. “I-I don’t believe you.” I could barely get the words out.

“I’m telling the truth. Here, I’ll show you…”

He took me by the arm and pulled me toward one of the trophy cases that lined the walls by the entrance.

He walked straight up to the glass and pressed a finger firmly against it.

There were countless awards, statues, and pictures in the cabinet, but Jeremy was pointing at a large wooden trophy that took pride of place on one shelf.

Above it, there was a picture of a hockey team.

The kids in the picture must have been around twelve at the time, and right in the center were Jeremy and Reed with their arms around each other’s shoulders and wide grins on their faces.

Anyone who knew the pair would have recognized it as them immediately, but any doubts I might have had were quashed when I saw both their names listed at the bottom of the photo, side by side.

I quickly shook my head. “No, you can’t have been friends. He would have told me.”

“Like he told you about Natalie? And the game this weekend?”

Jeremy lifted a hand and gently rubbed my arm as I stood staring into the trophy cabinet in stunned silence.

I wanted to deny everything he had said, but as I stared at a younger version of Reed, I wasn’t sure I could.

There was no denying what I saw in the photo. A clear bond between Jeremy and Reed.

“He wasn’t always a Darling Devil,” Jeremy murmured. “Once upon a time, he was very different. The day he broke my nose was the day everything changed…”

His words caused an involuntary shiver to run down my back. Jeremy must have taken my reaction as acceptance, and he sounded slightly more confident when he continued.

“I’m sorry, Violet, but you can’t trust him. Everything Reed has said to you or done for you has all been to make you fall in love with him so he can get his revenge. He wants to destroy my game and steal my girl. He wants to take everything from me.”

My mind started to spiral as I thought it over.

If Jeremy was right, that meant everything about my relationship with Reed had been fake—even the parts I’d felt certain were real.

Him going out of his way to help me with my car, inviting me to family dinner, and kissing me on the ice.

Had Reed been playing me since the moment we met?

I wasn’t sure what to believe or what to think.

But I was staring at a photo of Jeremy and Reed together.

A photo of something I thought was impossible.

And all I could think as I looked at it was, maybe, I didn’t know as much as I thought.

Was this why Reed had been so quick to agree to our arrangement? Because I wasn’t the only one who had wanted Jeremy to pay. Because I was Reed’s perfect revenge.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not true. I know it isn’t.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make myself sound convinced.

"I’m really sorry, Vi,” Jeremy said, the look of sympathy returning to his face. “I wish it wasn’t.”

He walked off without another word, leaving me still staring at the photo that sparked a thousand questions and just as many doubts.

Jeremy had said that Reed Darling would do anything to win, and Reed had once told me something similar: that it was his job as captain to do whatever it took to guarantee victory.

Could I really just be a tool to help Reed achieve that?

A way to make Jeremy pay for a perceived wrong years ago?

Was it possible that Reed only kissed me yesterday to make me foolishly believe this could be real?

I’d been coming here in the hopes of ending our fake relationship. I thought I was ready to take a risk and see what we could be when all the rules and restrictions were stripped away. But now I wasn’t so sure.

There were so many questions churning through my mind, most of which I was afraid to have answered.

This was exactly what I’d wanted to avoid and why I didn’t want another relationship.

But, more importantly, this was why I had my rule against dating jocks.

Never trust boys with killer smiles and strong right arms, my mom had always told me.

And run in the opposite direction if a guy’s life revolved around a sport.

I didn’t want Jeremy to be right, but deep down, a part of me already believed he was. Amid the haze of emotions and uncertainty that was clouding my mind, a single thought shone clearly. As much as my heart might resist, I knew I needed to put a stop to this before I got really hurt.