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FORTY-THREE

LENNOX

“Holy shit,” Sara hisses as we gape at the scene playing out on the ice. Only moments ago, she was screaming about Aiden’s breakaway. During the first play of the game, the Bolts scored, and Aiden blew me a kiss, just like he did when we were in high school. Though I’d love to focus on what that means and maybe even process how it made me feel, I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, clutching my thighs, because some guy just rammed into him from behind.

Sara grabs my hand and squeezes. “It’s going to be okay.”

“It doesn’t look okay.”

I bite my lip as Aiden throws his gloves down and punches the other guy square in the throat. As the man goes down, his helmet flies, and then his head is hitting the ice.

Screams echo around the arena. These aren’t cheers for Boston. They’re a battle cry. The fans want Aiden to pay for the guy’s injury.

“Who the hell is that?” I whisper as we watch to see what happens next.

Rather than climb to his skates, the guy lies on his back on the ice, and as one second bleeds into another, my nerves fray.

“Vincent Lukov,” Sara murmurs, her eyes trained on the ice. “As in the guy Jill was cheating with.”

The tether that held my nerves together snaps, and a heavy weight slams against my chest.

Vincent Lukov. Jill’s boyfriend. As in Aiden’s ex fiancée’s current boyfriend.

Fuck.

My stomach rolls. Aiden rarely fights. He’s the happy guy on the ice. But even from all the way up here, the rage radiating off him is palpable.

Why did he fight him? What did Lukov say to provoke this kind of anger from the easiest-going guy I know?

My stomach twists at the thought. It’s not hard to figure out. The man slept with Aiden’s fiancée. A woman Aiden spent three years with.

I’d have to be a fool to think Aiden is over it. He told me as much when we came up with the fake marriage farce.

I’m offering this as a friend.

I won’t fall in love with you.

Aiden’s on top of the guy now, and New York’s players are descending. It’s a melee. Blue and black jerseys blend together as fists fly.

Trembling, and with my heart in my throat, I search for Aiden amid the chaos.

I made him promise he wouldn’t catch feelings. He swore he’d be fine. He promised he could fake it. Clearly, he was right. Apparently, our friends and family weren’t the only ones who were fooled.