Page 20 of Through the Five-Hole

While dinner was cooking, I made some notes to get the house fully decorated in the coming days.I’d set it out in my plan to have a full-on interview done at the house with The Blue Line Bulletin about the newly rekindled happy couple, and we certainly couldn’t have reporters in with the way the house was currently.

I’d just finished eating and had begun working on the article that would be sent out next when I heard the front door open and then the sound of keys dropping onto the table.I looked up and saw Colton standing in the kitchen doorway, scowling.

“What are you doing?”he growled.

“Eating dinner and working on the article for tomorrow, along with your speech for the opening dinner on Friday.”

“Tomorrow?What’s tomorrow?”

“Well, first, I thought I’d shadow you tomorrow and the next few days.I want to get to know your habits.I know you have practice in the morning, and then we are supposed to have a photoshoot tomorrow afternoon with the team’s photographers for the rekindling article.Friday night is the dinner to celebrate the opening of the season.On Saturday, the team is doing a card and jersey signing for…goodness, what was it?”I said, looking at my notes from the meeting with Larson.

“It’s for junior hockey players.”

“Yes, that is it,” I said, smiling, turning back to my screen.

“What do you have to do with any of those events?”

“I’m here to rebuild your image.So, I’m basically laying out what will happen during those times.I’ll be by your side, supporting you as your doting other half at the events and games.We want to put on a show for your fans because right now, as it stands, almost everyone who had been on the list to see you Saturday has backed out, switching to meet one of the other guys.”

“Okay, and what were you planning on doing tomorrow?”

“Oh, tomorrow, I’m going to shadow you at practice, and during the day.I need to see how you react in everyday situations.”

Colton studied me and then shook his head.“How do you think that having you by my side is going to rebuild my image?”

I tore my eyes from his and let out a sigh as I flipped through my notebook and pulled out the article that in about twelve hours would be published to all sports blogs and apps and handed it to him.

“What is this?”he asked, looking at the sheet and then at me.

“Read it,” I said, going back to the sheet I was working on.

I could feel him staring at me, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking at him.I knew he wanted a confrontation; he’d been begging for it ever since this morning.I began typing away on the keys when I heard him pull the chair out and take a seat.

“What the fuck!”he exclaimed a couple of minutes later, which caused me to look over at him.“What sort of garbage is this?”

“It’s not garbage.It’s the start of the path to clean up your image.”

“I don’t know what sort of fantasy you people are living in, but this is just that.It won’t work,” he said, throwing the page down on the table.“No one is going to believe this garbage.”

I got up, grabbed a can of cola from the fridge, and placed it down on the table, then crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I?Tell me, who the hell is going to believe that a broken heart is going to be the reason for my actions the night I got arrested.I’ve never mentioned being in a relationship with anyone, nor is there any photo evidence of me ever being with anyone.In fact, in the last interview I gave, a week before any of this happened, the age-old question was asked once again, and I said I was single.”

“Exactly, and that is why the answer you gave couldn’t be more perfect.If you actually read the article that was written, you would see that it states the incident with the paparazzi was sparked by questions surrounding ‘the end of an unknown secret relationship’ that you didn’t wish to talk about, but he continued pushing.It states that you were heartbroken over losing the love of your life, and that pushing and prodding tipped you over the ledge you were already standing on,” I said, picking up the paper that contained the article, and slipped it back into my notebook.

“Is that what happened?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me what happens next in this little fantasy world you’re creating?”

“Well, after time apart, the pair of you realized how miserable you were without one another, and you began talking again.One thing led to another, and you both have agreed to give things another try.That is why, tomorrow morning at practice, the photographers will take shots of the two of us inside the arena.”

“What the hell for?”he barked.

The article will include those images, and they will also be shared on Puck-Lit-Love.