Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
I laugh, shaking my head as I zip up my gear bag. “Is anything sacred?” I joke.
“I can’t help what she tells me,” he says.
“Tells you what?” Lawson asks as he heads up to us, gear bag in tow. “What did I miss?”
Pax looks at me, eyebrows raised.
“Hey,” Lawson says looking between us. “Secrets don’t make good friends.”
I laugh again. “Jesus, you two.” I sigh. “Reese and I are in a…unique arrangement and Pax here was just letting me know that Monroe told him all about it.”
“A situationship?” Lawson asks.
I quickly shake my head. “No,” I answer. “More like a business arrangement.”
“Whoa, did she score you an endorsement deal? I’ve been asking her to call Nike for me, but she said that’s more of public relations job.”
“Not yet,” I say. “But that video she posted from New Year’s was too good of an opportunity to pass up. For me and the Badgers.” I shrug. “I offered to play a little role for the camera in order to keep the views coming.”
“He’s in a fake relationship,” Pax says, playfully clapping Lawson in the chest. “You know what that’s like.”
“Ahh,” Lawson says. “But mine and Blakely’s relationship wasn’t fake. I was always pursuing her. She knew it. She just tried to deny it.”
“I’m not pursuing, Reese,” I say. “I’m just trying to help her keep up the views.”
“But you’re pretending to be her boyfriend?” Pax asks.
“Yes,” I answer.
“And you’re not pursuing her?” Lawson asks. “Because a couple weeks ago at Clay’s house I swore I saw you two making out.”
I huff. “Creeper.”
“I’m not!” he fires back. “I can’t help that you two made a spectacle of yourselves. Not that I’m blaming you. I kiss Blakely any chance I can get, public or not.”
“What else do boyfriends do?” I ask. “And before either of you ask, she’s the one who said go for it. She’s in control, I’m just along for the ride.”
“That definitely sounds like nothing can go wrong,” Pax teases.
“Speaking of situationships, how are things with your BFF?”
His mouth drops open. “She’s just my friend.”
“Yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Yo, Stokehill,” Jake Coding, one of rookies, calls over to me. “Are you hitting up the bars tonight? Which one do you think will be the best for finding some Anaheim locals who love hockey players?”
I furrow my brow. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve already scoped out a general game plan for the night life after a game in any given town we’ve traveled to, but not tonight.
“Nah,” I say. “I’m staying in tonight.”
Jake looks at me like I’ve grown another head. To be fair, I usually go out, the rookies following me around like lost puppies in the hopes they’ll get lucky too.
“Really?” he asks.
“Really,” I say. “Have a good time though. Wear protection.”
“Yes, Dad,” he says, dragging out the word and looking like he just got a lecture from his father before he heads out of the locker room.
“Where are you staying in?” Lawson asks.
“Reese said she’d be at Clay’s suite where some others are hanging out,” I say, picking up my bag and heading out of the locker room, the guys following me. “So that’s where I’ll be.”
“And she’s just a friend, huh?” Pax says with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“We haven’t officially called each other friends yet,” I say as we head out of the arena. “But we’re working up to it. You know she loves to fight me every other second.”
“Friends who make out,” Lawson says. “Definitely nothing wrong with that, right, Pax?”
“Guys,” he groans. “For the millionth time, I have never made out with Monroe. Not that I wouldn’t…ugh,” he says, shaking his head. “She’s my best friend. Like, I’ve-known-her-for-forever best friend. Even if I wanted to…there’s a whole lot of risk involved. I can’t lose her.”
The seriousness in his tone definitely kills the playful mood, but I give him an empathetic look. “We know,” I say. “We’re just fucking with you. And hey, if you ever do decide that the risk would be worth it, you know we’ll be here.”
“Thanks,” he says as we climb the team bus that will take us back to the hotel.
Clay splurged for a suite, like always, and opened his doors for anyone who wanted a chill, safe place to land for the night instead of flocking to the bars. For a grumpy asshole, he’s certainly generous.
I drop my bag off in the room I’m sharing with Lawson and then head up a few floors to Clay’s.
There are already at least twenty people here, mostly Badgers and their plus-ones for the night. It only takes me a quick scan to find Reese on the balcony with Blakely and Monroe, the trio of beautiful women laughing at something one of them said.
And fuck me, Reese’s smile is breathtaking. Like, literally, the breath in my lungs disappears for a few moments as I head toward her, unable to not walk that direction. She looks gorgeous in leggings and a Badger’s jersey—not mine, of course—but it’s her smile that has me practically salivating.