Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
I widen my eyes at her.
“What boy?” Roman frowns.
“He’s just a friend. They’re all just friends,” I assure him.
Tally knocks on my door and pokes her head in. “You ready?”
I give her a thumbs-up. “Speaking of friends, Tally’s ready to go.”
“Tell her I say hello!”
Tally gazelle-leaps over and waves. “Hi, Roman, Lexi, Callie, and little Ariel!”
“Hi, Tally!” Callie’s eyes light up.
“You doing okay, kiddo?” Roman asks.
She nods and hugs me from behind. “Managing all the things. How’s my dad?”
Her parents recently separated, and she started dating Flip Madden, one of the Terror players, who her dad coaches.
“He’s doing okay. We’ll keep an eye on him for you,” Lexi assures her.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” She smiles, but it’s weighed down.
Things have been understandably tense with Tally and her family for a plethora of reasons, not the least of which is Flip’s former playboy reputation. She’s been throwing herself into dance and school and actively avoiding all the social media speculation. It’s been a lot for her to handle, especially since she’s in her final semester, but she’s been holding a candle for Flip for ages. It sort of gives me hope that maybe me and Mac could also transition from fake-dating friends to something more.
“Okay! We should go! Love you! Talk soon!” I make a heart with my hands and end the call.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Glad for the distraction and friends tonight.” She eyes my outfit. “I approve of this.”
I look down at myself. “Oh shit. I should change the hoodie.”
“No. Nope. The hoodie should remain. You’re Mac’s girlfriend.”
“Fake girlfriend.”
She pulls me up off the bed. “For now.”
CHAPTER 9
MAC
The family resemblance between Gage and his sister would be slightly less obvious if their hair didn’t match, but the white blond is striking.
Their fingers fly at a rate that renders my very basic ASL skills useless.
“Do you have any idea what they’re saying?” I ask Chase and Brody.
“I’m catching the occasional word, but that’s it,” Chase replies.
“Same,” Brody agrees.
A girl with hair that’s been dyed to look like fire, appears out of nowhere. “She’s pissed that he’s here.”
“But he came to support her,” I explain.
“She thinks he’s being overbearing.” The girl tucks her hair behind her ear, revealing a ladder of piercings that spell FUCK OFF. “He shows up at her dorm weekly to check up on her. She’s just trying to live her life and like…no offense, but having her fuckboy brother on the school hockey team is not helping her pave her own way.”
“Tell me about it,” Brody mutters.
She side-eyes him. “I’m going to intervene before one of them gets a hand cramp.” She stalks over to Gage and his sister, Jade, and joins in on the signing.
“What’s going on over there?” I startle and turn in time to watch Fee’s long, wavy blond hair tumble out of her Tilton toque, wafting her shampoo my way. Her cheeks are flushed pink, nose the same, cold rolling off her. She looks gorgeous and I can’t wait to spend the next two hours with my arm around her.
“Gage and his sister are having it out,” I explain.
“Why? Did he sleep with one of her friends or something?” Tally asks.
“Oof, that would suck,” Enid mutters.
“I gotta use the bathroom.” Brody rushes off, ears red.
Enid bites her lips together, and Chase cringes.
Brody messed around with one Enid’s friends back in high school, and now he thinks he can never have Enid, and she apparently thinks the same. No amount of friend encouragement seems to push them together. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force them to hydrate.
“It’s more about his reputation,” I explain.
“Ah, fair.” Fee sighs. “My sister being a Terror coach is cool, but also, when she was married to the goalie mid-season, everyone had something to say about it.”
“Whether you want their opinion or not.”
“Mmm. Usually I did not.” Fee smiles, but there’s strain behind it.
I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for Fee. She lost her parents, moved to a new city, and her sister became her guardian and promptly ended up as media fodder.
Gage returns to the group, red-faced.
“Everything okay?” Chase asks.
“Yeah. Everything is fine. Let’s get popcorn and snacks.” He leads the way to the concession stand.
Several girls say hi, so I use it as an excuse to wrap my arm around Fee.
She stuffs her toque and mitts into her bag, then unzips her jacket.
I grin. “You’re wearing my hoodie.”
“Seemed like a good girlfriend thing to do.” She half smiles. “But I can give it back to you. Maybe I should wash it first?”
I shake my head. “Don’t do that. I like it on you.” And I’d rather have it back after she’s worn it, so it smells like her, just like my pillow did after she slept in my bed.