7. Chapter Six
Bri sits in the back of a black SUV with Kace right next to her. They”re so close to each other, their legs touch. With his size, there”s no other place for her to shift, and the heat from their limbs touching makes her skin tingle.
While she may have a lot to learn about hockey still, the excitement was fun. And watching Kace skate around, knocking into people, and scoring twice was like nothing she”s ever seen before. It was much more action-packed than the football games she remembers watching with her family back when she was younger. Before she started singing, and there was actual free time in her life.
After getting asked by the fourth person if she had any comment about Easton and Johanna”s pregnancy, she decided to give the faux relationship a chance. As Nia puts it, it”s time to take back the narrative, but she”s never been very good with guys. And sitting this close to Kace makes her nervous. Like someone sits beside her, poking her with pins and needles, and in this very moment, she regrets her decision. If only Tessa was here. She needs a buffer.
”Are you okay?” Kace asks, and she looks up to see him looking down at her.
For the first time, she has a chance to see just how green his eyes are. If she looked long enough, she thinks she could get lost in them. ”I”m fine.”
”You stiffened beside me. I”d give you more room, but I don”t have much more myself. I don”t normally ride in the back with someone else.”
How does she explain this situation falls outside her comfort zone? So far, in fact, she can”t even see her comfort zone in the distance. ”I”m okay. And it”s fine. Thanks for asking, though.”
”Of course.”
”Hey, did that guy Rudy really sleep with your ex?” she asks, desperate to shift the conversation away from anything related to how awkward she feels in this very moment.
Sighing, he nods. ”Yep. Her name”s Sasha. She”s a huge fan of yours, which I think I told you already. Like, the biggest,” he says with his very best Valley Girl impression. ”That concert Brett and I went to was meant for her and me. But you didn”t play her favorite song, so it wouldn”t have mattered anyway.”
”Why does her favorite song matter?”
”Never mind,” he says. ”It”s nothing at this point anyway.”
It doesn”t seem like nothing, but she knows how it feels to have someone pry when you don”t want to divulge information, especially personal information. ”How long were you together?”
”Two years. But it should really be a year and a half considering the last six months she spent fucking Rudy. Excuse the language.”
”Oh, please, don”t hold back on my account. You two are teammates, though. I thought that was bro code or whatever.”
He chuckles. ”We were more than just teammates. We”ve been friends since college, which makes the whole situation suck that much more. What I can”t get over, though, is how triumphant he seemed when he told me the added information Sasha left out. Like he”d won a game I didn”t know we were even playing.”
His phone chimes as she”s about to speak, and she clamps her mouth closed. What in the world would this girl see in Rudy over Kace? Kace is more handsome, in her opinion. And something about how he looks like he could just toss her around makes her feel giddy.
”Speak of the devil.”
”Rudy or Sasha?”
Holding out his phone, she sees the screen.
Taking his phone, she taps the camera and hands it back to him. ”Take a picture of us. You”re going to have to take it, otherwise we might get your chest and that”s it. My arms are far too short for how ginormous you are,” she says with a giggle.
He laughs and surprises her by pulling her into his lap. The heat from his touch makes her stomach flutter, but he leans in and smiles as he takes the picture. They both look at it while she remains on his lap with his arms wrapped around her while he types on the phone in front of them.
”She”s going to lose her fucking mind.”
His arm moves, and she takes it as a sign to shift back into her seat. A sudden emptiness without his touch strikes her, and she”s surprised. She liked it far more than she would have expected. God, can she really pull off a fake relationship with someone she finds so damn attractive?
The phone rings with a video call request. ”Good God,” he groans.
”Decline it. You don”t owe her a thing. Actually, turn your phone off. Trust me, nothing pisses a girl off more than a guy going ghost when she wants to get in touch with him. In this case, you”re not the asshole. She is.”
Kace smirks as the vehicle stops. ”You know, you might just be one of the best friends I”ll ever have.”
”Do you have a lot of friends?” she asks.
The door opens, and the cameras flash like crazy, but Kace takes her hand and uses his large body to help shield her from the paparazzi until they”re inside. He doesn”t drop her hand until the hostess guides them to a private booth in the back, and she likes the feel of her hand in his.
Bri settles into the round booth from the right while Kade slides in from the left, his hand releasing hers.
”I don”t have as many as I had in high school and college by nature of growing up, but I have my people I could call if I needed help moving or something,” Kace says.
”Good evening. My name is Carl, and I”ll be your server. Can I get you something to drink?” the man asks, his smile wide as he stares at the two of them.
Bri knows he”s going to get a nice chunk of change for sharing that he served them on their date in the tabloids, and she pushes down the frustration she feels bubbling up inside. It comes with the territory.
”I”ll take a glass of white wine and a water, please,” she says.
”I”ll just take a water,” Kace says.
She turns back to Kace when Carl walks away. ”If you had a party, how many people would you invite and expect to show up? Friends and family.”
He leans back and thinks. ”I don”t know. I”d say, like, two-fifty or so.”
The thought he has over two hundred people who would show up, many of them probably not in professional sports, intrigues her. Maybe being an athlete is easier than being a musician when it comes to friends.
”It wouldn”t be like you throwing a party, though. I bet you”d need a fleet of security to help keep people out and avoid the fire marshal shutting it down.”
Opening her menu, she avoids eye contact even though she feels him staring at her. ”Not even close. If I just invited really friends and family, you know, people without an alternate agenda, I would have my team and Tessa. That”s about it.”
Carl stops by with their drinks. ”Are you ready to order?”
Kace nudges her leg with his, and the touch sends sparks all the way up to her ears. She”d never been attracted to athletes, but this man defies everything she believes.
”I always order the same thing when I come here, but we can take more time, if needed,” he says.
”Go ahead. I”ll be ready in a minute,” she says and scans the menu.
”I”ll take the porterhouse, medium rare, with a baked potato, just butter and cheese, and a side of the mac and cheese.”
”And for you, miss?”
It takes everything in her not to roll her eyes. Carl tries his damnedest to pretend like they’re just an average couple coming in for dinner far later than the normal rush. ”I”ll take the southwest salad with grilled chicken. Can I get that without onions, please?”
”Of course,” he says and hurries away. He looks almost giddy.
”He”s gonna run to the tabloids after we leave, isn”t he?” Kace asks.
She nods. ”Yep.”
People looking to gain something from just being near her became an almost sixth sense years ago. Carl sends her alert radar off like a loud siren, but there”s nothing she can do about it.
Taking a drink of his water, Kace looks at her. ”You have more than one friend.”
”No, I don”t. Tessa”s the only one. Even in the entertainment world, I”ve never found someone who befriended me without wanting something. No matter how genuine they may seem, it always turns into what I can do for them, which I respect someone more if they don”t fake trying to be my friend and just ask what for what they want. Just ask me to do a collaboration or endorsement.”
”I suppose they figure it”s harder to say no if you believe you”re friends.”
Bri laughs and sips her wine. ”That just shows how little they do research. If I”ve cut my entire family off, do you really think I can”t find a way to say no to someone who just became my friend? Especially the investing opportunities they have. No, wait, my favorite is asking to use my private plane. Everything is always some sort of a pitch with people.”
”Okay, we need to circle back to the family thing, but do you feel that”s what”s happening with us? A pitch of sorts?”
Smiling, she shakes her head. ”It wasn”t your idea. Besides, I think I”m the one gaining more than you will be.”
”Speaking of which, we should probably set some boundaries and figure out a game plan.”
Her stomach flutters. This may be the moment he decides it”s not worth it and backs out. ”I might need to lean on you for that. I”m not really good at this type of thing.”
”Fake dating?” he whispers. ”I don”t know what you think of me, but I”ve never done this before, either.”
”Dating in general,” she says, her heart pounding in her ribcage and blood rushing to her face.
Bri never admits personal things, and she definitely doesn”t admit to such things after meeting someone twice. Once he knows how inexperienced she is with men, he might decide she”s too much of a freak, and it”s all too much work. He”s not an actor, so pretending to be sexually attracted to someone who”s had sex with one person in her entire life may be more effort than he cares to put into this scenario.
”You”re lying.”
”I”m not. Easton was my only real boyfriend, if you want to call him that.”
He gapes, blinking a few moments before his eyes rake over her, and asks, ”How?”
It”s a fair question. ”I”ve been in the studio or touring since I was fifteen. I just released my fifth album, and this is my seventh tour and fourth where I”m headlining. There”s not much free time outside of music. If I”m not performing, I”m recording. If I”m not recording, I”m writing. I basically live and breathe music.”
”You”re more dedicated to your job than I am. That”s impressive.”
She smiles. At least he didn”t immediately call her a freak. The way he looks at her tells her he”s wondering but doesn”t want to be crass. ”Yes.”
”Yes?”
”To answer the question I can see brewing behind those green eyes of yours, yes. Easton was my first and only.”
Kace shifts uncomfortably. ”I wasn”t wondering that.”
”Liar.”
”Okay, yeah, I was,” he admits. ”It”s just... that”s so crazy to me. But it answers the other question I had.”
Tilting her head, she narrows her eyes. ”What”s that?”
”How you were with someone for as long as you were with him and not fall in love. He wasn”t giving it to you like he should have.”
She snorts and almost spits out the wine she just sipped. ”Is that right?”
”Trust me, if you do it right, you both fall in love.”
The idea of making love with Kace stirs something she hasn”t experienced in a long time. Sex with Easton was good, but she never had a toe-curling moment. And she certainly didn”t crave it like she always read in books or sees in movies. It was just something they did when they saw each other every few months, and sometimes she”d find a release, but usually not.
”So, what kind of rules should we put into place?” she asks, needing to change the subject before images of how Kace may be in bed turns her face the color of a beet.
”I think the better question is what you”re comfortable with.”
That”s a good question. Right now, in this moment, she wouldn”t mind if he pulled her back into his lap like he had in the car, only this time, kissing the bejeezus out of her. ”Um, I guess it would be best to take things slow. Easton and I were never really big on the public displays of affection, so if we start groping each other in public, it may look staged.”
”How about we start with holding hands?”
His large hands hid hers almost completely, and she liked how it felt. Like he could protect her from anything. ”That”s fine with me.”
”When do you think we should make it official? I don”t think either of our teams should make a statement on it, but we can make it clear at some point.”
”I have an awards show in a couple of weeks. You could come with me and take pictures on the red carpet. Or whatever color this year is.”
Kace chuckles. ”Yeah, that would make a statement. Send me the date, and I”ll check to make sure I don”t have a game that night. If I”m off, I should be able to make it.”
”If you need, I have a private plane.”
”So you said.”
”And you don”t even need to ask to use it. As long as you come to the awards show, it”s yours for the night,” she jokes as Carl walks over with the food.
”I think I can manage, but I”ll maybe let you know if I”m ever in a pinch.”
Stabbing at her salad, she feels oddly at ease with the man she wishes would just take her to the bathroom and tear her clothes off to ravage her like the steak he”s digging into. How she can feel so comfortable but also filled with anxiety at the same time confuses her.
”It”ll be nice to have someone to go with considering Easton will no doubt be there with his pregnant girlfriend. I was going to skip it after everything and claim jet lag from the tour, but I’m up for a couple of awards. Oh, and I”m supposed to perform, too.”
”How can you say it so nonchalantly? ”I”m up for a couple of awards. Oh, and I”m supposed to perform, too.” You act like you”re not some big superstar or something. And you definitely don”t seem excited. I bet you have a wall full of awards.”
She giggles. ”I do have a few awards, but my favorite are my three Grammys. They”re a symbol I”ve made it, I guess. The fan voted awards are amazing, too, but depending on what happens in your life, those fans may not always be devoted to you. But the Grammys... those are voted on by people in the industry. They”re harder to impress enough to get a vote.”
”That”s amazing, Bri. I know what you mean when you talk about it being a symbol you”ve made it. That”s what the Stanley Cup means to me. I want it so badly, I can almost taste it. And it”ll make the last twenty years worth it. Especially since I only have a few good years left to get it.”
The way Kace digs into his food, not caring what a soul thinks, makes Bri envious. Nothing seems to make this man self-conscious, and he just confessed something personal. Not as personal as her sexual inexperience, but it”s what she suspects is personal for him. No, he”s just Kace Lyons, and he”s unapologetic about it. If only she could harness that power.
”Based on my very limited knowledge, and tonight”s experience, you look like you have a good chance at winning it. You were a beast out there.”
”Having you there tonight made it better. I haven”t had someone to show off for in a long time. My ex stopped showing up to the games a year ago. It made the game better, and Tessa might be right. I think you may very well be my lucky charm. You should come to all the games to ensure our spot in the playoffs.”
Bri laughs, and she likes the way he looks at her. Appreciative. It”s a new look she doesn”t get very often outside of donating money to good causes. ”Nia started running through your schedule and my tour dates to see what could work the moment we left that lunch just in case we agreed to give this a try. We”ll figure out how to get me to as many as possible. I just don”t know how many that will be. You have so many games.”
He smirks. ”And your tour schedule isn”t exactly simple. They don”t align too much, but I”ll try and come to as many concerts as I can. You”re either performing on a game night, or you”re on the other side of the country.”
”We”ll figure it out. Our reps seem pretty excited about the idea, so I”m sure they”ll make it happen.”
”I”m looking forward to it.”
The way he looks at Bri makes her thankful she”s sitting. The intensity in his eyes would have surely made her knees buckle had she been standing. It crosses her mind this ”fake” relationship could hurt more than a real one when it”s over if he keeps looking at her like this.