The Publicity Stunt

11. Chapter Ten

The phone ringing wakes Bri from a deep sleep. Grabbing her phone, she doesn”t even look before answering. ”Hello?”

”You”re not at the game?” Tessa asks.

Bri opens her eyes, suddenly aware of how off her best friend sounds. Sad. Looking at the clock, she groans. ”Shit, I laid down to take a nap before heading out, and I slept longer than I meant to. What”s wrong?”

”Were you sleeping? I didn”t mean to wake you. I can let you go.”

She sits up and grabs the water on the nightstand to help clear the brain fog. She arrived in St. Petersburg earlier that day after a three-show stint, and she was exhausted. Exhausted and slightly groggy.

”Are you okay? You sound weird.”

”He dumped me.”

Suddenly alert, she jumps up. ”Trevor? What happened?”

”He told me he didn”t see a future with us. But I think it”s because he suddenly found the redhead he used to talk to single.”

”Bastard,” Bri says. ”I thought Trevor was a decent guy. More decent than the others you”ve dated. And you both love hockey. It seemed like fate.”

She sniffles. ”I know!”

”I wish I was there to hug you right now, Tee. What can I do? Do you need anything?”

The pause worries Bri. Tessa never falls silent. Normally, she”s angry when sad. Shouting, cussing, and throwing things. Not silent.

”I need your help, Bri,” Tessa says and breaks down. ”I never wanted to ask you after-”

”What do you need?” she asks as a knock comes from the door. ”Hold on a sec, Tee. Someone”s at the door.”

Bri walks into the main room and looks through the peephole to see Tessa standing there in the hallway, sobbing. Swinging the door open, she pulls her inside and into a large hug. ”I”m sorry, Bri. I”m so sorry.”

”Come inside. What do you need? And why are you sorry?”

”I hate coming to you like this, and I swore I never would,” she says, her lip quivering.

Moving them to the couch, she guides her best friend to sit as she seems on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. Tessa grabs the pillow on the side and places it on Bri”s lap, and Bri starts running her hands through her hair. ”You need money, don”t you?”

Her sobs shake her entire body, and Bri”s heart breaks. The one person she”d give everything to without a second thought is the one person who has never once asked. ”I”m in over my head. And I need to get away. I promise I”ll pay you back. I just... I”m so sorry.”

”How much do you need?”

”Don”t hate me.”

”I don”t think I could ever hate you.”

Sitting up, Tessa wipes her eyes. ”Here”s what I was thinking, okay? If you could lend me the money, I could come with you on tour and do whatever you need me to do. I can work some of it off, and then I can find another job and pay whatever”s left over.”

”How much do you need?”

”Seventy-five thousand.”

Bri”s eyes widen. ”What happened?”

She breaks down again and pulls her knees up to her chest. ”I helped Mark take out that loan, and you know how that whole thing went down. You couldn”t get the amount out of me because I was too embarrassed to tell you, so I lied and said I could handle it. Then I was supposed to get a bonus from work. I wanted to get Trevor a really nice gift for his birthday, so I took out one of those non-bank loans. Bad idea, by the way. And then not only did I not get the bonus, I got fired. They repossessed my car, and I”ve been evicted from my house.”

”What about Snickers?”

Snickers is the cat Bri bought for Tessa five breakups ago, and he has been her companion for the past five years. Tessa loves that cat more than anything. She even broke up with a guy who said he hated her cat.

”He”s with my mom right now until I figure out what I”m doing. Bri, please, you have to understand... I”ve tried everything else I can think of short of getting on a pole, and I may have considered that a little more than I want to admit. I would never... You can say no. I”ll figure something out. I shouldn”t have asked. I think I”m just overwhelmed and upset. Please, just forget I asked.”

Bri cups Tessa”s face. ”I wish you would”ve come to me before you got to this point, Tee.”

”Everyone always wants something from you, and I don”t want to be like the rest of them.”

”Babe, you”ve been through it all with me. I know being my friend, let alone my only and best friend, isn”t always easy. I”m more than aware of that, trust me. Promise me something?”

”Anything.”

”If this ever happens again, come to me before it gets this bad. Before you”re on the verge of a total breakdown.”

Her lip quivers. ”I”ll pay you back. I swear, Bri. Just tell me what you need me to do-”

”What I need you to do is let me get Snickers here with us, and he”ll be our touring cat. You”ll hang with me on the tour and nurse your broken heart. And maybe tutor me a bit on the subject of hockey because I”m still just a little lost.”

”Bri-”

”That”s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

Tears stream down her face, and she jumps into Bri”s arms. ”I love you so much.”

”I love you, too.”

Pulling back, Tessa wipes her eyes. ”Okay, I need a distraction from me and my world. Tell me everything that”s going on with Kace. I saw that kiss at the awards show. How was it?”

Bri sighs and sinks back into the couch. ”It was amazing. It sounds silly, but I like who I am when I”m with him. How he makes me feel. And it kills me we haven”t ripped each other”s clothes off yet because I have a feeling he”s really, really good at making a woman scream in pure ecstasy.”

”Bri!” she says and gasps. ”You never talk like that. Even after Easton took your V card.”

”Kace told me that Easton”s lack of skills in the bedroom is the reason I never fell in love with him. How did he put it? I don”t remember exactly, but basically, he said if a man can give it to her good enough, they both fall in love.”

Tessa”s jaw drops. ”You”ve talked about sex?”

”We”ve talked about so much. I met his ex. She wants to be my best friend, and I put her in her place. I swear, I have a Tessa channel in my brain I turn to when I need it.”

”You were still probably ten times nicer than I would have been. But bitch needs to back off because you already have a best friend.”

”Damn right I do,” she says with a smirk. ”He talked me into going to the awards show when I was hiding.”

She giggles. ”Under the dressing table?”

”Shut up,” she says and laughs. ”And then, on the red carpet, Easton and Johanna ended up right behind us. I”m starting to think someone”s planning this. Anyway, Kace blocked me from cameras when Johanna asked if we could take a picture together and told me my face was giving me away. Then he turned her down for the picture.”

”She... wow, she has balls.”

”She”s as delusional as Sasha. That”s Kace”s ex. The kiss was accidental because we”d already talked about not crossing that line, but my God, it was even better than I thought it would be.”

Her finger lifts into the air. ”Wait, you talked about not crossing that line? What line?”

”We had a moment in the hotel room when I didn”t want to go. He told me the only thing that would look better would be my dress on the floor in the morning light.”

”Shut up! He did? And you didn”t just immediately jump his bones? Because I would have.”

”Well, we were running late for the show because of all sorts of things, but I asked him if he was still in love with Sasha. He doesn”t know, and until he knows, we decided to keep things fake. But I don”t think it”s fake for me anymore, Tee. All I think about is him.”

”You”re falling for him, aren”t you?”

Closing her eyes, she leans her head back to rest on the back of the couch. ”Yes. And this is more than anything I”ve ever experienced before. I mean, I”ve had many crushes. You know that. But this is more than a crush. It scares me, though, because he”s so much more experienced.”

”You”re worried about how you”ll compare.”

”A little, yeah. I mean, I can be Bri Waters, international superstar on stage, but offstage, I”m just Brianna.”

”Don”t worry about that. He”s going to realize he”s not in love with her, and he”s going to be panting for you. I believe that.”

”He was going to propose to her at the concert he came to,” Bri says. ”Don”t say anything to him, though. I don”t think anyone else knows, but it”s not just another relationship.”

She nods. ”Understood. We”re probably just about done with the second period. Should we watch your boy on TV?”

Nodding, she hands Tessa the remote to turn on the TV and find the game. Both look in surprise to see the Bootleggers trailing by two points.

”They”re playing a lesser ranked team, right? Shouldn”t they be ahead?” Bri asks as Tessa nods her head.

The last play shows Kace missing the puck while the other team steals it and scores on the Bootleggers. This isn”t good.

”This is Kace Lyons” fourth miss of the night. This isn”t the player we”re used to seeing on the ice this season,”the announcer comments.

”This doesn”t sound good,” Tessa says.

”It seems suspicious that we saw pictures of Bri Waters landing in St. Petersburg but isn”t here watching her boyfriend playing. It really seems to be affecting his game,”another says.

”If she”s not here watching the game, maybe they”re not as serious as everyone is led to believe.”

Closing her eyes, Bri groans. ”Damn my tour schedule.”

”Poor Kace.”

”All because I had to sleep. Damn it!”

”And took care of me.”

Bri’s eyes light up. ”That”s it!”

”What”s it?”

”Go wash your face and fix your makeup.”

”Why?”

”Please?”

Shrugging, Tessa stands and walks into the suite”s bathroom. It doesn”t take long, and she comes back looking only slightly puffy. ”We”re taking a picture, aren”t we?”

”Yes, we are,” Bri says and pulls her down on the couch.

Leaning into her, she gives Tessa the phone to take the photo, and then she takes it back to snap a few other pictures. The game starts again, and Kace appears on the screen. She takes a picture of the TV screen and smiles.

”What are you doing?” Tessa asks. ”You look almost evil. Don”t get me wrong, I totally love it, but what”s going through that mind of yours?”

”Making a little post to make sure everyone knows there”s no bad blood between Kace and me. How does this sound? Tired after multiple night shows and traveling. Sitting in the hotel catching up with my bestie and watching some TV. All we need is some takeout. Does that sound okay?”

Tessa looks at the pictures and adds a heart around Kace”s photo. ”Now it”s perfect.”

”Do you think it”ll help?”

”I don”t think it can hurt. Plus, it”ll make the asshole thinking this means you”re not with him, eat his words.”

”I just wish there was a way for Kace to see it so he knows it wasn”t on purpose. I told him I”d be there.”