The Publicity Stunt

31. Chapter Thirty

When Victor left her rental house, Bri spent hours staring at the necklace Kace bought for her. The color was pretty damn close to her eye color, and she couldn”t tear her eyes away from it. No matter who he is or what he makes, no man spends that amount of money on a woman he doesn”t consider to be serious. Not one with morals, anyway, and Kace Lyons is a man with morals.

She replayed everything in her mind. How he showed up with his team to help clean up in her hometown. How he stood up to her brother when he threatened to hit her. Then he shows up at the funeral and skips a playoff game to be there for her. And he knew she needed time to process her grief, and he gave her space to do it. Part of her wishes he”d pursued her and provided her comfort in a different form, but she would”ve regretted it. It would”ve only been a temporary fix.

The last game of the semi-finals was scheduled in Canada, and Bri knew she needed to be there. So did Victor. She planned it all, telling his father she didn”t want Kace knowing she was there because she didn”t want to be a distraction. She wanted to see him work towards his dream, and he”d agreed. They decided to both surprise him after the game.

They spent the game in the box, but both stayed in the back and out of view, watching most of the game on the screens instead of on the plexiglass. Kace played his heart out, and he came so close to making it to the finals. So close, but so far. It breaks her heart for him because he”s wanted this since he was a kid.

Now, she stands in the hallway behind Victor and out of view of Kace. They watched two men talking to Kace, and Victor told her the one in the suit who looked like a car salesman was his agent, and the other was the General Manager of the Twisters. The latter looked like a man who retired to Florida, not the manager of a Texas NHL team, with his Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants. She knows Kace wants to be closer to home, and it didn”t get lost on her how close her new home is to the city.

”Don”t get ahead of yourself,” Bri mutters. ”He might not even want you anymore. It”s been a long while.”

”Dad, how’d you get here?” Kace asks his father.

Bri takes a deep breath. It”s time to face the music. Victor points over his shoulder as she comes into view, and Kace”s jaw drops.

”Oh, Bri brought me. On her plane. It”s such a nice plane.”

Kace stares, frozen in shock, and the butterflies kick up in her stomach. She opted to wear black jeans and a black sweater rather than his jersey. With the uncertainty of everything surrounding them, it didn”t feel right to wear it tonight.

”Kace?” Victor says. ”Don”t you want to say, I don”t know... something? Anything? Then again, talking seems to get you in trouble, so maybe you should just stand there gaping at her.”

”You... you”re here.”

Bri smiles shyly. ”I”m here.”

”Why?”

Her heart drops to her stomach. Does he not want her here? Maybe he decided after the funeral it wasn”t what he wanted, and he meant he”d always be here for her as a friend. Just a friend. It would make sense that he didn”t reach out afterwards, then. It wasn”t because he was giving her space to grieve, he was setting boundaries.

”Kace!” Victor scolds.

”I guess this wasn”t a good idea,” she says, forcing her fake smile, and turns to leave.

Hold it together, Bri. Make it to the car, and then you can lose it.

Kace runs after her and grabs her hand, turning her around. ”Don”t go.”

”Really?”

”I”m just... I think I”m in shock. And I seem to say stupid shit when I”m in shock. That”s not how I meant it to come out.”

”I”m sorry you lost.”

His father walks up to them, a wide smile on his face. ”I”m going to head to the hotel, and I”ll talk to you both tomorrow.”

”Bye, Dad,” Kace says and pulls her into the locker room.

The room smells marginally better than she expected, but not by much. Sweaty equipment and men with a hint of disinfectant cleaner. She”s never been inside a real locker room before, but she doesn”t have a chance to take in the atmosphere because he beelines it for an office. Shutting the door, his hand releases hers, his eyes staring hard at her.

Looking around the room, she suddenly feels out of place. It feels taboo being in a men”s locker room. ”Am I allowed in here?”

”Why are you here, Bri?”

”Because your dad came to talk to me a week ago.”

A crease forms between his eyebrows, and it makes her more confident in her decision, knowing he had no inkling what happened. ”What?”

”He brought me a Christmas present someone bought for me,” she says and pulls the sapphire out from under the neckline of her sweater. ”Told me you brought it with you for Christmas, hoping I”d show up to talk.”

”You don”t hate me anymore?”

”I never hated you, Kace. I wished I did. And, believe me, I tried, but I couldn”t. I was just hurt. Really hurt. And really confused.”

His hand runs through his damp hair, and he lets out a deep breath. ”I never should have said anything to Brett about how it all started with us. That was such a stupid move.”

”No, it wasn”t. I told Tessa. It was weird how it all happened. I honestly questioned Nia”s sanity when we left that lunch when they proposed it to us. I do wish, though, that you would”ve told Brett it wasn”t fake anymore. If that”s how you felt about it.”

”Do you really question that? That it wasn”t real for me?”

Her stomach flips. ”Sometimes. We discussed it, but when you didn”t tell Brett, it”s really hard not to feel like there was this elaborate lie happening. You got a lot of really good attention, your jersey sales were the most sold in the nation, and then you told me you still had the engagement ring you bought for Sasha... it all fit in this perfect little box. A box I hate, for the record.”

”It was never about the attention,” he says and shakes his head. ”I thought we”d gotten to know each other enough where you”d know I wouldn”t lie about how I feel. When I said it was real, I meant it. It was the most real thing in my world. It still is.”

”Then why didn”t you tell Brett?” Bri asks. ”I”ve been driving myself crazy not knowing why you”d tell him it was fake but never followed up. I know you were trying to figure out how you felt about Sasha, and the fact you admitted you still have the ring felt like a gut punch, but why didn”t you tell him when you figured it out? Because I told Tessa.”

”Did you tell her we slept together?”

Flushing, she laughs. ”Oh, I told her. And your friends, which I assumed they already knew. Turns out, they didn”t.”

”My friends?”

”Rudy and Brett. They surprised me backstage after my first concert of the year. It was... it was a whole thing.”

Kace stares at her. ”You told them we slept together?”

”It kind of just came out. I don”t really know how to explain it, but yeah.”

”And Tessa knows?”

”She found out on our way to your place for Thanksgiving. I was kind of... I was freaking out. She started asking questions about us, and it all just came out. And it felt really good to be the one with stories instead of just listening to hers. But she only got a few details. Your friends got no details.”

”Details?” His eyebrows raise, and he looks almost amused.

”She just asked a few questions. Like if being with you was better than Easton.”

”And you said...?”

Crossing her arms under her chest, she sighs. ”You already know the answer to that.”

A knock on the door startles her, and she jumps and turns to see Kace”s coach. He steps inside, his eyes wide, when he sees her. ”You”re Bri Waters.”

”I am. You”re Terry Allen, right?”

”Can we have a few minutes, Coach?” Kace asks.

”In my office?”

He nods. ”Please?”

”Only if I can ask for an autograph. I have an eight-year-old daughter who loves you, Bri. She tried to get me to fire Kace after... it doesn”t really matter.”

Bri chuckles, and Kace groans. ”I”d love to. Is there something specific you want me to sign?”

He hurries to his desk and moves things around frantically until he finds a notepad and marker. ”Her name is Cassandra.”

Scribbling a little note and signing it, she hands it back to him.

”Thank you,” he nods. ”I think you may have just made her year.”

”Of course. Thank you for letting us commandeer your office,” she says.

He steps out, gives a hand motion to Kace she can”t decipher, and hurries out. Kace takes her hand and forces her to look at him. ”Okay, back to what we were talking about.”

”I told her when it became real for me. Even before you decided what you felt for Sasha, I knew I wanted more. But you didn”t, Kace. And by not doing it, you gave Brett the ammunition to provide Rudy for that interview. If it was real, why didn”t you tell anyone?”

”Because I wanted to keep it to myself. Everything else we did was so public, and I wanted to hold onto what we were building. You can ask Brett... that first dinner we went to? I got after him for flirting with you. That night you made that little girl and her father”s night and got that manager fired. But you”re right. I should”ve told Brett it wasn”t fake.”

Swallowing, Bri can”t look into his eyes anymore. He”s always made her feel safe enough to open up, but it”s hard when she confesses how his actions affected her. ”Rudy giving that interview hurt so much because I never thought you”d be someone who would contribute to something like that. Not to me. And not after everything we shared. I think it also hurt my pride a little bit because I felt so stupid for opening myself up like I did. Doing everything I swore I”d never do.”

”What”s that?”

”Making plans. I was planning a future. The decisions I made took you into account. Slowing down and reducing the amount I was on the road has been on my mind for a while, and it was a bonus because it meant I”d have more time for you. Timing things around your hockey schedule, as much as possible since you play so many freaking games, and it didn”t feel like you had the same thing in mind.”

Kace sniffles, and she glances up at him before looking back down at the ground. ”I can see why you felt that way.”

”It also really hurt because when that interview came out, I lost everything. My dignity, what little pride I had left, and you. I didn”t have a lot to begin with, but I felt like I gained so much with you. And then I was left cold and alone with nothing.”

The tears sting the back of her eyes, and she can”t look up at him. If she does, she”ll break down, and she needs to keep it together. Victor asked if she”d talk to him, and she needed to share this. And to know what he thinks and feels now.

”It was real for me, Bri. After we saw that video, I went to murder Rudy. Brett waited for me, and I almost took him out, too. They hurt you, and you didn”t deserve that. Turns out, neither did I, but Rudy was just too stupid to talk to me. Instead, he plotted and slept with Sasha for six months. When that didn”t bother me anymore, he took you out with me, all for nothing.”

”Oh, yes, the Amanda thing,” she says and looks up.

His eyes widen. It sounds familiar, but he barely remembers more than seeing Bri and begging her to stay when he woke up in the hospital. ”You know about that?”

”Yes, it was the long, drawn-out story they came to share with me in Cincinnati. Those guys really need to learn how to get to a point, especially when someone doesn”t particularly want to talk to them. You really didn”t know they came to see me?”

”No,” he says and shakes his head. ”What all did they say?”

”They tried to convince me it was all their fault. Hence the story. But what they said made everything sound invalid.”

Moving to lean against the desk next to her, he crosses his arms and stares at the wall. ”What did they say?”

”Well, Rudy said you told him you loved me, but Brett admitted he didn”t know what we had was real until after the interview. I asked why you”d tell Rudy, a man you haven”t trusted in so long, how you felt about me, but you never told Brett, who, as far as I was aware, was your best friend. They didn”t really have an explanation for that one.”

”I can”t believe they did that.”

Looking to her left, she stares at the side of his face. ”I have to ask you something,” she says. ”I don”t want you to get mad, but I have to know-”

”I never slept with anyone else. I never even looked at them. Puck bunnies have never been my thing, but have you seen you? There”s no one who can even hold a candle to you. Rudy made all that up to add validity to his claim everything wasn”t what it seemed. As if what he said wasn”t damaging enough.”

Relief washes over her. Everyone has said the same thing, and it feels like a weight off her shoulders. ”Okay.”

”Do you believe me?”

”Yes.”

His arm reaches over and moves her to stand in front of him. ”Really?”

Her eyes look into his, and she nods. With him leaning like he is, they”re almost eye level and making it easier. ”Yes.”

”The moment my feelings got sorted out, the moment I knew I wanted something more with you, was the night you missed the game in Florida. I played like shit because I kept looking for you, and you weren”t there. On top of that, I knew everyone was talking about us. But then you posted those pictures, shutting everyone up. I knew then that you were the person I cared about, not Sasha.”

”Do you still want something more with me?”

”I want you, Bri. I want all of you. Real and just us. I want what we were building before. Tell me it”s possible. That you can give me another chance to prove how serious I am.”

Bri feels her lip tremble, but she doesn”t care. Kace needs to know exactly what she feels. ”If I give you another chance, and we do this again, you can”t prove me wrong, Kace. I can”t go through losing you again. Not when you offered me up what I”ve wanted most in my life.”

”What was that?”

”A family. I didn”t just lose you when this happened. I lost your father and your whole extended family. Brad who thought I”d be more high maintenance, Cory who”s always in trouble, and Laura who nearly burst my eardrum when she saw me. And your dad. I love your dad. I felt like part of the family I”d been searching for for so long.”

His hands cup her face. ”You won”t lose me or them.”

”I fell in love with you, and I fell in love with them. I won”t survive losing everything again.”