27. Shayba #2
I’ve been absolutely useless all day. No matter what I did, I was too distracted by the memories of his kisses, his hands on me. The way he felt inside me.
My first time was everything I could have dreamed of and more. It was painful at first, but Macklin was patient and gentle, and my pleasure was his main concern.
He made me feel good. He made me feel beautiful and wanted. Loved.
I flinch when that last word creeps up in my head. Love might be what I feel for him, but he’s just fulfilling his side of our deal.
No matter what happens next, I need to remember that, or my heart will be shattered into dust when he walks away from me.
Not if you have Becks. That’s why you made this deal with Macklin.
That’s true and at the same time it’s a big, fat lie.
I agreed to the deal because Macklin guaranteed that his brother always wants what he has.
But I’d be lying to myself if I said that it’s the only reason I said yes to this insane idea of being his fake girlfriend.
No matter what happens between me and Becks, I know my heart will be broken the day Macklin walks away.
So I have to remember that we’re on borrowed time. Once Genevieve accepts that he isn’t going to take her back and I have Becks’s attention, Macklin is going to break up with me. And I’ll have to find a way to make it through that.
“Are you excited to see him?” Sam whispers as we join some of the other girlfriends and family members in the waiting area outside the locker room. “Being here is so cool.”
I told her everything about last night, except that everything between me and Macklin is fake.
“You’re acting like we’ve never been here waiting for Tucker.” I chuckle at her enthusiasm.
“Duh. Waiting for your brother was different. Now we’re waiting for your boyfriend, in his jersey.
I feel like we’re in one of those sports romance TV shows.
Even the security staff wanted to high five you.
And they’ve both known us our whole lives.
But now that you’re with him, it’s like you’re royalty. ”
Sam is right.
“I’m not sure I like all this attention.” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’m still me. And I’m not the one who scored a hat trick tonight. People should care about that, not about who Macklin is dating.”
She nods. “But you know that isn’t how it works. The press, the media, and the internet community live for all the gossip about famous athletes. And if this is how it is now, it’s going to be ten million times more intense once Mack goes pro.”
Yeah, but by then Macklin and I won’t be together anymore. We’ll be friends if I’m lucky. Or maybe a little more than that if things with Becks work out.
The thought hits me that if Becks and I started dating, I will have slept with my boyfriend’s brother. If Macklin is ok with that, it can only mean one thing. That he has no romantic feelings for me.
Unaware of my internal meltdown, Sam continues.
“That’s why Gen wasn’t taking no for an answer all summer.
She missed the attention. Now that she isn’t Mack’s girlfriend, no one could care less about what she’s wearing, what she’s doing, and who she hangs out with.
She’s already lost hundreds of thousands of followers since the breakup. ”
That’s one of the many ways Gen and I are different. To me, all this attention isn’t a perk of dating someone popular. Just the opposite.
“At least she isn’t here right now.” I muse, thinking that Macklin’s plan must be working. “Every time we came here waiting for Tucker, she was here too.”
“It’s family and significant others only. You know better than me that the players give security a list of the people they want to be allowed here.”
The second Sam mentions family, my little brother’s voice reaches me.
“Hey Talia!” I hear Tommy’s voice before my youngest brother practically throws himself at me.
At nine-years-old he’s already two inches taller than me.
“Hey baby.” I hug him back. “Where’s Dad?” I ask, sure that if he’s here, so must be my dad and possibly Terry.
“Hey princess.” As predicted, Dad is a few steps behind Tommy, with Terry and Theo in tow. “I assume the players haven’t come out yet? Theo and I stopped to speak to the mayor, and your brothers were stressed that Tucker would leave without saying hello if he didn’t see us.”
I reassure my brothers. “Don’t worry. It takes the guys a minute to shower and get changed out of their uniforms. You ok, Theo?”
My seventeen-year-old brother looks nervous as he keeps his eyes on the hallway the team is going to come out .
“He’s fine.” Dad squeezes his shoulder. “We aren’t here just to see Tucker. Coach Harrison was at Theo’s game last night, and we wanted to say hi.”
Theo plays defense for our high school hockey team, and he’s wanted to be a Cove Knight since he learned how to skate.
“If the coach was at your game, it’s a good sign.” I reassure him.
But rather than focusing on the conversation at hand, Theo is looking at me. Or, to be more specific, at my jersey.
“How come you aren’t wearing Tucker’s jersey?” he asks.
Fuck. Heat rises to my face. “That’s what girlfriends do. So that would be up to Taryn.”
My brother doesn’t look convinced. “That’s jersey number nineteen. The team captain’s.”
Theo and Mom are the only ones who follow me on social media. Dad doesn’t bother with this “modern day bullshit,” and Terry and Tommy, at eleven and nine, are too young to have an account.
If Theo is asking that question, it’s probably because he noticed my new status. The suspicion in his eyes confirms that he’s definitely seen it.
“But you’re his sister.” Terry chimes in, totally oblivious to what Theo has already figured out. “You can still wear it.”
“That’s right. Girlfriends or puck bunnies wear a player’s jersey.” Dad agrees. “You don’t want Shayba to get the wrong idea if he sees you in his jersey. Case in point, he kept blowing kisses to someone every time he scored a goal tonight. You must have seen him; it was right by your section.”