Chapter 17 Tish
TISH
My mouth hangs open. I can’t move, can’t breathe.
The silence that follows Carl’s announcement is so heavy I swear it rattles the walls.
For a second, I expect someone to laugh. A smirk, a chuckle, a quick just kidding. But no one laughs.
Carl actually expects me to pretend to be Jake’s girlfriend.
Ash slams his hand down on the dresser. “You can’t be serious.” His voice booms, full of heat. His gaze swings to me and it’s not anger I see there, despite his tone. There’s a hint of fear and…jealousy?
Carl doesn’t flinch. He leans back in his chair like he’s already won this fight. “I am serious. It’s the only way.”
Jake lets out a groan and tips his head back, dragging a hand through his hair. “Come on, Coach. Me playing the doting boyfriend? Nobody’s gonna believe that.” His eyes flick toward me. “Even with someone as beautiful as our Tish.”
The room explodes. Ash and Jake bark over each other, both voices growing louder. Carl cuts in, his voice like gravel, trying to shut them down.
My head spins. The sound of it, the chaos, it feels like being trapped in a storm with no way out.
I press a hand against the table. “This won’t work.” My words aren’t loud, but they cut enough that the others pause.
Carl turns his gaze on me, sharp and unyielding. “It’s the only option. We can’t risk word getting out that he’s in a fake relationship, and I can’t think of another plausible woman to act as his girlfriend without running to the press to spill the story.”
“I already have more than enough work keeping this team from drowning in bad press,” I say, my voice firmer now. “And did you consider that pretending to date Jake might backfire?”
“If it does, I have every confidence that you can fix it,” Carl says without hesitation.
I’m not sure whether to be flattered or annoyed. The look I send him is one of frustration, surprise, and vexation.
Ash shakes his head, a low growl in his throat. “You can’t be serious, Carl. This isn’t a solution. It’s a mess waiting to happen.”
Jake leans back in his chair, smirking, though there’s no humor in it. “See? Even golden boy agrees with me for once. What a shock.”
“Shut up, Jake,” Ash fires back. His arms fold tight across his chest, jaw hard enough to crack. “You think this is funny? You’re about to drag her into your circus. That’s not happening.”
Ash is reacting out of emotion, not something he usually does. At least not that I’ve ever seen.
He and Jake are good friends, but this arrangement really bothers him.
Hell, it bothers me, too.
Jake lifts both hands in mock defense. “Don’t blame me. I didn’t come up with this brilliant plan. I’m just the lucky bastard who gets stuck with it.”
Lucky. The word makes my stomach twist. But then he said “stuck,” too, and for some reason that makes my cheeks heat and my stomach flop. I may not want this, but I don’t like the way Jake put it either, as if he’s being stuck with me, no matter how true it is.
Carl slams his palm down on the table, silencing them both. “Enough. This isn’t about who likes the idea or not. It’s about what the public sees. Jake’s reputation is out of control. Sponsors are on edge. The league is watching us. A steady girlfriend changes the story.”
Ash laughs, sharp and bitter. “Steady girlfriend? With him? You really expect anyone to buy that?”
Carl doesn’t blink. “They’ll buy it if we sell it right.”
Jake leans forward, elbows on his knees, his expression darkening. “No one’s going to believe I’ve gone straight, Coach. You can stick me in a tux, parade me through every black-tie event in the state, and the press will still say I’ve got someone on the side.”
Carl’s gaze sharpens. “Then make sure you don’t. Not in public, not where anyone can get a photo. If you need to…handle yourself, you do it quietly. Very quietly.”
The bluntness makes heat rise in my face. Carl is giving him a way out if he gets too horny and needs to get laid.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say, “What about me? What if I want some action on the side?” My fingers tighten on the edge of the table, but I say nothing.
Ash explodes. “That’s what you’re offering her? To stand there smiling while he sneaks around? You’re asking her to torch her reputation for the sake of his.”
For the briefest second, Carl looks stricken.
As if he’d not thought that this arrangement could damage my reputation.
Honestly, I didn’t think about that either.
If I’m being truthful with myself, I’m not even worried about selling the boyfriend-girlfriend bit.
I’m concerned about being put into that position—and not acting on it, considering my damn attraction to the man.
But then Carl’s expression hardens. “She’s the only one who can handle it,” he says, finality ringing in his tone. “Anyone else would sell the story for cash the second it’s over.”
Jake chuckles, low and humorless. “You’re not wrong. But that doesn’t mean this is gonna work.” He turns his head toward me, eyes sharp. “No offense, sweetheart, but everyone knows I don’t do serious. They’ll never believe it. Not for a second.”
The word sweetheart lands wrong, like a dare.
Ash bristles. “Watch it.”
Jake shrugs. “What? I’m just saying the obvious.”
“You don’t get to drag her into this and act like she’s a prop in your freak show,” Ash snaps. “She deserves better than being painted as the poor fool dumb enough to fall for you.”
Jake’s smirk falters, but he doesn’t back down. “You think I want this either? You think I enjoy the idea of being paraded around like a neutered show dog? No thanks. I’d rather—”
Carl cuts him off. “Trisha will break things off when the time comes. That will save her reputation.”
The silence that follows is thick, suffocating. Ash mutters a curse under his breath. Jake shakes his head, his lips pressed into a hard line.
I take a slow breath, my pulse still hammering.
Carl’s mind is set and I doubt there’s anything, or anyone, that can change it.
He said earlier I still get a say, but I also understand his reasoning even if I don’t like it.
The fight drains out of the room, replaced with a heavy, reluctant acceptance.
Carl waves us toward the door. “That’s it. Go cool off. We’ll work out the details later.”
Ash storms out first, his shoulders rigid, every step sharp with anger.
Jake lingers, eyes locked on the floor, before shoving his hands in his pockets and following.
I push away from the table, my legs stiff.
“I’m sorry, Trisha,” Carl says. “It’s really the only way I can think of.”
“I understand.” And I do. It is a good plan, I just wish I wasn’t the designated girlfriend.
I move to the door, but just as my hand is on the doorknob, Carl speaks again. “If you’re really dead set against this, we can try to figure something else out.”
I want to tell him, yes, figure something else out, but I don’t want to let down the team, either.
This is just temporary.
It’s for the good of Jake and the Thunderwolves. It’s a few pretend dates until things cool down.
Just the fact that he is offering me a way out pulls at me. Despite his thunder and gruffness when Ash and Jake were in here, he’s offering me a way out if I really want to take it.
But I see the dread and concern in his eyes, too. He made me the offer, but he’s afraid I might take it.
My smile is a little weak when I look at him. “I will give this a try,” I say then leave the room. I head for my room, needing distance, needing quiet.
Footsteps sound behind me and I turn.
“Hey,” Jake says.
I keep walking. “What.”
“We need to figure this out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out.” My voice is steady, though inside I’m anything but. “Carl made his decision.”
“We can change his mind.”
I let out a sharp laugh. “You know him better than me, and even I can tell he’s not going to give on this one.”
I won’t tell Jake or Ash that Carl did give me a way out. I don’t think he wanted them to know he felt a bit guilty for painting me into a corner.
Jake sighs, running a hand through his hair. “So we’re just supposed to fake it? Smile for the cameras and pretend we’re playing house?”
“That’s exactly what we’re supposed to do.”
His eyes cut toward me, sharp and restless. “You really think anyone’s gonna buy it? Everyone knows I don’t stick around. The whole damn world knows.”
We reach my door. My hand closes over the handle, ready to shut the night out and lock myself away.
But Jake leans closer, his voice dropping low, right against my ear. “Then we’d better make them see what they expect. We’ve gotta sell it.”
I turn my head toward him, ready to argue, but his next words freeze me.
“If we’re gonna pretend, we’ve gotta make it look real.”
The air between us thickens, charged with something dangerous.
My pulse hammers so hard it hurts.
He’s close enough that I catch the scent of him—clean soap, faint cologne, and something sharper underneath that’s just Jake. My throat goes dry.
His mouth brushes my ear, his breath warm against my skin. “Starting now.”
I look up at him, and it’s a mistake. His eyes catch mine, holding me there, green and burning with an intensity I’ve never seen before.
There’s no smirk this time, no cocky shield.
Just heat. My chest tightens.
The sharp angles of his jaw stand out under the hall light with shadow brushing over his cheekbones.
A lock of hair falls forward, and I desperately want to reach up and push it away.
He’s unfairly handsome—tall, broad, every line of him built for power and speed.
I’ve always known it, but seeing him this close I understand why women fall for him even when they swear they won’t.
My back presses into the door. Nowhere left to go, and still he steps closer, caging me in with his body.
I can feel the warmth rolling off him, the tension in his shoulders, the restraint in the way his hand hovers near my arm but doesn’t touch.
My breath trips, uneven, as I search his face for some hint of a joke. There isn’t one.
Before I can move, before I can even think, his lips crash against mine.