Alexander #2
“I don’t have time.” I shake my head and squeeze my eyes shut. “You don’t understand.”
The clock has been ticking over my head like a time bomb. Every day I get closer to my birthday is one day closer to losing the villa.
McKinley swings his legs into the aisle, leaning his elbows on his knees. “So, help us understand. What’s going on?”
The guys watch me as I wrestle with what to say. I need to be their unwavering captain. The picture of stability. Not someone with this circus of a personal life.
But being vulnerable with them helps to lead by example. We lean on each other on and off the ice, and if I can’t trust them, then they won’t trust me.
“My grandfather is dying, and he changed his will to take my parents’ villa away from me.”
Jason’s head snaps to me. “What? Why?”
“I don’t know. Just another way to fuck me over.” I scrub a hand over my jaw. “I always imagined I’d retire there. Bring my wife and kids there for summer vacation. But my grandfather put a stipulation into his will that if I’m not married by the time I turn thirty, I won’t be able to inherit it.”
Trenton’s head jerks back. “That’s ridiculous.”
I nod. “You guys know I want to find someone and fall in love. But now it feels like I have limited time, and if I don’t find it, then I lose the house.”
“Can you fight it?” Jason asks. “If your parents left the villa to you, isn’t there anything you can do to reverse his changes?”
“Nope.” I glance out the window at the trees blurring together as we pass them by. “My grandfather has major money and connections, and the will is iron-clad.”
“Damn, that sucks,” McKinley says.
“You could always hire someone to pose as your fake wife.”
All three of our heads turn to Trenton.
He glances toward the front of the bus and gestures for us to be quiet with his finger against his lips. “That’s what Cassidy and I did in the beginning. She posed as my girlfriend for the media.”
“What?” McKinley shouts.
“Shh, you idiot,” Jason whisper-yells. He leans closer to Trenton. “Are you saying Cassidy isn’t really your girlfriend?”
McKinley’s mouth flaps open. “But you’re getting married in a few months.”
I’d be just as shocked as they are if Aarya hadn’t spilled the secret to me at the skating rink.
“We are getting married.” Trenton’s gaze drops to his hands in his lap. “Everything between us is real now, but we didn’t start out that way.”
I rest my forearms on my knees, mimicking the other guys as we huddle together in the aisle so no one else hears us. “How did it start?”
“Celeste thought it was a good idea to get some good PR surrounding me after the bullshit with my old team. So, when those paparazzi pictures surfaced of Cassidy and me in our parking garage, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Celeste wrote up a contract, had Cassidy and Aarya sign an NDA. Cassidy wouldn’t sign the NDA without being able to tell her best friend what was going on. ”
“She told her best friend, but you didn’t want to tell us,” McKinley mutters.
“I’m sorry, Mac.” Trenton looks around the group, making eye-contact with each of us. “I’m sorry for lying. It just... sounded so silly, faking a relationship, as if I couldn’t find someone to love me for real. I guess I was embarrassed.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say. “We all do what we think is best at the time. Just know that we’re your friends and you can tell us anything. We will always be here for you.”
The guys take turns asking questions about Trenton’s arrangement, but the possibilities continue to zoom through my head at warp speed like they have from the moment Aarya told me about this.
I can’t invite a woman into my world, my home, my private life. My daughter’s little bubble has to stay safe. Something like this could jeopardize everything I’ve been working so hard for.
“So, what do you think, Krum?” Trenton snaps me out of my thoughts. “Maybe Celeste can set you up with something similar to make sure you get to keep the villa.”
I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know, man. Where would I even find a woman willing to do something like that?”
“Why not Aarya?” McKinley asks. “You know she’s attracted to you.”
“And Cassidy has known her for years, so she’s not some random person off the street,” Trenton adds.
“Yeah, but she doesn’t do relationships. I couldn’t even get her to wear my name on her jersey, let alone take it as her last name. What’s going to make her want to pretend to be married?”
Trenton grins like he already knows the answer. “You just have to give her some incentive.”
Money. She does need the money—she said so herself. If I offered her a good amount...
“No.” I shake my head hard as if to shake the idea right out of my head. “I can’t. It’s more complicated than that.”
“How so?” Jason asks.
I glance around the group, not missing McKinley’s knowing stare.
Trenton shared something personal with us. I should be able to do the same. I should be surrounding Giuliana with love, not hiding her from the people who are important to me.
I blow out a long breath through my lips. “I have a daughter.”
The entire bus turns around in their seats, including Coach. It’s pin-drop silent as I find the words to explain why I’ve kept this from the guys for so long.
“She’s three now. Her name is Giuliana.” A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Three.” Jason pauses like he’s trying to make sense of it all. “Why did you wait so long to tell us?”
“I’ve been trying to keep her away from the spotlight. You know how the paparazzi can get. That’s not the kind of life she deserves to grow up in.”
“That I get,” he says. “But what about us? You could’ve told us. We would’ve kept that secret for you.”
I nod. “I know you would’ve. It’s hard to put it into words. Maybe a part of me felt embarrassed—not of her, but of the fact that I had a careless accident with a one-night-stand. That her mother didn’t want to stick around to be a part of her life.”
“Fuck her,” McKinley blurts out. “She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on. That is for her to be embarrassed about.”
Coach nods. “We are a family, Krum. And your little girl is a part of our family now.”
Emotion swells in my throat. “Thanks, Coach.”
Trenton smiles. “We can’t wait to meet her, man.”
And then I smile too. Because regardless of whatever shit my grandfather threw my way, I know everything will work out in the end. I have my team, my friends, and my baby girl.
And that’s all that matters at the end of the day.