Chapter 28 #2
I glance down at our now empty cups. The drink we got in the first period is long gone. “Sure!”
We head up the stairs to the main concourse and make our way over to one of the crowded bars. You wouldn’t think the Ice Hawks were losing with how excited and loud the crowd is.
Lucy grabs my hand, pulling me through a small gap to find us a place to stand and order our drinks. “Next game, we’re getting our food and drinks downstairs.” She shakes her head. “The boys need to just get us a suite.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t be against that.”
“You tell Matty and I’ll tell Theo. Neither of them will be able to say no.”
The bartender comes over for our order and Lucy tells them two vodka cranberries, just to make it simple.
“Did you see the photo of Matteo Ford with a new woman on his arm at the charity gala?”
My spine stiffens immediately as I catch his name coming from another woman’s lips. I look past Lucy, over to a group of three women crowded together at the bar.
Lucy’s fact contorts. “What the hell?”
My stomach is on the floor. I give her a small shake of my head.
“I’m not surprised,” one of the other women chimes in. “He always has a new girl.”
I pull my eyes away from them, staring straight ahead at the rows of liquor on the shelf. This cannot be happening right now. Don’t these women have anything better to do than creep on professional athletes.
“How do you know all this?” the woman with red hair asks.
“It’s all over the internet.” Cackling laughter follows. “Just look up his name and you’ll see images of him out with different women.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
“He’s such a player.”
Lucy inches closer. “Don’t listen to them, Jade. They don’t know him.”
The muscle in my jaw tightens. The bartender comes over with our drinks and I grab mine from him before he can even set it down.
“I’m sure that girl he was pictured with will be old news in a few weeks.”
“So true,” one of the other women says. “He only likes the chase. Once it starts to get real, he’s gone.”
It feels like a blow to my chest. I pinch the straw of my drink, gulping down half of it. Lucy pays the tab and slides her arm through mine, turning me away from the bar. “Come on, let’s go.”
I nod, letting her pull me back through the crowd, away from those women. I knew Matteo had a reputation. I’m not stupid or na?ve. He’s extremely attractive, super successful, and has enough confidence for his entire team.
It’s impossible not to notice him. It’s impossible not to be drawn to someone like that.
But hearing the things they were saying, like I’m just another name on his list of conquests. The way they spoke of me as if I’m that disposable to him... my stomach twists at the thought.
“Hey,” Lucy says as we sit back into our seats and she turns to face me.
I shake my head dismissively as I tuck my emotions back into a box. “I’m fine.”
She purses her lips. “They’re wrong about him, you know.”
“Are they?” I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.
Her expression softens. “They don’t even know him. All they know is the bullshit they’ve read on the internet.” She pauses, her eyes searching mine. “You know Matteo, the man behind the mask that no other woman has ever seen.”
Do I, though?
Or is he just playing me?
My mind drifts to the way he kissed me in the hallway earlier. The way he did it without caring if anyone saw us. The way he drove me today, his hand not once leaving mine. The way he looked at me from the ice and no one else.
I swallow hard, my mind flashing back to the women at the bar. “What if they’re right?” I ask her, my voice barely audible.
“They’re not.”
“But you don’t know that,” I argue, taking another long sip of my drink.
Lucy’s eyebrows cinch. “Do you feel like he’s playing you?”
My lips part and I pause for a beat. My heart pounds harder because the truth is, no. The way he looks at me, the way he does things for me—it all feels…real.
But sometimes things really are too good to be true.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
The buzzer sounds as intermission ends and the crowd grows louder as the patrons settle back into their seats, eager for the third period to start. The players come down the tunnel, filing onto the bench as the guys on the first line get on the ice.
“If he hurts you, I will personally ruin his life and his career,” Lucy says, leaning close. “Don’t let some women who peaked in high school make you question things between you and Matty.”
I snort, a small smile lifting the corners of my lips. I look back out at the ice and immediately I find him. Matteo looks over at me as he skates to the center. It’s impossible for my eyes not to find him. He’s the flame and I’m the moth.
He’s magnetic and I’m drawn to him.
I watch the game mindlessly, unable to pay full attention until halfway through the period, when Matteo scores again. The crowd goes wild and Lucy grabs my arm, pulling me to my feet.
Matteo skates past the bench, bumping his glove against his teammates, but he doesn’t stop there. He skates along the boards in front of where we’re sitting, his eyes finding mine through the glass.
He smiles, the grin stretching across his lips as he winks at me. For a split second, I feel the familiar warmth in my chest, but it dissipates as soon as that woman’s voice enters my mind.
I’m sure that girl he was pictured with will be old news in a few weeks..
He only likes the chase.
Nausea rolls in the pit of my stomach as I force a plastic smile and clap my hands together. We made a deal that’s over at the end of the season. We agreed we’d use each other for our own benefits.
It was only supposed to go this far.
I was never supposed to fall for him…