“Dude, you okay?” TJ asked.
“Yeah. Nothing,” I muttered, taking another sip of my beer. I hoped Astrid took the hint and stopped bothering me. She was the one who cut me out of her life. What right did she have to try to reel me back in again?
He eyed me cautiously. “That sounds fake but okay…”
I grumbled. “My ex is being a pest. It’s nothing. I want to go upstairs and call V.”
TJ smiled at me. “Yeah, man, we understand.”
Benny typed away at his phone and nodded at me. “Seriously, dude, talk to your woman. Make sure she knows you’re not abandoning her.”
I threw some bills down on the table and chugged the rest of my beer to the guys’ amusement.
Calling Veronica had been my excuse to get away from the prying eyes of my teammates. I had to be careful not to reveal too much, lest they figure out what we had wasn’t real.
I finished my nighttime routine and laid on the hotel bed in my boxers, but I ended up staring at the photos I had on my phone of Veronica and me. I missed her, and that was bad. I wasn’t supposed to miss my fuck buddy.
“Fuck it,” I muttered to myself and sent her a video call request.
I was a little surprised when she answered. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and there was paint on her cheek. I had to smile at that because it made her look so cute.
“Hi, stranger,” she said to me. “Hang on, I need to reposition my phone.”
She went off-screen for a bit, and I heard the water running, and then she was back in focus a few seconds later. She narrowed her eyes. “Did you put ointment on your tattoo yet?”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Yes, sweets. I did it this morning.”
“And reapplied your bandage?”
I pointed to my chest. “All good while it heals.”
“Okay, what’s up? You never call me when you’re on the road.”
I clamped my mouth shut. She was right about that. We had only been doing this fake dating thing for a couple of weeks, and it was going to be over soon, but I never talked to her that much when I was traveling.
What was I doing?
I sighed. “Astrid keeps texting me.”
“Why?”
“I think she wants me back now that I’m with someone else.”
“Ha, suck it, bitch, you can’t have him!”
I smiled at that. “Possessive much?”
She shrugged. “You play tomorrow, right? You got in okay?”
“Yup, just came up to my room after dinner with the boys. Astrid annoyed me, and I wanted to talk to you.”
“Okay, about what?”
I shrugged.
“Blaise, are you okay?”
“Baby, I don’t know,” I sighed and ran my hand down my face.
“Okay…how can I help you?” she asked, her brow furrowing in concern. It was kind of cute, like she actually cared about how I felt. I tried not to think about my heart and brain yelling at me in equal measure.
“Fuck if I know,” I admitted.
“Do you want to get back with Astrid?” she asked tactfully. I watched her nervously push a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Fuck no! She broke my heart. She just pissed me off.”
She laughed. “Okay, big guy.”
“Sorry. I guess…”
“What?”
“Just annoying that she’s acting like nothing happened. And…” I trailed off.
I shook my head.
I wasn’t about to tell my fake girlfriend I missed her. Or that I didn’t care if Astrid wanted me back because the person I wanted was on the other side of the screen. I couldn’t tell her I wished I was there to kiss her cute paint-splattered face. Just like I couldn’t tell her I wanted to brush her hair behind her ear before kissing all her worries away. Or how much I wished I was holding her in my arms instead of this stiff hotel pillow.
This was supposed to be a no-strings arrangement until the wedding; I wasn’t supposed to have these feelings.
“Nothing, sweets. Don’t let me keep you up,” I finally said.
“Blaise, it’s okay. I know we’re keeping it casual, and this will be over soon, but we can still be friends.”
“Friends?” I asked and raised an eyebrow.
I liked this woman a lot, and I enjoyed spending time with her, but I wasn’t sure if we could be friends after this. Was that even possible?
“Just because it’s not serious between us doesn’t mean we can’t still talk,” she explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me hibiscuses were your favorite flower?”
She fingered the colorful tattoo on her arm and shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re pretty, though. Oh! I can show you my flower.”
I laughed. “Um…is that a euphemism for something?”
She cackled, and I loved how her face scrunched up when she laughed. She carried her phone over to the windowsill in her kitchen to a potted plant with three brightly colored flowers on it. “See my flowers! They’re hard to maintain, but they’re pretty.”
She put a hand over her mouth and yawned.
“Shit, it’s getting late. I don’t want to keep you.”
She smiled at me again, and warmth spread across my chest at the way she made me feel when she smiled at me. Her hazel eyes got bright, and it felt like that smile was made just for me. But I knew it wasn’t. It was just my heart playing games with me, making me see what I wanted to see.
“Okay. Good luck in your game tomorrow,” she said, and she seemed sincere, like she really wanted me to do well. Again, I was reminded about how Astrid called it my ‘little hockey career’ and never took me or our relationship seriously.
“Night, sweets,” I told Veronica.
I sighed when the call disconnected, and I flopped back down onto my pillow. When it came to Veronica O’Malley, I was so totally fucked.
Chapter Twenty
VERONICA
I yawned while I finished working on the concept artwork for the client I had coming in. Blaise was due back today, but we hadn’t made any plans to get together. He called me after the team lost to Carolina. I think he wanted to vent, but it was nice to video chat with him again and see his smiling face. Almost like he was smiling because of me, but I knew that wasn’t it. He was a fun guy, but I had to remind myself that there were certain boundaries we didn’t want to cross.
Then the team lost again to Florida, which I knew because I actually turned the game on to listen to while I worked on my painting. It was bad, and I let Blaise rant to me about how the special teams weren’t working hard enough. I didn’t know what special teams were, but I let him vent because he needed someone to listen.
Liv put a coffee down in front of me. I hugged her. “Oh my God, you’re an angel.”
She smirked at me, her dark eyes twinkling. “That’s what all the boys tell me.”
I laughed. “Sit with me while I finish this concept art? I feel like I’ve been an awful friend lately.”
She nodded and sat in my tattoo chair. “Why are you so exhausted today?”
I took a sip of my coffee. “Nuh-uh. Tell me about your date last night.”