She steps away, and her high heels wobble slightly as she paces to her window. With her back to me, she says, “You’re making a big mistake.”
There is a calculated coldness in her tone that raises the hair on my arms. “I’m sorry, Ari. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” she shrieks. “You’re the one who’s going to be hurt, Luke.” She spins, and her eyes narrow in on me. Jesus, if looks could kill. “If you do this, I’ll make sure you never play hockey for the Shooters again.”
My heart jumps into my throat. Does she have the power to do that? Yeah, she’s the owner’s daughter, but can she pull his strings, too? Fuck, maybe she can. She sure as hell pulled mine for the last few months.
“If you don’t want me to destroy you and your reputation, I suggest you accept what I’m about to offer.” She folds her arms, and the pale blue dress she’s wearing climbs up her thighs. Since I’m a guy who loves a nice pair of legs, maybe she’s doing it on purpose, to lure me with sex like she did that first night in Boston. I fell for it once, and look where that led me. Then again, is the fault entirely hers? I went along with it, which means half the responsibility is mine. “Are you listening to me, Luke?”
I brace myself, almost afraid to hear her offer. “I’m listening.”
“Good. Take a week. Go, get your head on right.”
“Jesus, Ari, my head is on right.”
“No, it’s not, otherwise you wouldn’t be putting your career on the line like this. I can destroy you, Luke.” She snaps her fingers for effect. “Like this!”
Who the hell is this woman? For the last six months, she’d been nothing but charming. Then again, I’d given her everything she wanted, until now. Even before I heard her say those things to her friend, I knew I couldn’t go through with it, not when my heart belongs to another—despite the fact that I can never have her. Christ, what kind of fucked up mess have I gotten myself in to?
“Why would you want to do destroy me, Ari?”
She stands a little straighter. “Because no one embarrasses Arianna Moore. No one.”
“Fine, we’ll tell everyone it was your idea. That you broke things off.”
“What we’ll do is tell everyone I needed time to think. In the meantime, you have one week. One week to think about this mistake you’re making, the future that will be ripped right out from underneath you if you don’t do the right thing.”
I’m not a violent man. Jonah, aka the Body Checker, takes care of anyone who gets in the way of my stick-handling skills, but suddenly my fingers are curling, the urge to put my fist though her wall pulling at me hard. I grew up with nothing, and spent my whole life working my fucking ass off, practicing every goddamn night, until I was good enough to be scouted at the Junior A level. My scholarship to Arizona State gave me a top-notch education and I made a name for myself in the rink. No fucking way am I about to let her destroy my reputation and take that all away from me, simply because she wants to save face. We’re not right for each other and we both know it.
“One week,” she says again. “Use our honeymoon tickets and get away for a bit, to think this over, and you tell no one what’s really going on. No one. Not even that tomboy you hang around with, otherwise....” Her words fall off as she snaps her fingers again.
“Her name is Katee, and she’s not a tomboy.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Whatever. Do we have a deal?”
I’m about to argue, but stop to think about that for a moment. Maybe a week away will do her good. Giver her clarity and help her see the mistake we’d be making if we went through with this.
“Fine,” I say. “One week. Then we’ll talk.”
A small, triumphant smile tweaks the corners of her lips. She obviously thinks she won the battle. I can only hope that after seven days, she comes to the same conclusion that I have. Still grinning at me, she slides her fingers across her phone, and puts it to her ear.
“Kari, I’ve been thinking.” A big sigh, followed by a long pause for effect, then she continues with, “I’m not so sure about tomorrow.” I stand there, taking in her expert performance as she tells Kari she might need more time before she walks down the aisle with me. Her best friend Kari is a blogger and a socialite. In all of five minutes, I expect the entire world to know that my fiancée has decided to postpone the wedding.
I leave her luxurious penthouse apartment, a headache brewing as I dig my phone out to call my folks and the guys who were standing up for me. I make the calls as I wait for the elevator, and oddly enough, no one seems surprised. My folks almost seem happy about it. I’m not sure they were ever big fans of Ari’s anyway. The elevator arrives, and I step on and make my way to the garage. I have one last call to make, the most important call, but I’ll do that from the privacy of my car. As soon as I step off, my phone pings. Dammit. I am not in the mood to answer any more questions tonight. I pull the phone from my pocket, about to power it down when I see who the text is from. My heart pounds a little faster, and no matter how much of a shit mood I’m in, Katee’s texts always brighten my day.
I just heard the news, where are you?
2
Katee
I hold my phone in my hand, my heart racing as I wait for Luke to reply. What the hell was Ari thinking, postponing the wedding at the eleventh hour because she was having second thoughts for reasons she doesn’t want disclosed to the public. I wasn’t too crazy about my best friend’s fiancée before tonight and now, I hate her just a little bit more.
I rush around my apartment looking for my damn car keys. I don’t care if it’s late, Luke needs me, and no matter what, I’ll always be there for him. Ever since he punched that bully on the playground and stood up for me, we’ve been the best of friends. I can’t even imagine how devastated he must be. The news is all over Kari’s blog, and because Ari is being so secretive, I’m sure half of Seattle suspects Luke was unfaithful. Every single player on the team has a reputation with the ladies. But I know Luke. I know he’s a one-woman kind of guy and isn’t a player off the ice, like the rest of his teammates. This must be so mortifying for him. As my heart aches for my best friend, my phone finally pings.
I’m on my way home. You don’t need to come over.
I read his text, and my fingers fly over my phone. Like hell. I’m on my way now.