Page 4 of Fake Out Hearts

Ice bounces from his cheeks to the floor, and the remnants of my gin and tonic drip off his chin, spotting his shirt. The bewildered look he flashes me should make me feel like a superstar, but shame, embarrassment, and hurt course through me instead.

The bar erupts in shouts and the cameras catch it all, but I whip on my heel and bolt for the nearest door before I have to listen to one more word from Shawn or any of his lackeys. Part of me regrets throwing the drink at him because I know I just gave him exactly what he wanted—a sob story for his scripted little life—but another part of me is past the point of caring.

I burst through an unmarked door into an alley on the side of the bar and gulp down the night air. My trembling hands wrap around me like I’m trying to literally hold myself together, to keep my twisting insides from spilling out all over the ground.

“Come on, Becca, breathe,” I mutter to myself. “It’s okay. Don’t let him get to you. He’s an asshole. A total asshole.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” a deep voice says, and I jump. I spin around expecting to confront someone from Shawn’s team, but find a towering, dark-haired guy with striking but warm green eyes that rake over me instead. His jaw shifts as he grits his teeth, and I recognize him right away.

“You,” I whisper, barely able to believe who it is. Theo Camden. He’s the right winger for the Aces. I’ve seen him around and talked to him once after a game a while back. What are the odds he’d run into me after two separate fights with Shawn? Given the dysfunctional track record Shawn and I had, pretty high, I guess.

Honestly, I could use the company, but I don’t really want anyone to see me like this, much less someone I really shouldn’t be talking to. What if the cameras find us out here? It’s pretty much a guarantee that one of Shawn’s sick producers demanded the crew follow me. My only question is which corner they’relurking behind because the last thing I want is to give Shawn even more footage that he can play on loop to make me look like the villain.

“That looked rough.” Theo steps closer. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” I tell him with a shrug.

He laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

He keeps moving closer, and I think he’s going to try to pull me in for a hug, but instead, he leans his back against the wall next to me. We’re close enough now that I pick up the smell of his soap, something with hints of amber and spice. He must have come here fresh out of the locker room showers. It’s a struggle, but I push the thought out of my mind.

“I know, I’m a mess,” I choke in a combination of a laugh and cry before my hands fly up to cover my face. “God, that was so embarrassing.”

That doesn’t even begin to describe the shame percolating in my gut.

I peek a glance at Theo through my fingers and find him staring down at me from almost a foot above, a concerned look on his face.

“Okay, it still is,” I breathe, my cheeks heating.

“Don’t be embarrassed. For what it’s worth, I’ve wanted to punch Shawn more times than I can remember in my career, but never as much as I wanted to tonight. Making a woman cry, especially in front of a room of people, is the lowest of the low. He’s lucky my guys were there to stop me.”

It warms my heart a little to know at least someone in the room cared—because judging from the total silence, I didn’t think a soul did. I drop my hands to steal another look at Theo and find him wearing the same playful grin I’ve seen so many times on TV. I don’t know what possessed him to follow me outhere, but I’m glad he did because talking to him is distracting me enough to avoid falling to pieces.

“It’s Theo, right?”

His smile widens and he nods. “Good memory.”

“But terrible judgment?”

Theo chuckles. “No comment. But yeah, we’ve really gotta stop meeting like this.”

I burst out laughing, unable to stop myself. At this point, I don’t know what else to do. Shawn turned me into a laughingstock for the whole world to see, and I feel like such an idiot for letting it happen. Again.

Standing out in the alley talking to a member of the Aces, Shawn’s biggest rival team, isn’t making the night any less bizarre, but somehow it feels right. Especially knowing that if Shawn ever gets wind of it, he’ll be furious. Good. The prick deserves it after what he just put me through.

“I swear, I’m never letting myself fall in love again,” I blurt and regret it almost instantly, but Theo tips his head in agreement.

“Can’t say I blame you. I decided pretty much the same thing after my divorce.”

My eyes snap to his. “I didn’t know you were ever married. Or divorced. I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about that, I was just venting.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Theo assures me with another shrug. “I was young and stupid. She and I barely knew each other, and we moved way too fast. But it’s a long story that’s not worth getting into.”

I chew on my lip, torn between wanting to ask more and leaving it alone. It’s not really any of my business, but talking to him is helping calm me down. I’m still working up the courage to press for more when he lifts a full bottle of top shelf whiskey Ididn’t even realize he was holding until now. He shakes it at me, and the amber contents glug and swirl inside.

“I don’t really want to be here any more than you do right now. Want to bounce?” he asks, and I lift my eyebrows at him.

“Where’d you get that?”

---