Page 11 of Revenge Puck

Unable to resist, my eyes lower, needing to see the proof of not only his claim but his obvious need for something other than a little revenge.

His need for me.

“It’s huge,” I whisper, cheeks reddening at my slip of tongue. “I mean, the sign will have to be huge since I’m in the nosebleed section.”

“Then I’ll have to find you a better seat.”

“S-sure,” I agree. “That would be great and all, but I’m with my friend Audrey, and I can’t leave her to tend to her nosebleed alone.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Check with Will Call in half an hour.”

“Thanks,” I tell him. “For everything.”

“I think I’m the one who owes you one.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You may have just saved my ass from free agency.”

“Huh?” I mutter, but he’s already walking away, reaching for the door to head into the arena.

“If anyone asks, you dumped him for me,” Preston says, giving me a wink over his shoulder. “Only an idiot would let you go, right?”

“Right,” I say, but the door has already shut behind him and half a dozen people are suddenly surrounding me.

“Are you and Preston Lawrence an item?”

“How long have you been seeing each other?”

“Is it a secret affair?

“Does Christian Riley know about you and Preston?”

Rather than open my mouth and ruin the suspense, I just smile and wave my fingers at them as I head back around to the front of the arena. My phone is out a second later, choosing the best photo of us to post to Instagram.

4

Preston

There’s no way of knowing for sure if the woman, Elle, was making shit up about dating Riley or not. But for some reason, I believe her.

“Thanks for holding my bag,” I say to Steve after I walk inside the building. When I hold out my hand, he gives me my duffle back, eyes still wide. The man is probably in shock because he’s been working team security for the past two years and never seen me allow a photo or speak to a female fan before. Kids sure, but no puck bunnies. Ever.

Not that Elle was a fan of mine or the Warhawks. Bobcats all the way for her, even after ending things with Riley. Her loyalty to what I assume is her hometown team shouldn’t tick me off, but it does. What did I expect? That after playing along with her revenge ploy for a few minutes that she would suddenly switch sides?

After all, she only asked me for a selfie. The kiss, well, that was all on me. One hell of a kiss that had me wishing for so much more.

Oh, and I also asked her to lie about her dumping Riley, but that was to her benefit, too.

My phone starts blowing up from notifications before I even make it to the locker room, either from someone recording a video of us or because Elle posted her pic.

I usually hate any sort of media attention, especially when it’s about my personal life. But today it feels different. I want everyone to know I was rubbing up on Riley’s ex right outside the door of his home arena.

The first equipment manager I see is Jim, so I ask him, “Who do I talk to about tickets?”

His brows reach his thinning hairline. “Uh, tickets for today? Here in Greensboro?”

“Yeah.”

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