Page 18 of Revenge Puck

“Did he just call me a slut?” I ask Audrey when she retakes her seat.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to escalate things. I was hoping that he would go away if someone called him out.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“And it’s not yours either, Elle.”

“I think all the people around us wearing blue and yellow would disagree.” I slump a little lower in my seat, hiding my face behind the sign. I started to put the stupid thing down in the first period because of all the boos it was getting. Audrey convinced me not to give in to terrorists.

“Between the angry fans here and online, I’m staying away from Preston Lawrence from now on.”

“What? No! You said there were sparks when you kissed!”

“Sparks for me, yes, but no spark is worth being the most hated woman in the arena. Possibly the entire city and multiple states. We only have one hockey team in both Carolinas!”

“Nobody hates you. They just need someone to blame for how poorly the Bobcats and Christian are playing. That’s on the team, not you.”

“Christian can barely stay upright,” I note. “He hasn’t even taken a single shot! I’ve never seen him play this badly before.”

“He’s probably nervous to be playing for such high stakes, that’s all.”

“You don’t think it’s about me, do you? What if…what if he’s actually furious with me?”

“So? You’re furious at him too, remember? He dumped you because he was so certain his team would win thechampionship, and he’ll be a hot shot hero screwing tons of puck bunnies.”

“Right. Thank you for the reminder that I wasn’t enough, and he needs an army of women to satisfy him.”

“Oh, honey. He’s a selfish jerk. It has nothing to do with you, or whether you satisfied him. I’m sure you were great. He’s just not ready to settle down anytime soon.”

“I never once even asked for a commitment, you know? He’s right about that. I didn’t bring up being exclusive because I didn’t want him to dump me for asking him to give up other women. I just pretended he wasn’t fooling around on away games. How pathetic is that?”

“It’s not pathetic. You should be with someone who would gladly give up other women to keep you around because you are awesome.”

“Being tossed aside by Christian doesn’t make me feel awesome. It makes me feel…used. But the worst part is that I let myself be jerked around by him for five months because he was a gorgeous hockey star. I was too scared to ask for more because I didn’t think I belonged in the same league as him. Turns out I was right about all of that.”

“I know it feels yucky now, but things will get better, Elle. I think you have a new hockey star admirer. One who shares a mutual dislike of your ex. That gives you something to bond over.”

“But if Preston even agreed to keep this fake relationship up, then we would just be using each other, too.”

“It’s not the same as how Christian used you. There would be a mutual agreement. Rules to follow. You could probably even throw in no strings attached sex with the woolly mammoth.”

“He doesn’t date.”

“He does now. If he didn’t want the attention on the two of you, then he wouldn’t have taken it a step further, knowing that kiss would go viral.”

“That was just to mess with Christian. I’m surprised he even agreed to a photo.”

“Like he was going to turn down a pretty woman.”

“I don’t think he liked me.” I shake my head.

“Then why would he kiss you? He can’t possibly hate Christian enough to go around kissing random women. Trust me, Elle. Now that you’re wearing his jersey, he’s going to gladly keep up the charade.”

Maybe Audrey is right about Preston. I’m just not sure if I want to keep up our scheme or not. It feels…wrong.

But it also feels sort of perfectly right in a way that scares me.

Preston

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