Page 87 of The Fake Date Agreement

As we work out on the machines and use the free weights on the mat, our trainer, Zach, finishes his conversation with Coach and resumes walking around the gym.

Like most gym sessions, we never finish our conversations as we work at honing our bodies and cross-training to prevent injuries. That includes cardio and getting on the treadmill or the bikes, which we all hate.

It’s only when we’re back in the locker room, chugging from bottles of water and Gatorade or stripping to hit the showers, that we return to our conversations from the gym.

“So, you guys and Tobie, huh?” Beau rests his head on his locker with a Gatorade clenched in his fist.

“Yup.” I twist my water bottle lid.

“Wasn’t sure I bought it before,” Theo says.

He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. On the ice, let’s just say there’s a reason that big slab of muscle is a defenseman, and we call him ‘The Animal.’

“She seems sweet,” Logan, one of our goalies, pulls his shirt over his head. “Wasn’t sure you were into sweet, Casanova.”

“Who doesn’t like sweet?” Javier asks.

A few heads nod.

“So, she sleeping with all of you at the same time?” Paxton asks.

I lob a towel at him.

He dodges. “What? As if we’re not all thinking about it.”

“No,” Javier says, busy pulling his clothes from his locker. “We’re not all sleeping with her together.”

“Will you?” Coach Conner asks.

Jase gets a couple of surprised glances. The coaches generally don’t get involved when we’re digging into each other’s personal lives. I guess this situation is a little out of the ordinary, and if he’s bringing it up, it’s because Coach asked him to. I can see Coach wanting to make sure this isn’t going to derail our focus as we head into our last game before the championship.

Javier looks at me, relegating the question to me.

I massage the back of my neck as the locker room sounds wash over me—Coach in his office on the phone to someone, the intense spray of the shower, and the lower, murmured conversation from the other guys on the other side of the room.

“It’s not just about the sex. I’ve done the fun while it lasted thing before. This is different.Tobieis different.”

A few of the other guys are already nodding before I’ve finished explaining. Some look a little confused. Theo, I’m surprised to see, is the one who looks knowing.

I continue, “We’re still getting to know each other, figuring each other out.” This whole fake relationship was something Javier and I came up with on the fly.

It wasn’t supposed to feel this right.

“So you don’t get jealous when she’s with Jay?” Sweet asks.

I raise my eyebrow. “When have you ever seen me jealous?”

That’s not entirely accurate. Beau has made being single his personality. He doesn’t date. But he’d seemed interested in Tobie, and I’d been a little jealous.

But of Javier and Caleb?

No.

“And after the championships and the draft?” Irish asks.

I’m not the only one who blinks at him in surprise. This is the first time he’s brought up the subject of the draft. He’s still a junior, so I guess he has time to figure things out, but he’s not even mentioned any potential team he’s dreaming about. Most of us have been dreaming about the team we’d give everything to play for since we were kids.

“How about we win the championships first,” I say dryly.

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