“The reason my phone was blowing up was because of us. Umm…we may or may not have gone viral again.”
“What!?” I shoot up straight on the bed, the blanket bunching around my waist as a gust of cool air tickles my exposed nipples. I pull up the blanket and hold it at my chest, feeling vulnerable.
Ezra follows and sits against the headboard. “Calm down. It’s not that bad.”
Fury licks at my spine at his callous comment. Of course, it’s not a big deal for him. He’s a man and the captain of one of the most famous NHL teams.
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down,” I warn between gritted teeth.
He raises his hands in surrender and shakes his head. “You’re right. Bad choice of words. I’m sorry.”
His instant regret and acknowledgment of his mistake dissipate some of the anger, but apprehension overrides it. “Why are we going viral? Is it because of my retort to Sam?”
I shuffle around for my phone, tremors racking my body.
Ezra grabs my shoulders and pulls me to him. “Hey, hey…take a deep breath with me. In and out.”
Knowing he’s right and I need to keep my cool if it’s a media crisis to handle it, I shut my eyes and inhale and exhale with him until my pulse returns to normal.
“Good girl,” he praises, gently rubbing his hands up and down my arms.
Blinking my eyes open and avoiding his naked torso as best as I can, I ask him, “What is it about?”
He releases a long sigh, as if he’s scared to upset me. “You remember how you caught my hand and stopped me from punching that misogynistic British douche bag?” I nod, not understanding where this is going.
“And how you looked at me and told me you’d take care of it?”
“Mhmm.”
He clears his throat, looking anywhere but at me. “When you stormed out, I also might’ve punched him in the jaw and threatened to cut off his tongue if he so much as even said your name.”
“You what!?” I yell at the top of my lungs while he remains silent. “Unbelievable.”
“And also might’ve threatened his career, ofcourse.”
Shaking my head at him as I barely contain my rage, I get off the bed and grab a pair of his clothes because he tore off mine. “What is wrong with you? What the fuck were you thinking?”
Panicked, he slides off the bed too, grabbing the closest pair of shorts.
I storm out of his room, without giving him a backward glance, knowing that if I did, I’d either kill him or break down in front of him. And neither seemed like a viable option at the moment.
Ezra chases me down his living room. “Kaeli, no. Wait! Please let me explain!”
I jerk his hand away as it lands on my shoulder and spin on my heels to look at him. “What’s left to explain?! You ruined everything!” I jam my finger in his chest. “You went ahead and basically announced to the world that we’re fucking. Now, everyone will think that I got where I am because of you, because I was sucking the dick of one of the most famous NHL players.”
Hurt flashes across his face, but I’m on a roll now as I see my world crumble in front of me. My angry footfalls pace the length of his living room.
Clutching the roots of my hair, I groan in frustration as hot tears spill out without my permission. “All my hard work, all my patience, all my sufferings just poof. Gone, because you couldn’t control your anger. And for what? For me? Who even am I to you? Nothing except for another fuck until you get bored with me and deem me as another notch on your fucking bedpost.”
Ezra’s hands curl into fists while I hit him with mine. He doesn’t stop me. He lets me take out my anger on him. And that makes me wail in agony even more because somewhere in my heart, I realize that I’m hurting him with my words. But it’s like a faucet left open, and the accusations just keep flowing.
“You didn’t care, did you? You didn’t care about how your one minute of satisfaction would blow up my entire life, curated with such measured steps. You just went ahead and let the world think that we’re dating. That we’re anything more than fuck buddies,” I spit.
Then suddenly, his hands wrap around my wrists, stopping me from hitting him anymore. “Would it be so bad?” he speaks in a low voice. Unable to make sense of his words, I search hiseyes with my blurred vision, blinking rapidly. “Would it be so bad if they knew? Would it be so bad if we were really dating?” he elaborates for me.
Dumbstruck, all I can do is gawk at him, thinking that maybe he’s kidding. “You…You’re serious,” I mutter when I don’t see a trace of humor on his face.
“Of course, I’m serious,” he grits, his features set hard.
