Kane’s eyes widen as he sucks in a breath, but I won’t let him ask about it. It’s a slip-up, and I’m not ready to tell him properly how much I really feel for him.
“I don’t even know why I had any expectations of you.” I glare at him as I shoot up, ready to get the hell out of there. I’m not hanging around after saying something awkward like that.
“But Ollie and I love you, Timber. And I don’t want to give up on that, even if I have to wait for you.”
“What the fuck does that have to do with anything? You both still lied to me.”
“What are you going to do then?” he asks, and I can’t understand why he still looks hopeful when I’m about to storm out the door.
“I’m not making a decision, but we’re playing together for the next three days, so I’m going to pretend this conversation never happened. We still make a good team when you aren’t being a dick.”
I glare at him and Luke, who still smiles merrily as I sigh.
Just as I close the curtain behind me, I hear one of them clap.
“Well! I think that went swimmingly!” Luke exclaims.
“I think we have different definitions ofswimmingly,” Kane says dryly, and I stride off.
Kane
“And please welcome, Kane Moretti!” There’s a round of polite clapping as I walk onto the set, waving at the small, seated crowd, and then sit on the couch across from the host.
Skipping the game to force Timber to meet Luke created so much bad press that Marilyn pushed me to do this interview. She said the station has been hounding her for a month to getme on, but they are more like a seedy gossip show, so she steers clear of them.
But I’ve been banished to appearances like this until I get my act together.
I also think she’s still feeling the pressure from all the times Timber and I get it on on the ice—though everyone else likes to call it fighting.
“Kane, thank you so much for joining us!” The hostess beams. She wears a casual suit, clutching some cards in front of her with the talk show logo on the back.
“And thank you for having me,” I reply smoothly. I don’t miss the way her eyes run over me. My blue suit is a good one, and they’ve given me a gold tie to match her style. It’s flashy, but I make it work.
They usually prep me by sending over the questions in advance, but they’re suspiciously sparse this time.
My manager was muttering about it when she gave me a pep talk on the ride over. I don’t know if that means she knows what kinds of questions they’re going to spring on me. They usually just ask about my performance, where I see myself in the next five years, offers I’ve had, and omegas I’ve been seen with. Based on all the general buzz, I suspect they’ll lean more heavily into the last one.
Though we’re also convinced they are going to ask me if I’m being kicked off the team for skipping a game.
The coaches and managers were fuming, and my excuse of ‘it was all for love’ bizarrely didn’t work. But when I promised them to the moon and back it would change Timber’s performance, a few of them became curious instead of furious.
I’m only half listening to the hostess because my mind has been distracted since Timber left Luke’s hospital ward. Even though Ollie gave me cute glares and turned me on with hersweet sweat when we jogged together, both of them are still on the back foot with me.
I just want to grab them, push their heads together, and say, ‘Now kiss and make up,’ then we can all fuck and be merry.
The hostess runs through all the usual questions, and I answer them easily, throwing smiles out to the crowd as I take questions from them as well.
The hostess turns to me with sparkling eyes when the questions are over. Or, at least, when I think they are.
“And we’ve all heard about your exciting news!”
“What news is that?” I ask with an easy lilt to my voice. It’s finally coming, the real reason they invited me here.
“Well, aren’t you going to tell us who the lucky omega is that’s captured your heart?”
I pause, even though the smile is growing on my face. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.
“Oh, come on, don’t be shy. We’ve all seen the pictures.” She turns her back to the crowd, and a projector screen ominously lights up with a picture of Ollie and me coming out of a heat room at the hospital. It’s been circulating for more than a month, and it’s nothing new.
