They lost, by the way. 3–2 in overtime. Brody was on the ice for the winning goal against them. Not his fault—the forward blew past their left wing, and Brody was caught out of position trying to cover. (Someone please be impressed that I know this about hockey.)
But I saw his face after. That careful, blank expression that means he’s beating himself up inside.
And I wanted to text him. Tell him it wasn’t his fault. Tell him one game doesn’t define him.
But I didn’t.
The last thing he needs is a pep talk from his fake girlfriend.
“Chloe?” Maya’s voice pulls me back to reality. “You okay? You’ve been staring at that cupcake for, like, two minutes.”
“What?” I blink. Look down. I’m holding a cupcake with pink frosting, frozen mid-placement on the tower. “Oh—yes. I’m good. Just doing the final touches. Making sure everything’s perfect.”
“All right, stop. It’s perfect. You’re a miracle worker.” She’s leaning against the doorframe, wearing a white dress that probably cost more than my three months of rent combined. “Seriously. This is exactly what I wanted.”
“Good. That’s good.”
She quirks a brow, pinning me down with that big-sister look that tells me she’s about to ask invasive questions.
Great. Here we go.
“So. Brody.”
There it is.
“What about him?”
“How are things? Really?”
I set down the cupcake. Act natural. “They’re good. Great, actually.”
“Really?” She walks into the kitchen. Leans against the marble island like she’s settling in for a long conversation. Like it’s the sort of thing we do all the time. “Are you sure? Because you’ve been acting weird all week. Distracted. And Derek says Brody’s been off lately…”
My chest tightens. “He’s dealing with a lot. His dad just went through—” I stop. I don’t know what about Brody’s personal life is public knowledge. “He’s been stressed.”
“Yeah, it’s too bad about his dad’s accident. Derek told me all about it.” She’s watching me carefully, her gaze piercing. “I’m glad he has you.”
Heat rises to my cheeks. I never was great at lying.
“Yeah. Well, I’m glad I have him too.” I’d be even more glad if I had him here. I could really use some backup right about now.
Maya tilts her head. “You really like him, don’t you?”
“What?” Nervous chuckle. “I—of course. We’re together. Obviously I like him.”
“No, I mean really like him. You’re falling for him.”
I swear, if there were anything flammable nearby, my face could set fires. “I—yeah. I guess. Maybe.”
“Listen, Chloe, I don’t want to butt into your love life, but I feel like you’re not getting the whole truth about Brody.”
I freeze. “What about him?”
She takes a breath. Glances toward the living room like she’s making sure we’re alone. “Well, Derek’s known him a long time. They played on the same team back in college?—”
“I didn’t know that.”
“It was only for a year. Derek transferred after that. But while Derek was there, he saw a different side of Brody.”
