I wave Angie off. What could I tell her? This thing with Cash started out as a PR scheme to win over the press and now I fell in love with him, but my ex-roommate is threatening to tell everyone that it was fake to make my ex stay with her?
“Must have been something I ate. I’ll be fine.”
If only…
Chapter Twenty-Four
PIPER
My insides are a jumbled mess. All I’ve been thinking about since the All-Star Game is Ava and her words.
Break up with him or the world finds out the truth.
After everything that Cash has done to rehab his image, the very last thing I want is for the world to find out that this was all fake. There is so much goodness inside of him. I want them to know the real Cash.
The one that he is with me. The one he doesn’t hide from the world.
“Piper, are you okay?” Claire asks me.
“What?” I jump, turning around to face her. “Why?”
She points to the stack behind me. “You’ve been folding those towels for every bit of thirty minutes now.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Folding is generous. They are all piled up in a one big heap. No crisp lines to be seen.
“Do you need a break?” Claire casts a wary eye on me.
“Would you mind? I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well.”
“Sure. Twenty minutes and then I want to go over some plans for the next few weeks with you.”
“Sounds good.” I nod at her before escaping the training room.
It’s mercifully empty this time of day. The entire team is out on the ice, letting me escape to the biting, Denver air. I lean against the brick wall, letting it hold me up.
The cold stings my eyes, tears welling almost immediately.
How could I have gotten myself into this situation? Nothing about this plan with Cash was supposed to be permanent. A few months for him to restore his reputation and then we’d quietly go our separate ways.
I didn’t plan to fall for him.
I didn’t plan on letting him see all my vulnerabilities.
And I definitely didn’t plan on giving him my heart.
I thought it hurt when I ended things with Duncan. I don’t know if my heart will ever recover from what I know I have to do.
A stray tear slips free and I brush it away with more force than necessary. I don’t know how I can possibly break up with Cash. To let him slip free from my life.
The team is gearing up for a playoff push now that the All-Star break is behind them. How can I possibly do this to Cash now? But the warning text from Ava this morning made it crystal clear.
Break things off with him by Friday or she plans on telling the world everything.
How could I have ever been friends with someone so vile?
“Piper?” I jump at the sound of the voice I’ve fallen in love with.
