Lucy and I rise to our feet. “Want to get a drink?”
I glance down at our now empty cups. The drink we got in the first period is long gone. “Sure!”
We head up the stairs to the main concourse and make our way over to one of the crowded bars. You wouldn’t think the Ice Hawks were losing with how excited and loud the crowd is.
Lucy grabs my hand, pulling me through a small gap to find us a place to stand and order our drinks. “Next game, we’re getting our food and drinks downstairs.” She shakes her head. “The boys need to just get us a suite.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t be against that.”
“You tell Matty and I’ll tell Theo. Neither of them will be able to say no.”
The bartender comes over for our order and Lucy tells them two vodka cranberries, just to make it simple.
“Did you see the photo of Matteo Ford with a new woman on his arm at the charity gala?”
My spine stiffens immediately as I catch his name coming from another woman’s lips. I look past Lucy, over to a group of three women crowded together at the bar.
Lucy’s fact contorts. “What the hell?”
My stomach is on the floor. I give her a small shake of my head.
“I’m not surprised,” one of the other women chimes in. “He always has a new girl.”
I pull my eyes away from them, staring straight ahead at the rows of liquor on the shelf. This cannot be happening right now. Don’t these women have anything better to do than creep on professional athletes.
“How do you know all this?” the woman with red hair asks.
“It’s all over the internet.” Cackling laughter follows. “Just look up his name and you’ll see images of him out with different women.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
“He’s such a player.”
Lucy inches closer. “Don’t listen to them, Jade. They don’t know him.”
The muscle in my jaw tightens. The bartender comes over with our drinks and I grab mine from him before he can even set it down.
“I’m sure that girl he was pictured with will be old news in a few weeks.”
“So true,” one of the other women says. “He only likes the chase. Once it starts to get real, he’s gone.”
It feels like a blow to my chest. I pinch the straw of my drink, gulping down half of it. Lucy pays the tab and slides her arm through mine, turning me away from the bar. “Come on, let’s go.”
I nod, letting her pull me back through the crowd, away from those women. I knew Matteo had a reputation. I’m not stupid or naïve. He’s extremely attractive, super successful, and has enough confidence for his entire team.
It’s impossible not to notice him. It’s impossible not to be drawn to someone like that.
But hearing the things they were saying, like I’m just another name on his list of conquests. The way they spoke of me as if I’m that disposable to him... my stomach twists at the thought.
“Hey,” Lucy says as we sit back into our seats and she turns to face me.
I shake my head dismissively as I tuck my emotions back into a box. “I’m fine.”
She purses her lips. “They’re wrong about him, you know.”
“Are they?” I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.
Her expression softens. “They don’t even know him. All they know is the bullshit they’ve read on the internet.” She pauses,her eyes searching mine. “Youknow Matteo, the man behind the mask that no other woman has ever seen.”
