I am your friend and I love you. So stop being a pain and get in there. You know you want to. Love youuuuu
Me
I don’t love you. Say things I want to hear.
Sammy
Nope, that’s not how I roll. And you love me for it. PS: you look hot.
Rolling my eyes, I smile and tuck my phone away, glancing up in time to see Dominik swoop in with a lighting-fast maneuver, sliding past defenders and launching the puck into the net. The buzzer doesn’t go off since we’re at an away game,but the few New York fans in the crowd cheer loudly. I leap from my seat, my voice lost in the crowd. The scoreboard flashes, displaying a score in favor of The Slashers.
We score two more times, with Dominik getting one assist, and before I know it, the final buzzer sounds, marking the end of the game. The team floods out and embraces one another, fans cheering, and the air is thick with a sense of pride. It doesn’t even phase me that most of the stadium has cleared out. I’m lost, watching Dominik wear a proud smile. He is soaking it in, and something about his happiness seems so genuine. So real and innocent. I love watching him like this, completely in his element.
His eyes meet mine unexpectedly, and a mischievous wink makes my cheeks blush, turning them a shade of crimson. I can’t look away from him, as if our eyes are magnetically drawn to each other in this moment. Through his playful gesture, I feel a bond, a shared closeness that makes me feel.
“You were amazing out there,”I say, following the sweat trickling down Dominik’s forehead as he wipes it away, panting.
The sweat on his neck… I just want to…
Knock it off.
His smile is dazzling, and I can’t help but wonder how I missed noticing such things before. Lust is a powerful feeling.
“Real or fake?” he leans in, whispering in my ear. His words force me to pause and stare up at him.
“What?”
“Your compliment. No one can hear you. Was it real or fake?” The way he’s staring at me makes me feel exposed, as if he can read my thoughts without me saying a word.
“R-real,” I stutter.
Dominik’s eyes twinkle as he smiles brightly. “It was for you, you know. I wanted to make this game extra memorable. Make sure you had a reason to watch and cheer loudly.”
I’m at a loss for words, so I bottle up all my emotions, pushing them deep down inside. I glance around at the bustling crowd, still in high spirits from the victory. The team is gathering at the end of the dark hallway, still glowing from the win, as reporters line up to steal a moment with the hockey players.
I nod my head in the general direction. “You should go. I’m sure they want to talk to you.”
“The team is going to a popular club here in downtown Vancouver after the interviews. Do you want to go?”
I shake my head. “You can go ahead. I’m going to get back to the hotel. I’m tired.”
“Alright. I won’t be too late.” Dom sighs, keeping his eyes locked on something behind me as he leans in and places a mandatory kiss on my temple.
“Do what you like. You don’t have to come back early for me. I don’t care,” I say.
“Keep telling yourself that.” Dominik grabs my ass, pinching hard and causing me to yelp. I want to bite him so badly for doing that here, in front of so many people. The proximity is almost unbearable, the desire to touch him nearly overwhelming. Why is this happening to me now? He wrote some words on pieces of paper, and suddenly I’m losing my head over it? It doesn’t matter what his intentions were or are right now, what matters is his selfishness and what he took from me.
The lies he told.
That’s all I should be focusing on right now.
People don’t make mistakes. They’re not sorry for them. They’re only sorry they got caught, and Dominik would have kept those secrets forever had I not found the black box in his closet.
“Have fun.”
Behave, he mouths, smiling at me as he turns and walks toward the line of players speaking into mics and staring at giant cameras propped on shoulders. Press is always standing in the exit hallway, waiting to get a few words in.
I pull on my jacket, trying to figure out a different way to exit through the back, when I hear a reporter ask Dominik a question.
