Page 69 of The Fake Out

“Baby, I don’t know,” I sighed and ran my hand down my face.

“Okay…how can I help you?” she asked, her brow furrowing in concern. It was kind of cute, like she actually cared about how I felt. I tried not to think about my heart and brain yelling at me in equal measure.

“Fuck if I know,” I admitted.

“Do you want to get back with Astrid?” she asked tactfully. I watched her nervously push a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Fuck no! She broke my heart. She just pissed me off.”

She laughed. “Okay, big guy.”

“Sorry. I guess…”

“What?”

“Just annoying that she’s acting like nothing happened. And…” I trailed off.

I shook my head.

I wasn’t about to tell my fake girlfriend I missed her. Or that I didn’t care if Astrid wanted me back because the person I wanted was on the other side of the screen. I couldn’t tell her I wished I was there to kiss her cute paint-splattered face. Just like I couldn’t tell her I wanted to brush her hair behind her ear before kissing all her worries away. Or how much I wished I was holding her in my arms instead of this stiff hotel pillow.

This was supposed to be a no-strings arrangement until the wedding; I wasn’t supposed to have these feelings.

“Nothing, sweets. Don’t let me keep you up,” I finally said.

“Blaise, it’s okay. I know we’re keeping it casual, and this will be over soon, but we can still be friends.”

“Friends?” I asked and raised an eyebrow.

I liked this woman a lot, and I enjoyed spending time with her, but I wasn’t sure if we could be friends after this. Was that even possible?

“Just because it’s not serious between us doesn’t mean we can’t still talk,” she explained.

“Why didn’t you tell me hibiscuses were your favorite flower?”

She fingered the colorful tattoo on her arm and shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re pretty, though. Oh! I can show you my flower.”

I laughed. “Um…is that a euphemism for something?”

She cackled, and I loved how her face scrunched up when she laughed. She carried her phone over to the windowsill in her kitchen to a potted plant with three brightly colored flowers on it. “See my flowers! They’re hard to maintain, but they’re pretty.”

She put a hand over her mouth and yawned.

“Shit, it’s getting late. I don’t want to keep you.”

She smiled at me again, and warmth spread across my chest at the way she made me feel when she smiled at me. Her hazel eyes got bright, and it felt like that smile was made just for me. But I knew it wasn’t. It was just my heart playing games with me, making me see what I wanted to see.

“Okay. Good luck in your game tomorrow,” she said, and she seemed sincere, like she really wanted me to do well. Again, I was reminded about how Astrid called it my ‘little hockey career’ and never took me or our relationship seriously.

“Night, sweets,” I told Veronica.

I sighed when the call disconnected, and I flopped back down onto my pillow. When it came to Veronica O’Malley, I was so totally fucked.

Chapter Twenty

VERONICA

I yawned while I finished working on the concept artwork for the client I had coming in. Blaise was due back today, but we hadn’t made any plans to get together. He called me after the team lost to Carolina. I think he wanted to vent, but it was nice to video chat with him again and see his smiling face. Almost like he was smiling because of me, but I knew that wasn’t it. He was a fun guy, but I had to remind myself that there were certain boundaries we didn’t want to cross.