Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
It’s not an accusation. It’s just the truth, the observation of a friend.
I shrug in admission. “Obviously.”
He seems to consider that grimly for a beat, then says, “I’m not going to hold you back when this arrangement ends.” His tone is heavy. “I know you don’t need my permission, but I’d support anything you two choose to do. If you want to go after her, you should. You know that, right?”
Is that what I want? Ivy to myself? The thought weighs me down even more than I’d expected. I guess that’s the problem with two men falling for the same woman when only one of you is willing to let himself fall.
I leave Chicago the next day with a loss on the ice, and a problem I can’t solve.
35
HEAR ME ROAR
Ivy
Breaking news—the fog was a dud.
But I haven’t even been able to talk to the guys about the online poll results. I haven’t seen either my husband or my secret boyfriend since they flew back to town.
It’s weird, especially after the last several days of regular communication. Of nightly plans.
Okay, fine, their flight landed in the middle of the night. I didn’t expect or want a visitor at three a.m., but we didn’t make plans for today either. I wrote to them this morning in our group chat and asked if they wanted to get together today or tonight after the game.
The only response? A note from Hayes saying he was taking part in the optional practice, and then a note from Stefan asking how things were going at the store.
I’m heading to the arena now to debut the next mascot option, feeling off, like my clothes are too tight. Possibly I’m reading something into nothing, but their almost silence feels strange.
Maybe this is just the normal ups and downs of an unconventional arrangement? The thing is—I don’t know the rules. As I near the arena, I mull over the last few days. I’ve been busy too. I had a practice yesterday with the Ice Crew. I spent the day today with Beatrix, Karl, and Roxy, shooting videos and photos for the store’s social feed. I suppose I wouldn’t have been able to see the guys anyway.
But we don’t have plans for tonight, and I’m trying not to let that bother me. Trying being the operative word. I check my phone constantly as I walk, hoping for a text, a picture, a plan. Something like we’ve had since we returned from Vegas nearly two weeks ago.
It stays silent, and my gut twists with worry.
When I arrive at the arena, the quiet nags at me even more. Something has shifted. It doesn’t feel like how we were before. And you know what? I don’t need to put up with it.
They told me I’m smart and fierce, and a smart and fierce woman would ask, What’s your deal?
I click open our group thread as I push open the door to the arena, then write as I walk.
Ivy: Hey! Hope you guys are having a good day. It feels weird to me that we haven’t made plans, and I don’t like feeling this way. I want to see you both. Do you want to come over tonight?
I reread it but before I can hit send, Oliver rounds the corner and catches up to me. “Hey, Ivy! Kana is looking for you.”
“Brady’s wife?” I know who she is. I’m just surprised.
“She’s up at the wives’ and girlfriends’ suite. And boyfriends’ and husbands’,” he quickly adds. One of the defensemen, Tom, is married to Gilberto from Sao Paulo, the star of the San Francisco Firefighters Calendar. They were shipped all over the city when Gilberto attended a game before they started dating.
I volunteer to head over to the suite on my own, but Oliver’s too helpful to let me do that, so he walks with me. Along the way, we chat about the poll results, and he whispers, “The Fog was Jessie’s idea. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was bad.”
I laugh. I get it. “No one wants to tell the boss when she’s wrong.”
“You get me,” he says.
When I reach the suite, Kana greets me like we’re old friends. “It’s been too long, Mrs. Armstrong,” she says, then flashes a welcoming grin.
I smile back, but inside I feel unsteady. Mr. Armstrong has barely written to me. Neither has my secret boyfriend. Yes, Kana’s in on the fake marriage, but I feel like I’m not in on something now.
I’m not in on my relationship.
Still, I put on a good face, like I know how to do, and I wave to the crew. “Hi there.”
Kana takes me under her wing and makes some quick intros and then says, “Brady and I got a sitter next Sunday, and we’re having a board game and dinner party. Can you join us?” She gestures to the room. “We’ll all be there, and I sent an invite to your brother, and Chase and Trina.”