Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Out of breath, Lila collapses on top of my sweaty chest. She hooks her arms around my neck, kissing me softly.
“Good morning to you, too,” she says, laughing against my lips.
I lift my hips, still inside her, and she moans. My cock is still semi-hard, and if I wasn’t so tired from all of the sex we’ve had in the last twenty-four hours, I would consider going another round. We have to capitalize on the nights Max spends with her dad.
Before she rolls off me, I grab her hips. “Take a shower with me.”
She glances over at the alarm clock on the bedside table. “We have to be quick. I have to meet a patient.”
My cell phone rings. Austin’s name pops up on the screen.
“Go ahead,” Lila says, moving to her side of the mattress. “I’ll get the water ready.”
I watch her sweet ass walk into the bathroom and then raise the phone to my ear. “What’s up, Aus?”
“Have you seen the news?”
I sit up, my heart hammering against my ribcage. “No, what’s wrong? Is it Dad? Kat? The twins?”
“No, Duke. It’s you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Someone took pictures of you with the doctor.”
“What?” Now, my heart is pounding faster, so hard I can barely catch my breath. “Where did you find them?”
“One of those sleazy tabloids shared a few pics last night. People are sharing them like crazy. Some of the posts have over a million shares.”
I ball my hands into fists, wanting to punch a hole in the wall until I remember I’m at Lila’s house. She would kill me. And how am I going to tell her about this?
“Dad already made a few calls,” Austin says with unusual calmness. “He got a few of the stories pulled.”
“What are they saying?”
“They’re trashing the doctor. Somehow the media found out you’re in anger management.”
No one, apart from my family and team, knows the truth.
“They have pictures of you kissing her. They’re saying she screwed her way into a contract with the Caps.”
“Fuck.” I pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers and sigh. “Send me the link.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t care. Pick one. I have to fix this.”
“I don’t know if you can. Dad talked to your GM this morning. It doesn’t look good for your girl.”
The thought of someone snooping on us produces a rage inside me. If Ted had anything to do with this, he’s a dead man. He threatened me at Max’s game last week. This must be my payback. But would he do this to the mother of his child? He must have cared for her at some point. Ted is an asshole, but a stunt like this is beneath him.
“Look at your texts,” Austin says.
“Hold on a sec.”
I open the text message he sent and click on the link. An online sports newspaper called Sports Buzz broke the story this morning. None of the images are scandalous. They have snapshots of me kissing Lila’s forehead outside the rink where Max plays hockey. Max is even in one of them. I’m on the ice with Max, hunched over in front of her. The pictures were taken over the last month. Whoever took them has been stalking us for a while. Ted would never do this to Max. So, who shot the pictures and leaked them?
“Kennedy Kane,” I say when I see the name on the article. “Isn’t this Tyler Kane’s wife?”
“Yeah. Dad’s calling her now. He’s thrown her a bone in the past. I’m sure she’ll take the article down.”
“I’m afraid the damage is already done,” I mutter.
“What damage?” Lila crosses her arms over her chest, staring down at me with concern furrowing her brows.
“Hey, Aus, can I call you back? I need to talk to Lila.”
“Yeah, sure. Good luck, bro. I’m here if you need me.”
“I know. Thanks.”
My bottom lip quivers when I look up at her. How do I tell her that dating me has ruined her career, her reputation?
I pat the mattress. “Sit. We need to talk about something important.”
“You’re scaring me, Duke.” She crosses the room, hovering over me. “What’s going on?”
I pull her onto my lap, and she leans her head back against my chest.
“People know about us.”
She sits up, eyes narrowed. “What people?”
“Anyone who reads the news.”
She gasps, covering her mouth with her hand. “No,” she whispers, speaking between her fingers. “That’s not possible. We were careful.”
I shake my head. “Not that careful. There are pictures of me with Max at her practice. A few images of me kissing you after her games. There’s even an image of the three of us at the D.C. Zoo.”
“Ted,” she stammers. “He said…” Her eyes go wide as her voice trails off.
“I don’t think he did this. He wouldn’t let someone print pictures of Max. If he wanted to get back at me, he wouldn’t have taken it out on her.”