Page 17 of Shootout
Her smirk disappeared. She lifted the beer glass to her lips and took a sip while peeking over the rim. Setting down the glass, she sighed and shook her head. Jessie kept her eyes downward and drew wet circles on the scarred table surface.
“Jessie,” I prodded.
“When the time is right.” She continued to draw those circles.
“Why not now?” Irritation seeped into my tone, and I made no attempt to disguise it.
“It’s not a good idea.”
“Nothing about this is a good idea. You drove home last night with him. Why didn’t you tell him then?”
“He was so pissed already, I didn’t want to make things worse.”
“And you don’t think things are getting worse by not telling him? Shit.” I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. “I was harassed and questioned in the locker room today. I didn’t have any choice but to make up shit to keep him from beating the crap out of me. Our lies are stacking up, and this is no longer just a little prank to get even.”
“I know.” She stared at me through lowered lashes, still hanging her head, making me feel like an insensitive ass, even though I hadn’t asked for this.
“I’m tired of getting slammed against the boards. If he didn’t hate me now, he’s going to kill me once he finds out I’ve made a fool of him.”
“I realize that. I was worried he’d grill you about things.”
“Well, he fucking did, and now I’m drowning in our bullshit. Alienating our number-one defenseman is not how I planned to start my tenure with this team. We need to put an end to this.”
“He’ll blame you, no matter how I handle things, if he even believes me. There is that little incident in the showers, which complicates this situation.”
Therein lay the conundrum we were in. “This doesn’t affect just us, it also affects the team. Fuck.” I buried my head in my hands as my head began to throb.
“I’m sorry,” she said again for the millionth time.
“If we don’t admit to the truth, how do we get out of this mess?” I lifted my head and met her concerned gaze but said nothing because I had nothing to say.
“I never should’ve let this get so far out of hand. I feel awful that you’re negatively impacted by my stupid decision to kiss you.”
A slow smile I couldn’t prevent spread across my face as the bad boy inside rose to the surface. “As much grief as that kiss has caused me, I’d do it again.”
Her sexy mouth formed anO, and those beautiful eyes opened wide in surprise. “You would?”
I frowned, feeling a little sorry for myself. “Wouldn’t you?”
She considered my question, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she did so. I stared at those lips and wished I was the one nibbling on them. “Yes,” she answered and ducked her head.
I grinned triumphantly. “Of course you do. We’re talking about kissing me, and I am a stud.”
Jessie laughed and rolled her eyes.
“You don’t think I’m a stud?” I gave her my best pouty face.
“Oh, you’re a stud, all right.”
Feeling smug, I held up my drink, and we tapped our mugs together.
“Back to our mutual problem, what are we going to do about Jason?”
I scratched my chin and stared ceilingward, not having a good solution to the hole we’d dug with a bulldozer. “As much as I hate lying, I hate dying even more. We can’t tell him the truth.”
She studied me with skepticism. “So we keep pretending we’re a couple?”
“For a short while. Then we’ll break it off. Even better, you’ll break up with me. He can’t kill me for that, can he?”
