by Aven Ellis
I study the tall, beautiful woman moving toward me, and since I’ve met everyone except for Veronica, I have a feeling I’m about to meet the captain’s girlfriend.
“Ana, would you mind switching seats for a second? I need to introduce myself to this new face here,” Veronica says, flashing me a smile.
“Sure,” Ana says, nodding. “It was nice chatting with you, Skye,” she says, rising and moving to exit the row.
“Likewise, it was a pleasure,” I say, smiling at her.
As soon as she leaves, Veronica takes her seat. A cloying, heavy perfume invades my space, telling me this woman doesn’t know the meaning of the word subtle.
“You’re new,” Veronica says, studying me with interest. “I’m Veronica, and I’m Gavin Tremblay’s girlfriend.”
She drops her Balenciaga bag next to her exquisite black stiletto heels—making sure to turn her foot so I can see the famous red sole of her Louboutin shoes—and extends her hand to me.
“And you are?” she asks pointedly.
“Hello, I’m Skye Reeve,” I say, shaking her hand firmly. “Nice to meet you, Veronica.”
Her glossy lips part and a gasp of surprise escapes her mouth. “You! I knew you looked familiar! I guess I didn’t recognize you since you aren’t crying like you were on the last episode of Is It Love?”
I feel JoJo stiffen in her seat. I keep the smile frozen on my face and lean forward to block her so she can’t go Sophia Petrillo again on Veronica.
I can handle Veronica myself. If it’s one thing I can thank the tabloids for, it’s learning how to deal with people who think you are worth nothing because you were on a dating show.
“Yes,” I say, smiling brightly at her. “Thank goodness for waterproof mascara, right?”
Veronica’s mouth goes back to a tight smile.
JoJo and Sierra were right. Veronica was hoping I’d get upset with her dragging up my worst moment on the show.
Ha. What a rookie. She’ll have to do much better than that if she is going to get under my skin.
“I was just joking,” Veronica says, putting her hand on my jacket. “So, who are you here for? These seats are reserved for wives and girlfriends, not reality show runner-ups.”
“She is with us,” JoJo snaps, not trying to hide the anger in her voice.
“I wasn’t aware we had seat designations broken down by if we starred on a reality show or not,” Sierra adds.
“I merely wondered if she was getting celebrity treatment, Sierra; no need to get snippy. I thought maybe you were placed here by some team lackey in PR,” Veronica insists.
“I’m friends with Maxime Laurent,” I say, shifting my attention back to the ice now that play has started again.
I feel Veronica looking at me as I continue to stare straight ahead.
“Maxime?”
“Yes.”
I see Maxime jump over the boards with Gavin as they take to the ice again, and I wish Veronica would quit talking to me so I can focus on the game. They skate back on defense, as the Bobcats have control of the puck and are passing it down toward the other end of the ice. I shift my eyes to the large video screen so I don’t miss anything while they are down on that end.
“Interesting,” she says. “You don’t seem like Maxime’s type.”
I don’t reward her by looking at her. I’m about to say something when JoJo jumps in.
“Funny, you told me the same thing about Cade,” JoJo says, her voice extra sweet as she addresses Veronica. “Yet, here we are, engaged and getting married this summer. Maybe you don’t read men as well as you think you do, Veronica. Oh, just kidding!”
Oh, she’s so not kidding, and it’s all I can do not to laugh.
One of the Bobcats takes a shot on goal, but Gavin deflects the puck, and it sails into the boards behind the net. Maxime is instantly back there, chipping at it. He frees it around to the other end, where it’s picked up by another Mountain Lions player. He passes it back up the ice, and I see Gavin move the puck across center ice.
“Maxime doesn’t seem like he’d be into a reality, um, you know, I don’t even know what to call you, but I guess a reality personality, you know?”
“Skye is a TV reporter,” Sierra says bluntly. “She’s going to work on Boulder Live.”
Veronica gives us a fake laugh. “Oh, a small market, how fun!”
“I’m happy, and that’s what matters,” I say, keeping my voice sweet and light.
Gavin works the puck around the net, passing it to Cade Callahan. I watch as Maxime positions himself off to the left.
Give it to Maxime, I will Cade.
Cade shoots the puck to Maxime. My heartbeat picks up as I watch Maxime move it around. I want him to shoot it so badly, but Maxime remains diligent, working for the best shot available and willing to pass the puck to a teammate who has it.
He passes it back across the ice to Gavin. Gavin fires, but the puck bounces off the top of the net, and everyone in the arena groans.
Of course, Veronica is oblivious to the game and continues to zero in on me.
“Isn’t that the reason anyone would do a reality TV show like Is It Love? To use the exposure to get a real career?”
Her words slap hard across my face because they’re true.
I know some people think less of me for doing the show. I’m going to have to fight this the rest of my life because I entered the show with those aspirations. My credentials from UCLA don’t matter to most people, nor does the fact that I know how to write my own scripts, record voiceovers, and edit my own video.
What I can do, however, is an excellent job on Boulder Live. I’ll prove to everyone I work with at the station that I belong there just as much as they do, and that’s what matters.
The puck is turned over, and Maxime’s line heads off the ice as they go back toward the other end.
I turn back to Veronica. “Sorry, I was concentrating on the game. Back to your comment. I did get exposure on the show, which is huge. I’m grateful for that. However, that will only give you a chance. You need to work hard to keep opportunities that are given to you, and that’s exactly what I will do while on Boulder Live.”
My phone buzzes in my lap, and I flip it over. It’s our group conversation thread.
JoJo: You’re slaying her. Keep going!
I smile and put my phone face down in my lap.
There’s another shift change, and the score remains tied at zero.
“True,” Veronica says, swinging her foot back and forth as she adjusts the cuff bracelet on her left wrist. “I still can’t imagine Maxime with someone who was in such a public role. He’s so reserved. He doesn’t even post pics on his Instagram account, which is weird. Yet you are splashed all over the place, Skye. I can’t imagine Maxime seeing someone who, you know, has been on the cover of icky tabloids and will continue to be until the public gets tired of your run as a reality show sweetheart.”
I reach up for my hair, beginning to braid it as a distraction from the horrible feeling sweeping through me. She’s right about this, too. Maxime didn’t seem to care when I told him my story, but will he like seeing awful stories about me if we’re dating?
Stories that could potentially involve him?
I can’t think about it. I can’t.
Because if I had any sense of decency, I’d walk away from him now, rather than risk putting an amazing man like Maxime, who values his privacy and protecting his image, through this. Even though the tabloid attention will wane eventually, when you are living in it in real time, it’s awful.
And while I can promise it will wane, I can’t promise it will die.
“Obviously, it doesn’t matter to Maxime,” Sierra says, keeping her eyes on Jude, who has taken to the ice now. “He knows what he gets with Skye, which is a brilliant, wonderful, kind person.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by that,” Veronica says, touching my arm again. “Just thinking aloud about how different you two are. But you know,
opposites attract, right?”
I see JoJo typing frantically on her phone, no doubt sending another message about Veronica, but I’m rattled.
Veronica is right. She’s one hundred percent right, and if Maxime dates me, I will drag him into a world he will want no part of.
“Go, Jude!” Sierra yells excitedly, interrupting my painful thoughts.
I watch as Jude breaks down the ice, toward our end, with the puck on his stick on a breakaway. We all rise to our feet as Jude approaches the net. He makes a fancy move with the puck, faking out the goalie before releasing a wicked shot toward the net.
Bam! The puck hits the back of the net, and the goal horn sounds as the crowd leaps to their feet.
The entire arena begins cheering and yelling “JUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE.” JoJo snaps a pic of Sierra celebrating her fiancé’s goal, which she uploads to Snapchat.
The goal song plays as Jude is hugged by the Mountain Lions on the ice. They skate back toward the bench, exchanging high-fives, and I watch as Maxime affectionately taps the top of Jude’s helmet.
As soon as the puck is dropped at face-off at center ice, we all sit back down. Veronica has moved on to texting on her phone, but her words are still rolling around in my head. I know JoJo has texted me, but I haven’t read it. She and Sierra are trying to engage me in conversation, but I’m lost.
In so many ways.
I know Veronica is right about Maxime, about what will happen if we start seeing each other and this private man is dragged into the one place he never wants to be.
Into the spotlight.
Maxime jumps back on the ice again, and my throat grows tight as I watch him play the game he loves so much. He’s willing to put up with the media for this game, but the spotlight attached to me will be much harsher.
It might have been fate that we reconnected, but believing in fate doesn’t mean blindly ignoring reality. And it doesn’t mean Maxime should be dragged through the mud in gossip blogs or tabloids.
No, that doesn’t have to be his future, I think. I must do the right thing.
And that is to end things tonight.
Chapter Fourteen
I nervously braid my hair in the WAGS lounge as we wait for the guys to come out. All the other women are celebrating the Mountain Lions victory tonight. The Mountain Lions won 2-0, with Jude and Gavin scoring the only goals in the game and Maxime making a brilliant pass to assist Gavin.
I’m sitting with Sierra and JoJo in a corner of the plush lounge, and they keep trying to engage me in conversation, but I can’t. I should be eagerly checking the time, impatient for Maxime to appear in the doorway.
But I don’t feel excited or happy at the thought of seeing Maxime. In fact, I feel dread. I feel anguish thinking of what is to come in a matter of minutes.
While my head knows I’m doing the right thing, my heart tells me I’m letting go of someone truly incredible. He is a man that could have been everything but, instead, will be someone I’ll never get to know beyond our date last night.
I know I’m doing the right thing. I had the rest of the night to think about it and picture how disastrous things would be if we continued to date. My next romance will get coverage, even more so because I will have “replaced” Tom with a professional athlete. That has star power to it. Maxime would hate being tabloid fodder; that’s not him. He has to deal with the public because he plays professional hockey, but nothing like this. He would hate the sleazy invasion into his dating life, however temporary it might be. I can’t imagine him on a tabloid cover, or as the subject of some breezy gossip report on an entertainment channel.
He would eventually hate me for it.
I braid my hair faster, my fingers moving at a rapid rate. I couldn’t bear it if he ended up resenting me down the line for putting his life out there by default. I would die if all of this ended up embarrassing him and causing him to regret ever seeing me.
No. I won’t do that.
I’m going to tell Maxime I need to speak to him alone and that I can’t go to dinner with our friends.
I will tell him I can’t see him again.
“I hope Veronica isn’t in your head,” Sierra says, interrupting my thoughts.
I don’t break from looping my hair over and under, working through the locks to keep from getting teary.
“No,” I say, which is the truth. “These are all my thoughts. My decisions. Veronica simply made some valid points.”
In a flash, JoJo’s hand is on my arm. “Wait. What does that mean?”
I don’t look at her. “Maxime and I. We … we aren’t a match.”
“Skye, you can’t be serious,” JoJo urgently whispers. “Listen to me; she’s an idiot. She is a horrible human who gets her kicks out of two things in life: spending Gavin’s money and getting inside people’s heads. Don’t give her this power.”
“She’s not wrong. Maxime is private. You both know that. My life is not. Can you imagine Maxime in a gossip magazine? On the cover? With some stupid made-up story about us? Because that’s reality. It will happen. What happens when his peace and privacy are ripped away from him?”
I see JoJo and Sierra digesting my words. The sick feeling in my stomach worsens.
“I’m right,” I say with defeat. “You know I am.”
“Doesn’t Maxime have the right to decide for himself if he wants to make this kind of trade-off?” Sierra insists.
“How can he decide that when he has no idea what it will be like?” I counter. “I thought I knew what the ramifications of being on a reality TV show would be on my life, but I had no clue the depths of it until I went through it. The biggest difference is that I wanted it. I wanted to be on TV; I still want a career on camera. Maxime doesn’t.”
JoJo opens her mouth to protest, but before she can, players start trickling into the room.
“I know this is for the best,” I say firmly.
I look toward the entrance. Anxiety fills me as I watch for Maxime to appear.
As a stream of unfamiliar faces passes by, nausea rises within me. Soon I will see a face I do know.
One I will say goodbye to.
Jude walks into the room, and a sharp pain runs through me. Maxime won’t be far behind him. He smiles and comes straight toward us, and we all rise to greet him.
“Hey, baby,” Sierra says, reaching for him and holding his face in her hands. “You were on fire tonight.”
Envy grips me knowing I’ll never be able to congratulate Maxime like this.
He drops a sweet kiss on her lips. “Thank you, love. We’ll need to ask your Magic 8 Ball if I’ll score more goals on this coming road trip.”
Sierra grins at him. “I’d say, ‘It is decidedly so.’”
They both laugh, and my gaze shifts toward the door.
Gavin is next to walk in, and Veronica is busy talking to some of the other WAGS as he approaches her. Sierra and JoJo have told me he’s super nice, and they don’t understand their relationship at all.
I decide I don’t want to start this conversation here, with all these people around. I want to catch Maxime in the hallway so we can go somewhere private. I owe him that much.
“Excuse me,” I say. “I’m going to look for Maxime.”
“Please don’t,” JoJo says, pleading with me to change my mind. “Don’t do it. I think it’s a mistake.”
“Do what?” Jude asks, a crease forming across his brow.
“Nothing,” I say. “And it’s not.”
I walk through the lounge, the sick feeling coursing through me as I move. I exit into the hallway, and as soon as I turn to my left, I see Cade and Maxime heading toward me.
The second I see Maxime, I realize how hard this is going to be. I take him in, but it’s not the exquisite charcoal-gray suit, that is tailored to fit his athletic frame, or the way his thick gold-brown locks are fantastically tousled on his head that causes me to stare.
It’s his expression.
I swallow hard as I see the light s
hining in his gorgeous blue-green eyes. They lit up the second he spotted me, and a brilliant smile flashed across his handsome face. No man has ever looked at me that way before.
When I watched Is It Love?, I realized Tom looked at every woman the same. There was nothing unique or genuine. His expression was always fixed, and he wore the same smile throughout filming.
But the second Maxime’s eyes landed on me, his expression changed. He went from smiling and talking to Cade to looking deeply happy simply from seeing me.
Maxime’s eyes are his soul.
How can I stop seeing him? How? My heart is wrenching. I know he’s special. I know this man is a good man, who is funny and sweet and intelligent, and who has kissed me like nobody ever has, with desire and emotion. He made me feel like he’s never kissed another woman in the same way. He remembered me from that café in Brussels and regretted not asking if I was okay, because he can already read what is in my eyes.
You have your answer, my head whispers. You have to let him go for all these reasons. Maxime is a good man who doesn’t want his life splashed across tabloids in a grocery store. He deserves better than this.
Stopping this now, before he ends up resenting me, is what I have to do.
“Hey, Skye, how are you?” Cade calls out as they approach me. “Welcome to Colorado.”
He reaches in to give me a friendly hug, and I manage to avoid looking at Maxime for a moment. Looking at his handsome, expressive face is unbearable, knowing I’m about to change everything between us. While he thinks we are going out for sushi with friends to celebrate the victory tonight, I know the truth.
I’m going to hurt him, and that thought kills me.
I force a smile on my face as I step back from Cade. “Thank you. I’m happy to be here.”
“We’re all glad you’re here, too,” Cade says, flashing me a grin. “I know JoJo is thrilled. I think Maxime is, too. Aren’t you, Maxie?”
He winks at Maxime, and I detect a bit of a flush sweeping across Maxime’s etched cheekbones.
