Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
20
JOSSLYN
“Dad, you need to make sure Tate doesn’t go to the fundraiser,” Damian says suddenly.
“Really, Damian?” I shoot him a glare.
“Honey, it’s okay if you don’t want to see him yet. I’m sure he’ll understand,” Mom says.
“I genuinely don’t care if he’s there,” I say, picking up my hot dog.
“He’s trying to get her back,” Livie says.
“That’s not true,” I respond before taking a bite of food.
We wouldn’t know if he’s trying to get me back. He just got back in town, and I blocked his number and unfollowed him everywhere. The only reason I didn’t block his accounts on social media is that I know he’ll just go and get a burner account. His only option is to show up at my apartment, and I already took him off my list of visitors, so he can’t even do that.
“He’d be an idiot to think he could,” Tiago responds.
“Have you seen all the comments he’s been leaving on your posts?” Dame asks, scowling.
“Is that what you do in your free time?” I ask. “Scroll through my comments?”
“Sometimes, they ask where your hot brother is.” He shrugs.
That makes me laugh, because he’s not wrong, and his already inflated ego feeds off it.
“Tate will back off if you take a date,” Mom says. “I’m sure Damian can get one of his Blaze teammates to accompany you.”
My jaw drops. “I don’t need Dame’s help to find a date, thank you very much.”
“She really doesn’t. As it is, some of them are already calling Dibs on her since I won’t be there to threaten them.” Dame shoots me a pointed look. “Stay away from Nate Crawford.”
I snort. “Nate’s the only cute one.”
Not that I want him calling Dibs on me. The hockey team has this stupid, disgusting game called “Dibs” where they have a number of people they need to sleep with. If they find one in particular who interests them a lot, they get to call Dibs and no one else can go after her. At least, that’s how it was explained to me.
“Is Nate popular?” Mom asks.
“For the wrong reasons,” Hamilton says.
“I’ll go with you,” Finn says out of the blue, making everyone at the table go completely silent.
“That would be interesting,” Dame says slowly, eyeing me the way he did the night I met Finn all those years ago.
“That...” Will blinks, shaking his head, unable to form words.
“It would be incredible,” Livie says.
“Would you let us advertise you’ll be there?” Mom asks.
My head is spinning. It takes me a long moment to start a sentence, only to be interrupted.
“You’ll be photographed together,” Tiago says and looks at me. “I think we should go together. People—”
“I think we can all agree that my being there with her will get more attention,” Finn says, interrupting.
My brows shoot up at his blatant arrogance, but he’s not wrong. Finn doesn’t abide by anyone’s rules. He’d rather pay fines than speak to the press, he doesn’t give interviews, and he hasn’t been very public since he got here, so I’m sure people are dying to speak to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire Fairview Blaze team somehow got together to buy a table just to fawn over him.
“You’d bring enough attention by getting a table,” Tiago argues.
Finn smiles, though it’s cold and frankly, a little scary. After a second, he says, “I’ll donate the cost of a table, but I will be accompanying Josslyn.”
Tiago lets out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Just like that? Without even asking her?”
“I’m sure she knows this is the right move,” Finn says, his eyes flicking to mine briefly.
I remain silent. I’m not sure what to make of his offer, but he’s right. If he goes with me, the media attention would be intense. Which is why I don’t understand why he’s even offering.
“We all know it’ll get more attention if Joss and Finn arrive together,” Livie says, then raises her brows at Finn. “A lot more attention.”
“It’s smart,” Titus adds, which shocks me.
“If we start feeding the rumor mill, more people pay to watch the live feed,” Mom adds, and shrugs when I stare at her in shock. “What? It’s the publicist in me.”
Hamilton isn’t even bothering to conceal his surprise, looking at his friend like he’s grown three heads.
“I don’t know…” I start but am once again interrupted by Tiago.
“Did you hear that part about having your picture taken?” he asks, dumbfounded.
Finn’s expression hardens. “Loud and clear.”
“It’s not just your picture,” I say, shooting Tiago a quick warning look that says I’ll hurt him if he interrupts me again. “I know you have a large fan base, but most of them are just hockey fans—”
“And puck bunnies,” Hamilton quips.
“And puck bunnies,” I add, rolling my eyes. “The people who follow me are very loyal—”
“Psychos,” Livie pipes up.