Page 151 of Slapshot Bride

“Then call him. Right now. Call him and ask.”

I know I won’t do it. The truth is simpler and worse.

If Mason did this, he did the exact thing I was about to do. He decided what was best for Riley. For his sister. He did it out of love.

So how do I call and be angry at him for protecting her? When the Maya thing blows over, she doesn’t have to suffer it with me anymore. She’s well off without my baggage to hold her down.

The truth hurts more than the note she left.

I was never good enough for her. Not in this lifetime. Not right now.

“Honey…” my mother says. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah.” I exhale.

“Whatever you think you deserve right now, you’re wrong about it.”

I don’t answer that.

We stay on the line for a while without talking. Eventually she makes me promise to take good care of myself before she hangs up.

I sit on my kitchen floor until three in the morning with the note in one hand and the bottle of liquor in the other.

I should’ve told him that morning. Right there, in my own living room, with her in my lap and Mason on the line. I should have told him the truth. All of it. That I was in love with his sister and I wasn’t going anywhere.

I should have told her.

32

RILEY

It Ends Tonight

I’m standing by the fireplace in the Sinclair mansion with a glass of wine in my hand, in a navy dress Preston picked out because, in his words, it makes me look better beside him.

That’s the whole point of tonight.

A small thing, he’d said on Tuesday. Just family. People have been worried about you, Riley. Let them see you’re all right.

He's calling it a reunion.

He's also calling it an engagement party, because the ring went back on my finger Monday morning in front of his mother. And she’d thanked and praised me for being well again. She talked about how her son had almost lost his mind, looking for me, while I was taken by that hockey star.

That hockey star took me. It’s the story Preston has told them. The one he’s ready to sell to the media, the moment I step out of place.

My eyes travel around the room, from one familiar face to another, all people from Preston’s world. And when they land on him across the room, he strolls over, wraps an arm around my waist, and pulls me in for a charming kiss to further sell the plot of our reunion.

“I hope you're having a wonderful evening, my love,” he says with an easy smile, making sure to pitch his voice loud enough for Victoria to hear.

“Oh… so sweet,” Victoria gushes to her husband, who’s beside her.

Preston turns to them after I give him a curt nod and a practiced smile.

“Thank you for keeping her company, Victoria.” He smiles warmly before turning to her husband. “And thank you as well, Benjamin. Riley's been through a difficult couple of weeks, and it means a great deal to me that you all came to welcome her home and make tonight so special.”

“We’re glad she’s back and safe,” Benjamin responds.

For another few minutes, I watch them talk about me like I’m not there.