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Juniper won’t so much as look at me. Her gaze is on the auctioneer.

Come on. Someone else bid.

Anyone else.

The room is eerily silent. Even the soft rumblings from earlier are no longer present.

I glance at the tables with my teammates. Conrad is covering his mouth with his hand, and I can’t quite discern if it’s a scowl or a smile he’s hiding.

“Twenty thousand going once.”

Please, no. We’ll kill each other before the night is over.

“Twenty thousand, going twice.”

This has to be a cruel joke. She doesn’t have twenty thousand dollars to donate to charity. My gaze shoots to my brother, who made it clear he gave her one hundred thousand dollars to kiss him.

Turns out, she has the money after all.

“Twenty thousand, sold to the gorgeous lady in the silver gown.”

There’s a smirk on Juniper’s face, her eyes shine, and I swear she’s glowing.

She’s going to make my life hell. Maybe she’ll play a little game of get even and stand me up. I can deal with that, actually, I’d prefer it to spending the evening with Pint Size.

Twelve

Juniper

“The paparazzi are going to be everywhere,” Conrad warns as I filter through my closet, unhappy with my selections.

“I don’t have anything to wear tonight.”

Myles Dax hates me. Why again am I going on a date with him?

Oh, right, because Conrad pushed me into it at the gala.

Rowan sits at the edge of my bed, her legs crossed, looking great in everything she wears. She can rock a pair of denim jeans and a t-shirt and look hot. “Just be yourself. Wear something cute but sophisticated. Don’t overthink the date.”

Conrad grabs the chair at my desk, turning it around to sit backward. “Rowan is right,” he says, glancing at her for a fraction of a second. “It’s just a date. It’s not like you’re on reality television and everyone is watching. But there will be cameras⁠—”

“So, don’t do anything I don’t want my parents or grandparents to witness on entertainment news.” I roll my eyes and groan. “I need to go shopping.” I head toward my bedroom door to escape, and Rowan jumps up from her seat on my bed, grabbing me by the shoulders, stopping me.

“You don’t have time. Your date is in an hour.”

I groan and plop down on the bed, stealing her seat. “Find me something where I don’t look ridiculous. And what is Myles wearing tonight?” I ask, glancing at Conrad. He must know; they’re friends.

I’m not sure how it even happened, Conrad and I becoming friends. Somewhere between his puppy peeing in the hallway and the gala event, we actually developed some type of friendship. There are, however, zero sparks between us. It’s like he’s an older brother looking out for his little sis.

“He’s not talking to me, outside of a few choice words in the locker room.”

“Not even on the ice?” I ask, imploring him to tell me what’s going on between them. I live for the boy drama gossip.

Conrad shakes his head. “He’s figured it out that I gave you the check for the gala.”

“Yeah, he probably saw it when I grabbed it from my clutch and paid at the gala.” Myles had been standing over my shoulder after I’d bid on him. I thought he’d cower and disappear, but instead, he was glued to my hip, silent and brooding.

Maybe he expected me to tell him it was all a practical joke and he was being pranked.