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“You weren’t supposed to kiss me like that.” I wipe my mouth with my long sleeve.

“Sorry. I just surrendered to the moment. I thought you were into it too.”

My face warms. I can’t believe he noticed how I reacted to him. “You thought wrong.”

He shrugs. “Sorry, my bad.”

Vincent approaches us, not looking very happy. “Guys, I love the passion, but let’s take it down a notch, okay?”

I cross my arms. “That’s fine by me.”

Keanu raises his hand. “I can do that too. No problem.”

“All right. Let’s try this one more time.” Vincent walks away, muttering, “I’m too old for this shit.”

Keanu smirks. “Nice going, Leigh. At this rate, Vincent will decide to switch careers by the time the shoot is over.”

“Bite me.” I skate away from him.

“Careful what you wish for, babe.”

5 KEANU

After Leigh lost her mind over that kiss, I decided to behave. To be fair, I wasn’t lying. For a moment, I forgot that we were shooting a commercial and let my instincts take over. I thought she wanted me to kiss her for real. I guess I read the signs wrong.

What did you expect, Keanu? You know how good of an actress she is.

When Leigh got her big break soon after high school graduation and became a sensation overnight, I vowed I’d never go see any of her movies. But like a glutton for punishment, I caved, ready to hate her performance. But the opposite happened, and it confused the fuck out of me. How could I love seeing her work when I was supposed to hate her?

The day is finally over, and I’m exhausted. I’m supposed to grab a drink later with Simon, my best friend, so I head home, hoping a shower and a nap will reenergize me. The day might have started off fun, but now my battery is drained.

I live in an upscale apartment building not far from the arena. Many of my teammates prefer to live in houses to have more privacy, but I’m happy where I am. My neighbors are chill and never bother me.

My phone rings when I’m in the elevator. I look at the screen and grimace. It’s my old man calling. The last thing I want right now is to talk to him, but if I ignore him, he’ll get pissed. It’s better to just answer him and pray the conversation is short.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hi, Keanu. How have you been?”

“Good. And you?”

The elevator door opens, making a pinging noise.

“Where are you?” he asks in an aggravated tone.

I walk out of the elevator onto my floor. “I just got home. Why?”

“You’re not home yet?”

“Technically, I am. I’m about to unlock my front door.”

He grumbles. “Right. I’m calling to let you know I’ll be in town in for a couple of days for business. We’ll have dinner.”

Shit. I hate when he comes into town. I never survive those visits unscathed. I thought that once I joined the NHL and became financially independent, my father would ease off me. But the man loves to bring me down whenever he gets the chance. The only reason I don’t cut him out of my life completely is my sister, Mia. It’d break her heart if I no longer talked to our dad. She’s never seen the ugly side of him. The punches and verbal abuse were reserved for me only.

“All right. I do have a game on Wednesday, though. Should I set a ticket aside for you?” I ask even though I know his answer.

“No, I won’t have time for that. We’ll have dinner on Friday. My assistant will make the reservations.”