The Faker: A Marriage of Convenience Hockey Romance (Boston Hawks Hockey) by Gina Azzi (little red riding hood read aloud .TXT) 📕

Mira reaches across the table and squeezes my hand. I give her a grateful smile.

“Just so you know, Dad kept tabs on you. He was getting ready to intervene right when you threw him a curveball and married the hockey player.”

I inhale a sharp breath. “Dad knew?”

My brother snorts. “Carter’s Steakhouse?” He mentions the exorbitantly priced steakhouse in downtown Boston.

“That’s you guys?”

“It’s all of us, Ri. It’s a family business. Dad thought you’d eventually come home. He waited freshman year. Then, he thought after college. When he found out that Jerry Jensen was the lender behind your loan, he tried to pay it off outright. He hated the thought of you, of any of us, being under Jensen’s thumb.”

“Jensen refused.”

Jesse nods. “Dad was furious. I think his anger is what held him back from reaching out earlier.” Jesse leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “I know you think you’re just like Mom, Ri. And you are. You got all of her sunshine and sparkle. You sure as hell got her mischievous side.”

I smirk.

“But your pride? Your stubbornness? That rivals Dad’s. Neither one of you wanted to take the first step. But when Dad saw, truly saw, how you were living, he called me from the parking lot of your apartment building raging.”

“He did?”

Jesse nods.

“Imagine his surprise when he learned you had moved. Had married,” Mira offers.

Oh God. I drop my head, imagining the betrayal my father must have felt. The awful guilt that must have settled on his shoulders to learn that his daughter married a stranger instead of reaching out to him.

“Rielle,” Mira’s voice breaks through my voice. “Why don’t you stay for a bit?”

My brow furrows. “Pardon?”

She grins. “Do you have anything to get back to in Boston?”

I shake my head.

“Then stay. Please. Spend some time with Leah, with us. We’ve missed you.”

If the lump in my throat could expand anymore, I’d be suffocating. I swallow past it and nod, tears filling the corners of my eyes. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

She squeezes my hand again. “Besides, you shouldn’t go through a divorce on your own.”

My brother’s eyes narrow at the word divorce. “You’re pretty torn up about a fake marriage.”

I look down at the table but see Mira scold him from the corner of my eye.

“What?” he mutters.

I look back up. “I’m in love with him.” I declare it to the room even though it makes me look pathetic. My tears make me appear weak. But in many ways, I’ve already hit rock bottom and anything I say and do now can’t possibly make me feel any worse.

Jesse swears but Mira nods, understanding in her eyes. “I know,” she says. “So, stay. New York is a great place to lose yourself in when you feel lost.”

I nod, thinking over her words.

“Come on, I’ll show you to your room.” She stands from the table, clasping the handle of my suitcase.

Right before I clear the table, Jesse’s hand darts out and wraps around my wrist.

I turn and look at him over my shoulder.

“I’m glad you came here,” he says and the conviction in his tone tells me he’s serious.

“Me too.”

He squeezes my wrist. “But don’t ever fucking do that to me again, Ri.”

I smile. “I won’t, Jes. Promise.”

The corner of his mouth tugs up and he drops my hand. I follow Mira to a bedroom they’ve designated for guests, taking in the pretty white lace bed coverlet and the elegantly framed photos on the walls. Once I’m alone, I lie back on the bed. Exhaustion sweeps through my body and the thud of my heartbeat echoes in my temples.

Jesse’s concern and Mira’s invitation were definitely not what I was expecting but God, it felt good to belong somewhere. To belong to someone, a family. A flicker of relief catches in my chest that I’m not going to have to navigate this next chapter alone. A shock of warmth blooms in my stomach that all this time, while I was swearing off my dad, he was still watching from afar.

I roll to my side and dig through my purse for my phone.

When I see Torsten’s name on the screen, my fingers begin to shake. I swipe right and read the message.

Torsten: Please, Ri. Just tell me your safe. Where are you staying?

Me: Make things right with your father.

I text instead, letting him know I’m okay but also upholding my promise to Farmor. Torsten replies immediately.

Torsten: Are you okay?

His words cause a fresh wave of pain to crash over me. Will I ever be okay without him? It’s only been a handful of hours and my heart misses his so much it aches.

I bite my bottom lip to keep my emotions in check. I’ve cried more in the past two days than I have in the past two, hell, five years. Now that the dam holding back my feelings has broken, everything I thought I was managing has rushed forward, manifesting through traitorous tears and broken sobs.

Me: No. But I will be.

Then, I dial my dad’s number.

“Rielle?” he answers on the first ring.

“Daddy,” my voice cracks but the breaks in my heart begin to mend.

22

Torsten

She’s staying in New York.

It’s been a week since Rielle walked out of my life and I broke my promise. I let her go. Watching from the window as Lars pulled out of the driveway with her bundled into the back seat haunts me. I miss her warmth, her presence, her.

“Hey. You okay?” Anders asks as he comes around the corner. I’m standing by said window, staring at an empty space, wishing the memory of a week ago wasn’t playing on a mental loop in my head.

“Yeah.” I clear my throat and step away from the window. “I’m fine.”

Anders rocks back on his heels. “You shouldn’t have run her off like that.”

I sigh and scrub my palm over my face. “This life isn’t for her.”

“Maybe not,” he agrees and I look up sharply.

My brother’s face is etched with lines