Chapter 118
-OLIVIA-
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Ethan asked me to wait outside the locker room and hand Roman a phone number a girl had left for him.
I could not believe I was actually standing there holding the tiny piece of paper.
Blair had almost spit her drink when she heard. When I asked her to come with me, she refused immediately and said she had to use the bathroom for like the tenth time in a couple of hours.
Pregnancy. Convenient timing for her.
I was alone in a corridor, waiting like an idiot.
The number was written in loopy handwriting. A heart was over it. I had stared at it long enough to hate a stranger I had never met. Another girl who would get a text if he decided he was bored. Another girl he was willing to give a chance.
I folded the paper smaller. Then smaller again. It still felt like it was burning my fingers.
The door opened.
Roman stepped out and stopped.
Surprise first. Then he looked behind him into the locker room and shut the door fast, like he did not want his teammates to see me standing there.
“What are you doing here?” It came out almost a growl.
“Well, hello to you too,” I snapped.
His jaw clenched. His eyes dropped. Skirt. Crop top. Bare stomach. He looked. Really looked. I felt a blush coming on.
“What are you wearing?”
“A top and a skirt.” Matter of fact. I lifted my chin. “Why? Is it not short enough?”
He tensed so hard I saw it in his shoulders. “You are at a basketball game with horny men in every corner and you choose to wear that?”
I frowned. “Are you telling me what I can or cannot wear now?”
“I am telling you I spent an entire game watching men stare at your legs and I almost missed a rotation because of it.” His voice was low, tight, angry in a way that was not just about clothes. “I am telling you I walked toward your brother instead of the tunnel because I wanted to put my jacket on you and I could not do it in front of him. That is what I am telling you.”
I blinked. That was more than I expected him to admit.
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14:56 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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He noticed other men looking at me? And he had wanted to cover me up with his jacket? I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
He ran a hand down his face. “Forget it. Why are you here?”
I tried not to roll my eyes and shoved the paper against his chest harder than I needed to.
He took it. His fingers brushed mine.
One touch caused my cheeks to flush with a warm glow. My imagination ignited, running wild from just that single contact. I saw images of us naked in the bed, our bodies pressing closely together, moving in a gentle rhythm.
What was wrong with me? Just one touch and I was already imagining sex with him.
Ugh. Get a freaking grip.
Roman looked down at the number, then at me. “Ethan sent you with this.”
“A girl left it for you.” I kept my voice soft, trying to hide the jealousy. “Congratulations. Another woman to bring to a wedding. Another one to sit next to you when you know I will be in the room.”
He stiffened.
“I never asked for anyone’s number.” His voice dropped. “I cannot stop who sends it for me.”
I shrugged like it did not matter. It mattered.
“Sure. They just appear.”
His eyes darkened. “Olivia.”
“What?” I did not back down. “Enjoy her. Text her. Take her somewhere I will have to see it. That is what you
chose.”
What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I shut up?
“That is not what I chose.”
“It looked like it.”
He stepped in. Not touching me yet. Close enough that I had to tip my chin up. Close enough that I could smell him. “You think I want this paper?”
“Yes,” I mumbled. “You do.”
He frowned, “are you jealous?”
“I am not jealous.”
“You are.” He said it like a fact. “You are standing here flushed and angry over a number I did not ask for.”
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14:56 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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His hand came up and stopped at my waist. Not a grab. A warning. My breath caught. I did not move away. I should have.
“You came here dressed like that,” he said, low, “had every man staring at your legs. Do you think I liked seeing that?”
What was he getting at? Maybe he was trying to act like a big brother. Protecting me from men who just wanted sex. Ew. That’s not what I wanted.
“Let go,” I whispered.
I really wanted to beg him not to.
He did not. Not immediately. His jaw worked. He looked at my mouth and then away like that was the line he would not cross.
His thumb shifted once against my waist.
The heat between us was obvious, stupid, and loud. If he kissed me I would let him. If he backed me into the wall I would forget Ethan existed for ten seconds and hate myself after.
“You told me not to touch you if I went back to her.” His voice was rough. “I sent her home that night. You heard it. That wasn’t a lie.”
I swallowed hard. Was he talking about his date from the wedding? Why was he bringing that up now?
The paper was now crumpled in his other hand.
I hated how much that did to me. The sound of it. The way his fingers closed like he wanted to erase the number from existence since it had upset me.
Then we heard it. Footsteps. Loud ones. Growing closer.
We pulled apart so fast it would look suspicious to whoever it was walking towards us.
His hand left my waist. Cold air rushed in. I stepped back into the wall. Roman put half a corridor between us as Ethan came around the corner, still talking before he saw us.
“Did you give it to him? She was persistent. I told her I was not a messenger but-” Ethan stopped. Looked at my face. Looked at Roman. Then at both of us.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I said. Too fast. My voice was not the normal tone.
“She delivered it,” Roman said. “Thanks.”
Ethan frowned at the crumpled paper in Roman’s fist.
I tried to look like a person who was not still jealous of a phone number. Like a person whose waist did not still feel branded from just one touch.
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14:56 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Roman did not look at me again.
He did not have to.
…
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My waist still felt like his hand was there.
The paper was still crushed in his fist.
And I still wanted him to come back and finish what he was saying until Ethan had interrupted us.
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14:57 Thu, Sep 17
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.