Chapter 212
CHARLOTTE-
I glared at him.
I could not believe he was threatening to make a scene if I did not come with him right away.
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I was glad I had not drunk enough to get drunk. I had limited myself on purpose. I needed to be thinking straight if I was going to ignore him after seeing Valentina walk into our suite like she belonged there.
He was explaining that he had been drunk when he told his mother where to find him.
I did not believe him.
It felt like he had let her come here on purpose. To put space between us. Especially since he kept asking for things to return to normal. As if normal was something you could put back on after you had already taken it off someone against a wall.
I was not even sure why he bothered coming downstairs.
He was the one who had asked us to pretend nothing happened.
I was doing just that.
Pretending things were normal.
Pretending I was not in love with him.
That was why I was choosing to stay here with Nico until Blair and Olivia arrived. A drink. A friend. A version of myself that did not follow Luca Vescari back upstairs just because he used my name like a command that I had to follow.
“Char-”
I did not give in.
I did not care that he was insisting. I did not care that he was threatening a scene. It was Luca.
What scene was he truly going to cause in a packed hotel bar during race week? He was famous for control. For walking away. For being the man who left rooms before they became complicated or a fight.
“Leave,” I said. “I’m finishing this drink with a friend. You know. What the both of us are. Friends.”
I saw the moment the word hit him. Friends. I’d said it intentionally.
It struck a nerve. I heard it in the growl that escaped him, loud enough that the people closest to us probably heard it as well.
Then he surprised me.
He put his hands on me and picked me up out of the chair without any warning.
128 Fri, Sep 25
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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Arms under my knees and my back, like I weighed nothing, like the bar was empty instead of packed with people who had phones and opinions and nothing better to do than watch an F1 driver carry a woman toward the lifts
My glass clicked against the table. Air left my lungs. Heat shot up my throat.
Nico stared, wide-eyed, popcorn still in his hand like the show had just gotten better. Where did he keep getting random popcorns? I didn’t have time to ponder on that thought.
“Don’t follow,” Luca told him.
Nico lifted both hands. “Not getting involved in whatever this is. Please continue. This is great stuff.”
I hit Luca’s shoulder. “Put me down.”
“No.”
“Luca.”
“You wanted to be stubborn. I warned you.”
He carried me through the bar.
People stared. Exactly like I expected. A woman near the windows lifted her phone and then thought better of it when Luca’s face turned to stone.
Someone laughed under their breath. Someone else whispered his name.
I hid my face in his shirt for one second because the alternative was looking at all of them.
Then I remembered I was furious and hit him again.
His chest was warm. He smelled amazing. My body noticed before my pride could stop it.
Traitor.
“You are insane.”
“You wouldn’t walk. I asked you to come with me. You chose to stay there with Nico Shaw.”
He said the name like it tasted bitter. Like Nico had stopped being his friend the second he sat next to me with a drink.
“I was sitting with a friend. That’s allowed.”
“Not with Shaw.”
Was he telling me not to have drinks with Nico now? First his brother, now Nico?
His arms tightened.
The lift doors closed.
My stomach dropped.
12:29 Fri, Sep 25 TF·
The Hockey Captam’s Unwanted Wife
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We were suddenly alone with too little air. I could see us from every angle. Me in his arms. His jaw locked. My hand still fisted in his shirt like I had not decided whether I wanted to hit him or hold on.
“I drew her out,” he said into my hair. His voice was rough. Close. Too close. “I told her no. That I wasn’t interested. That I never would be interested. Then I came to find you.”
“Why?” I demanded, and hated that it came out breathless. “Why come to find me when you are the one that asked for everything to return to normal? I was just following your rules.”
The lift chimed.
The doors opened onto our floor.
He walked in, still carrying me, like putting me down in the corridor would mean giving me a choice.
Then he shut the suite door with a bang that went through my body.
Only then did he put me down.
My back found the door.
We stared at each other.
Both pissed.
My feet on the carpet. His chest going too fast. The space between us small enough to ruin the rule I had agreed to live in. I could feel the heat coming off him. I could see the pulse in his throat. I could still feel his arms under my knees.
“You don’t get to pick me up because I don’t do what you want me to,” I said. My voice was not as steady as I needed it to be. “That is not things being normal. You know. The way you want it to be.”
“You don’t get to drink with Nico because I made a mistake.”
What?
“That’s not how friendship works.” I snapped. “That’s not how normal works! You wanted things normal. Remember?”
“Then maybe I’m bad at it.”
I laughed, sharp. “You’re spectacular at it. Best friend of the year.”
He stepped closer.
I did not step back.
There was nowhere to go that was not him or the door, and the door was already at my spine.
We had an entire staring contest. I was not breathing properly. Neither was he. His eyes were dark and stupidly pretty and I hated that I still wanted the mouth that had said the word pretend.
I could see that moment in his face whether he wanted me to or not. The kiss. The groan. How he had torn himself off me like staying would have changed his whole life.
12:29 Fri, Sep 25 TF.
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
“Charlotte.”
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uca.”
Neither of us looked away,
We were both breathless from the fight or whatever this was.
The suite held its breath.
If one of us moved, the pretending was over.
I folded my arms so I would not reach for him.
He shoved his hands in his pockets so he would not reach for me.
It did not help.
I could still feel where he had carried me. I could still feel the people staring. I could still hear Nico’s voice calling this entertaining. None of that mattered as much as the inch of air between Luca’s chest and mine.
“You asked me to pretend,” I said, quieter now, because shouting felt less dangerous than this. “So I pretended. I sat downstairs. I had a drink. I waited for my friends. That is what normal looks like when you tell a girl she cannot have you.”
His jaw flexed.
“I didn’t tell you you couldn’t have me.”
“You did. You just used nicer words.”
He leaned in a bit. Not touching. Close enough that I felt the warmth of his breath when he spoke.
“I told you I didn’t want to lose you.”
“And then your mother’s choice of wife walked into our suite.”
“I threw her out.”
“After I left.”
“Charlotte.”
My name in that voice was a problem. It always had been. It was worse now that I knew what it sounded like against my mouth.
“Don’t,” I whispered.
“Don’t what.”
“Don’t look at me like that if you still want me to pretend.”
His eyes dropped to my mouth.
12:29 Fri, Sep 251 TF·
The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Just for a second.
ong enough.
I felt it everywhere.
We stood there, furious and close, and I thought: this is not fine.
This is the opposite of fine.
This is two people trying not to close the last inch.
I still did not walk away from the door.
He still did not take his hands out of his pockets.
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The rule sat between us, thin as paper, and both of us were breathing like we were one stupid movement from tearing it apart.
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Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.