Chapter 80
-BLAIR-
I could not believe they had made me attend.
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Monroe Athletics Charity Cup. Our name on the banners. Our money in the program. Our family expected in the seats like the last two weeks had been a scheduling conflict instead of a public split.
My father had called it duty. Olivia had called it exposure therapy. I had called it a hostage situation and still ended up in the car.
The second I stepped out of it, the reporters found me.
“Blair, can you confirm the divorce?”
“Have you spoken to Grayson Shaw since moving out?”
“What is the status of your relationship with Chase Holt?”
“Sources say Lily Sinclair has been at the Shaw estate. Has Grayson moved on?”
“Was the marriage ever real?”
I kept walking. No comment. No glance. No gift for the headline they were already writing.
Security carved a path and Olivia appeared at the end of it like she had been waiting to collect me before 1 committed a felony with a microphone.
“You look like you want to set the building on fire,” she murmured, looping her arm through mine.
“I do.”
“Please wait until after the game. There are children here for charity.”
She steered me through the crowd and down toward our seats, a prime box with a view I did not want.
Southbay colors on one side. Blackridge on the other.
The whole night designed to look friendly and generous while two captains who hated each other were expected to raise money in public.
I sat. Composed.
Then Grayson came out onto the ice.
My heart did not ask permission. It just started beating faster.
He looked even better than I remembered. Captain. Focused. The Blackridge jersey moved with him as he stepped over the boards and started the easy warmup stride that had no right to affect me this much.
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
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Two weeks of silence and divorce papers and articles about Lily in his house, and my body still reacted like he had walked into a room with just the two of us instead of an arena.
I knew, sitting there with my hands locked in my lap, that I could not pretend I felt nothing.
He still had my heart.
It was humiliating.
Olivia followed my gaze, then slowly turned back to me with the expression of a woman who knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Oh,” she said. “There it is.”
“There is nothing.”
“Your face just did a whole entire book. Chapter one: I am fine. Chapter two: I’m not. Chapter three: I would still let him ruin my life.”
“Olivia.”
“What? I am being supportive. Also very very real.”
She leaned closer, voice filled with false innocence. “Should I hold your hand, or do you need a paper bag? You have the pregnant woman who cannot tell anyone breathing pattern.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn’t want to talk about that here. Anyone could hear us and report back to Grayson.
“If you say that word in this building I will end you.”
“Which word? Building?”
I stared straight ahead. “I am here for charity. Nothing else. For a good cause.”
“You are here because dad would have sent Ethan to carry you in like luggage if you refused.” She popped a piece of ice from her cup and crunched it. “For what it is worth, he looked up.”
My heart skipped a beat. Did he really? I hadn’t noticed.
“He did not.”
“He did. Quick. But not quick enough.”
My pulse was still too fast.
Olivia bumped my shoulder. “Smile. The cameras can see this box. If you keep staring at him like that, tomorrow’s article will be Monroe still obsessed with Shaw and I will have to hide your phone again.”
I forced my eyes to the far glass. “I am calm.”
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
“You are shaking.”
“I am cold.”
“It is an indoor rink and you are in a coat. Try again.”
A commotion near center ice caught our attention as both teams finished the first loop.
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Chase appeared suddenly. I did not look at him long. I could not afford another article with my name next to his.
I looked at Grayson instead and immediately regretted it.
Olivia sighed happily. “This is the best bad idea dad has ever forced us into. You. Him. Charity. Unresolved sexual tension and a secret you are currently guarding like national security.”
“I will move seats.”
“You will not. These are the family seats. Also I want popcorn and a front row view of your reaction when he looks at you again.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I should not have come.”
“Probably not,” she agreed. “But you are here, he is on the ice, and your heart is doing cardio without consent. Drink water. Do not throw up on a donor. And if you start crying during warmups I am going to pretend I do not know you.”
Despite myself, a small broken sound that was almost a laugh escaped me.
Down on the ice, Grayson took a pass, snapped a shot into the empty net, and skated past our side of the glass without stopping. My traitorous heart followed him anyway.
Olivia patted my knee. “There, there. Charity is supposed to hurt.”
What? What nonsense was she talking about now? I’ve never heard anyone say charity is supposed to hurt.
I watched him, hated how easy it was, and understood with miserable clearness that two weeks of silence had not done what the divorce papers were supposed to do.
I was still his.
Even if he had already decided he did not want to be mine.
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.