Contract
917 Words
Chapter Five
The rink was almost empty.
Only the sound of skates cutting across the ice broke the silence as I practiced alone.
I pushed the puck forward, twisted my body, and sent a powerful shot toward the net.
It hit the crossbar, I skated after it, picked it up, and tried again and again.
Out here, I didn’t have to think about Tyler.
I didn’t have to remember the laughter, the betrayal, or the cruel words that still haunted me.
When I was on the ice, I was simply Harper.
Nothing else mattered.
A slow clap echoed through the arena. “How touching.”
I froze. That voice… I turned around.
Tyler stood near the entrance with Mila beside him, both of them watching me with mocking smiles.
“So you’re still pretending to be a hockey player,” Tyler said as he slowly skated toward me.
I tightened my grip on my hockey stick but remained silent.
Mila looked me up and down before laughing. “You really don’t know when to give up, do you?”
Tyler stopped a few feet away. “I heard you’ve been hanging around Xavier lately.”
My fingers tightened. “It isn’t like that.”
He laughed. “Of course it isn’t.”
Mila folded her arms. “He probably felt sorry for you after seeing you make a fool of yourself.”
Tyler nodded. “That’s the only reason he helped you.”
“He doesn’t pity me.”
Tyler chuckled. “No?”
“He doesn’t.”
He looked at Mila before shaking his head in amusement. “Harper, no man wants a woman who can’t even love herself.”
His words struck harder than I wanted to admit.
Mila smiled. “Honestly, even Xavier wouldn’t look at you twice.”
Tyler laughed. “Exactly.”
“The captain of the Blackhawks can have any woman he wants So tell me, Harper…” He spread his arms with a smug smile. “Do you really think a man like Xavier would ever choose you?”
I opened my mouth, nothing came out.
Tyler took another step closer. “See?”
“I…” My voice caught in my throat.
I looked down at the ice. “No…” I slowly lifted my head. “That’s not true.”
Tyler smirked. “Oh? If that’s true…” he said mockingly, looking around the empty rink. “Then where is he?”
A calm voice answered from behind him. “She’s telling the truth.”
The entire rink fell silent. Tyler’s smile disappeared. Mila’s eyes widened, both of them turned around, so did I.
Xavier walked onto the ice with the same calm expression he always wore.
He wasn’t in his hockey uniform today.
A black coat rested over his broad shoulders, making him stand out even more against the white ice.
Every confident step echoed through the silent arena until he stopped beside me.
He didn’t look at Tyler first, he looked at me. Then he turned his attention to Tyler. “She was telling the truth.”
Tyler frowned. “What?”
Xavier’s expression didn’t change. “She is my girlfriend.”
Silence filled the rink.
Tyler stared at him as though he hadn’t heard correctly, then he laughed. “You’re joking.”
Xavier met his eyes without the slightest hint of amusement, “Do I look like I’m joking?”
Tyler’s laughter slowly disappeared. For the first time since I had met him… He looked speechless.
Mila recovered first. “That’s impossible.”
Xavier didn’t even spare her a glance.
Instead, he looked at Tyler. “If you’re done disturbing my girlfriend’s practice, I’d like to spend some time alone with her.”
His voice wasn’t loud, It didn’t need to be.
There was something about the way he spoke that made arguing seem pointless.
Tyler’s jaw tightened, his eyes shifted between Xavier and me.
After several tense seconds, he grabbed Mila’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Neither of them looked happy as they turned and walked away.
The moment they disappeared through the arena doors, I turned to Xavier in complete panic.
“W-Why did you say that?”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Because you needed help.”
I blinked. “But now everyone is going to think we’re dating.”
He nodded without hesitation. “They will.”
I stared at him. “But… we’re not.”
A faint smile appeared on his face. “Not yet.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What?”
He held my gaze. “Be my girlfriend.”
My hockey stick slipped from my fingers before crashing onto the ice. “I… what?”
“A contract girlfriend.”
I could only stare at him.
Seeing my stunned expression, he continued calmly.
“My pack elders have been pressuring me to choose a mate, rival Alphas keep trying to arrange political marriages, and every reporter I meet asks the same question about my love life.”
He took another step toward me. “A relationship with you would end all of that.”
I remained frozen.
He continued. “In return, Tyler and Mila will stop harassing you, people will stop looking down on you, and you’ll have the peace you need to recover and focus on hockey.”
The entire arena became silent again.
He looked directly into my eyes. “So…”
“Will you be my contract girlfriend?”
- Writer
