PUCK ME ON ICE

Chapter 10

Ryder’s POV

What the hell is Rebecca doing? Tessy isn’t my girlfriend.

“Tell him, Ryder. Tessy is your girlfriend,” she says, giving me a known pleading look.

“Yes, she is,” I responded, and everyone seemed to gasp in shock. I mean, yeah, I never date anyone, and here I am announcing to the whole world that I am in a relationship with Tessy.

“What the hell is going on...” Tessy’s voice broke.

Oh shoot. I go to her immediately and put my hand on her waist. She tried to remove my hand, but I didn’t let her.

“Please just go with it,” I whisper in her ear. Then I turn back to the crowd. “Danny, I am not hooking up with your girlfriend, so you don’t have to be insecure around me,” I say.

He glared at me, grabbed Rebecca’s hand, and walked away. The second they were out of sight, Tessy pushed me away immediately and walked out. I followed behind her until we got outside of the party.

“Wait,” I say, stopping her by grabbing her hand.

“Let go of my hand, Ryder,” she says with annoyance laced in her tone.

“Okay, I know I messed up, but there was nothing I could do at that moment! He would have beat the s**t out of me if I didn’t lie,” I say, trying to defend myself.

“Then why don’t you stop going around sleeping with other people's girlfriends?” she says, sharp annoyance laced in her tone.

“You have every right to be mad.”

“I am so mad! How will this help me now? Tristan was there, and he heard you announcing that I am your girlfriend! Do you know how f****d up this is? How will he notice me now? How will he ever ask me out on a date because of you? I knew it was a mistake trusting you!” she says, shaking her head in total frustration.

“Hold on for a second, Tessy. You are speaking too much,” I say with a bit of annoyance laced in my tone.

“Oh no, you don’t get to have an attitude!” she says, snapping at me.

“Okay, fine, I am sorry, okay? But that won’t change anything. Tristan will still make you his girlfriend,” I say, trying to calm her down.

She scoffed with pure annoyance.

“You don’t know these things, but men love women that have been in a relationship with a really popular and influential man. That will give you an edge,” I say, dead serious.

“You are sick,” she says, looking at me like I’ve completely lost my mind.

“It’s the truth! I don’t date anyone. I have never had a real girlfriend before, but now I am announcing to the world that you are my girlfriend. Do you know what that means?” I say, throwing my hands out.

“It means nothing,” she snaps, rolling her eyes.

“It means you are special, Tessy. And now everyone wants to know why you are so special to the point you became Ryder King’s official puck bunny,” I say with a smug smirk playing on my lips.

“A puck bunny?” she asks, her brows furrowing.

“Yeah, it’s a term hockey players call their girlfriends—so yeah, a puck bunny.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Tessy, if you can just calm down and reason with what I am saying, this is for the best!”

“I don’t want to be your girlfriend!”

“And I don’t want to be your boyfriend! But we can make it work by fake dating. I mean, celebrities do this all the time with each other, it won’t change a damn thing. And after a month, I announce that I dumped you—”

“Wait, why do you get to be the one doing the dumping?” she interrupts, shooting me a sharp glare.

“Have you seen me? Come on,” I say, gesturing to myself.

“You are such a narcissist,” she says, shaking her head.

“I have been called worse,” I respond with a light chuckle and a confident smile. “So, are you in or not?” I ask, needing to be sure.

“Hmm... you are sure this will get Tristan's attention?” she hesitates, biting her lower lip as she considers it.

“Not just Tristan—the whole school,” I say in a smooth, confident tone. “So, are you in?”

She lets out a long, heavy sigh. “Fine, I am in. I will be your fake girlfriend.”

“Great! You won’t regret this. But one thing—we have to make sure no one sees this as fake. We have to be real about this,” I say.

“How?” she asks.

I pull my phone out of my jacket pocket and step in close to her.

“Look at me closely, in love,” I say, angling the front camera toward us.

“Wait, what?”

“Just do it,” I say, closing the distance until our faces are only inches apart.

She locks eyes with me, her breath hitching slightly, and I quickly tap the shutter button.

Snap.

“There, it’s done,” I say, pulling back as she immediately takes a step back to breathe. “I’m putting this on all my socials. We’re official.” I hit upload with a grin. “Sent.”

Tessy rubs her arms, watching the notifications already start to flood my screen. “I hope this doesn’t blow up in my face...”

“It won’t,” I say, slinging an arm loosely over her shoulder. “My puck bunny.”