Trapped Between Two Rival Hockey Kings

The fake girlfriend

Rachel’s POV

Rachel climbed the stairs to the apartment, hoping for one thing. Quiet. Just enough time to grab her stuff and walk out the door without a scene.

Of course, that wasn’t how her move was going to go. Because as she opened the door, she immediately wished she hadn’t.

Brian and Sasha were tangled together on the couch, Sasha practically sitting on his lap, their mouths locked like they were trying to eat each other.

Rachel let the door fall shut behind her, harder than she meant to, causing both of them to jump apart.

“Rachel.” Brian sat up fast, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “You’re back early. I thought you had work.”

“I had something else to do.” She kept her voice flat, already walking toward her room.

“Wait.” Brian stood, untangling himself from Sasha. “Did you think about what I said this morning? About dinner with my mom?”

“Nothing’s changed, Brian. I’m busy that day.”

Sasha pulled him back down by the shirt before he could say anything else, and within seconds they were kissing again, loud and obnoxious, like they wanted her to watch.

Rachel didn’t watch. She turned and walked straight to her room, closing the door behind her.

She stood there for a second, staring at the wall, wondering how she’d survived three years of this. Years of watching Brian go from girl to girl, years of pretending it didn’t bother her, years of a secret love that never once got her anywhere. She shook her head and got to work.

Packing didn’t take long. She didn’t have much. A couple of stuff, a few bags, her textbooks, her work uniforms. Twenty minutes later, everything she owned was sitting by her door.

She pulled out her phone and texted Cade.

~On my way now. Bringing my stuff.~

His reply came fast again. ~Cool. I’ll be waiting.~

Rachel grabbed the handle of her biggest suitcase and pushed her door open.

Sasha saw her first. She was curled up against Brian’s side now, scrolling her phone, and she glanced up the second Rachel stepped out with the suitcase and a bag balanced on top.

“Going somewhere?” Sasha asked, smirking.

Brian looked over, and his face went from confused to alarmed in about two seconds. “What the hell are you doing, Rachel?” He asked.

She sighed. “I’m moving out.” She said as she set the suitcase by the door and went back for the rest.

“What?” Brian shot up off the couch. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?” He followed her down the hallway. “You can’t just decide to move out, where are you even gonna go? You don’t have money for your own place, Rachel, you barely have enough for…”

“I got an apartment, Brian.” She cut him off as she pulled her last bag out of her room and set it with the others. “You don’t have to worry about where I’m going to stay, it’s done. This is goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You’re not serious.”

“I am.”

“No.” He stepped in front of her suitcase, blocking her path. “Go back to your room. Unpack. We’ll talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Rachel.” His voice dropped, harder now. “You are not leaving.”

“You can’t stop me, Brian.”

She pushed her suitcase forward, but he grabbed the handle, holding it in place.

“Let go,” she said.

“Where are you even staying? With who? You don’t know anyone outside this apartment, you don’t have…”

“Let go of my bag.” Rachel said, her voice louder this time.

Brian held on. “Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!” He yelled.

“It’s not your business anymore!”

They were both shouting now, loud enough that Rachel was sure their neighbors could hear them. Sasha had gotten up off the couch to watch, arms crossed, clearly enjoying the show.

“Let her go if she wants to leave,” Sasha muttered. “We can have the apartment all to ourselves now.”

Brian shot her a sharp look. “Stay out of this, Sasha. It’s none of your business!” he snapped.

Rachel opened her mouth to respond, but a knock on the door cut her off.

Sasha was closest, so she angrily crossed to the door and pulled it open, and the second she saw who was standing there, she let out a small gasp.

Cade stepped into the apartment like he owned the place, hands in his pockets, eyes already scanning the room. He took in Brian’s hand still gripping Rachel’s suitcase, the bag by the door, the tension thick enough to choke on.

“Told you to call me if you needed help moving,” he said.

“Hold up.” Brian let go of the suitcase like it had burned him. “What the hell is going on here? Why are you in my apartment, Mercer?”

Rachel sighed and rubbed her temple. There was no good way to say this, so she just said it.

“I’ll be sharing an apartment with Cade,” she said. “He’s my new roommate.”

Brian stared at her like she’d grown a second head. “You can’t be serious, Rachel. You cannot possibly be sharing an apartment with Cade.”

“Well, I am.”

“I won’t let you.” Brian’s jaw clenched. He turned on Cade, eyes blazing. “Get out of my apartment, Mercer!”

Cade scoffed, completely unbothered. “What, Brian? You’re allowed to live with your girlfriend, but I can’t live with mine?”

Rachel blinked. “What?”

Brian looked just as confused, then his face shifted into something colder. “Rachel is not your girlfriend. Stay away from her.”

Cade laughed, short and sharp. “Says who? You?”

Before Rachel could even process what was happening, Cade crossed the room and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her gently against his side.

“Is this everything, babe?” he asked, glancing down at the bags by the door.

Rachel’s whole body went stiff. Her brain short circuited for a second, trying to catch up with what was happening, why his hand was on her hip, why he was looking at her like this was completely normal.

“Uh.” She stared up at him. “Yeah.”

“Well then.” Cade smiled, easy and warm, like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb in the middle of the living room. “C’mon. We’re leaving.”

He bent down and picked up two of her bags like they weighed nothing, leaving the suitcase for her.

Brian’s face had gone completely red. “Rachel, what the hell is he talking about?”

Rachel opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had no idea what to say, no idea how to explain a lie she hadn’t agreed to.

“Don’t bother answering him,” Cade said, already heading for the door. “We’re late.”

“Late for what?” Brian followed them, blocking the doorway with his body. “You expect me to believe you two are together? Since when?”

“Since it’s none of your business,” Cade said.

“Rachel.” Brian’s voice cracked a little, somewhere between angry and desperate. “Is this true?”

Rachel looked at him. Really looked at him. Years of waiting for him to see her, and now, the one time he was actually looking, it was because someone else had his hand on her waist.

“I have to go,” she said quietly because it broke her heart to walk away from him.

She grabbed her suitcase and walked past him, out the door Cade was holding open. Sasha said something behind her, some snide comment Rachel didn’t bother catching. Brian called her name once, twice, but she didn’t turn around.

Cade carried two of her bags down the stairs without a word, and Rachel followed, dragging her suitcase, her heart hammering against her ribs.

When they reached the bottom of the stairwell, she finally stopped and looked at him.

“What was that?” she hissed. “Girlfriend? What are you doing?”

Cade shrugged, completely calm, like he hadn’t just blown up her entire life in front of Brian. “Looked like you needed an exit.”

“That’s not an exit, that’s a whole new problem!”

“You’re welcome,” he said, smirking, and kept walking toward his car like nothing had happened at all.

Rachel stood there for a second, suitcase handle gripped tight in her hand, staring after him.

This was going to be a disaster.