Chapter Five

He stood there, completely unfazed by my outburst. He tower over me, his hands casually shoved into his jacket pocket.

A slow, infuriating smug smirk spread across his face as he looked down at me, his eyes dancing with amusement.

“First of all drop the attitude, Valerie,” he murmured, his gravelly voice dropping lower so only I could hear it.

“My name is Avery,” I hissed through my teeth.

“I don’t really care,” he replied smoothly, leaning down just an inch closer into my personal space, smelling like winter air and expensive cologne. “Second of all, you left this on your desk, step sister.”

He pulled one hand out of his pocket and casually tossed my sleek, silver apple pen right at my chest. I scrambled to catch it, nearly dropping my note book before clutching it tightly against my rib.

“Don’t call me that,” I spat, my voice a fierce whisper as I glared at him. “I am not your step sister. The wedding isn’t even for weeks.”

“True,” he murmured, tilting his head as his smirk widened. “Anyway, Valerie—“

“Avery!” I practically shouted, my frustration hitting the ceiling. “My name Avery. How hard is it to remember five letters?”

“I heard you the first time,” he said, completely unaffected by my anger. He stepped even closer, his massive frame blocking out the entire hallway, forcing me back against the cold metal lockers. “Here’s the deal. I need your help.”

I let out a harsh, dry laugh, crossing my arms over my chest. I looked him up and down—from his messy blonde hair down to his expensive sneakers—before locking eyes with him again.

“And why the hell would I help an arrogant prick like you? I asked raising an eyebrow.

Lael didn’t flinch. Instead, he leaned down until his face was level with mine, his eyes locking onto mine with a sudden suffocating intensity.

“Because the perfect little score of yours is exactly what’s going to save my spot on the first line,” he murmured. “The athletic board just flagged my GPA. If I don’t pass sociology, I am benched for the season and I could probably kiss my spot in the NHL goodbye. And since you are the only one person who didn’t fail that midterm woefully, you are going to tutor me.”

“Tutor you?” I scoffed, a genuine laugh bubbling up my throat. “Are you out of your mind? I would rather eat grass than spend a single second trying to cram information into that giant, tatted head of yours. Go find someone else.”

He didn’t even blink. He just stared down at me, his expression hardening as the playful amusement completely vanished from his sharp face.

“I wasn’t asking, Valerie,” he said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet rumble. “I was telling you.”

I scoffed , a bitter laugh popping out of my throat as I glared right back at him. “Oh, so now you are the boss of me? Last time I checked, you are just a guy who gets paid to chase a rubber puck around a frozen floor. You don’t own me, Lael. I don’t care if you get benched, and I definitely don’t care if you never make it to the NHL.”

I took a sharp step to the side, ready to push past him and end this ridiculous conversation once and for all.

“Okay fine,” Lael’s voice cuts in, rough and impatient. He shifted his massive body, blocking my path again like a solid brick wall. He looked down his nose at me, his eyes filled with pure, rich boy arrogance. “What if I pay you? Name your price Valerie. I know girls like you need the cash. Whatever pathetic hourly rate you want, I’ll quadruple it.

I stopped dead in my tracks. For a second, I just stared at him, completely shocked by how much of a jerk he was being. He was literally looking at me like I was some poor rat begging for scraps.

“Are you actually serious right now?” I asked, a bitter laugh popping out of my chest. “Do you have pucks for brain, Lael? Don’t you get it?”

He blinked, his sharp brows pulling together as if he couldn’t understand why a broke girl wouldn’t instantly jump at his money.

“Get what?” He murmured, sounding annoyed his daddy’s cash hadn’t immediately bought my help.

“Our parents are getting married! I hissed, leaning closer so the passing students wouldn’t hear us. “Your billionaire dad is marrying my mom. We are literally moving into your mansion today. Why the hell would I care about you throwing pocket change at me when our families are merging? I don’t want your charity, Lael.”

He stared at me, the realization finally hitting him as his jaw went slightly slack. He was used to buying his way out of everything that he had completely forgotten we were about to share the same roof.

“Right, “ he murmured, his eyes narrowing as that smug, wicked grin slowly crawled back onto his face. “Forgot about that part.”

“Yeah, because you’re an idiot,” I muttered rolling my eyes. I gripped my note book tighter and took another step to the side, determined to finally walk away from him. “Have a nice life, Lael.”

“Wait,” he said, his hands shooting out to grab my upper arm. His grip wasn’t bruising but firm.

I glared down at his hand. “Let go of me.”

He didn’t let go of me right away. Instead he leaned down again, his eyes gleaming with a sudden, dark idea. “Okay, no cash. But what if I help you get revenge on your boyfriend.”

“Ex-boyfriend.”

“Whatever,” he shrugged, finally dropping his hand but staying right in my space. The smugness was back, coating his gravelly voice like a heavy layer of ice. “What if we make him jealous? Crazy jealous!”

I let out a shaky breath, staring up at him. “What are you even talking about?”

“Think about it, Valerie,” he murmured, a slow, wicked grin spreading across his face. “You want to destroy him for what he did right? And I need to fix my GPA. So, we give the campus something real to talk about. We pretend we are together. I get a tutor, and you get the ultimate weapon to drive your cheating ex completely out of his mind.”

Did he actually just say that?

The thought swirled in my brain, mixed with a massive wave of pure disgust. I looked at his handsome, cocky face and wanted to wipe that smirk right off it. He really thought he was God’s gift to women. He honestly believed that every girl on this campus was just waiting for a chance to cling to his arm, climb into his bed, and chase him around the rink like the other mindless puck bunnies.

He thought I was one of them. He thought I would be thrilled to be his little prop.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, my voice dripping with pure disbelief. I took a step back, hitting the lockers again just to get some distance from him. “You think I want to fake-date you? Do you honestly think I am one of those puck bunnies who would do anything just to walk around campus holding your hockey stick?”

Lael let a low, dry chuckle, not looking offended at all. If anything my reaction just seemed to amuse him the more. He leaned one shoulder against the locker next to me, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I don’t think you are a puck bunny, Valerie,” he said, his eyes dropping down to my oversized shirt and sweat pants before looking back at me. “Trust me, you don’t really fit the uniform. But I do know you are pissed off. I saw your face when you dropped that day when you mistakenly dropped the water on me, thinking I was Leon. You want to hurt him.”

My jaw clenched. It was infuriating how right he was about that part, but I wasn’t going to allow him see that.

“Leon’s a jerk, but using you to make him jealous is the stupidest idea I have ever heard,” I snapped, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. “First of all, everyone knows we hate each-other. Second of all, our parents are literally getting married! We are about to be step siblings, you psycho. How is the campus going to believe we are dating when we living in the same house?

“Easy,” Lael said, shifting his weight as that wicked, slow burning grin reached his eyes. “Nobody on this campus knows our parents are even dating, let alone getting married. My dad keeps his private life completely locked down, and your mom isn’t exactly flexing her relationship on the North Ridge forums, and I know you haven’t told anyone.As far as the school is concerned we don’t share a last name. We are just the star forward and the quiet genius who couldn’t keep their hands off each other.”

I rolled my eyes to the point it actually hurt. “You are completely delusional. Even if we hid it from the school, what about home? Do you think our parents are just going to sit back and bless their future kids dating? It’s sick, Lael.”

“That’s why it’s called fake dating! They don’t need to know, we just don’t tell our parents,” he said. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them. We play the happy couple on campus to destroy your ex, you fix my grades in secret at the house, and we keep our mouth shut at the dinner table.”

I stared at him, my heart doing a stupid, erratic flutter against my ribs. The sheer madness of what he was suggesting hit me at once. A total lie at school, a massive secret at home.

“And what happens when we get caught?” I breathed.

Lael tilted his head, his smirk turning sharp and predatory. “We won’t. Unless you can’t handle a little rule-breaking step sister.”

He leaned a fraction closer, his eyes holding mine captive against the lockers.

“So, what do you say, Valerie? Do you have a deal?”