Chapter 2

"Are you out of your mind?" I cut him off.

"You just ruined the entire team's Cup win on national television. The captain wants to burn your jersey in the locker room right now. You don't have a single word of comfort for your teammates, but all you can think about is helping a little influencer show off?"

Grayson scoffed on the other end of the line. "They are just jealous that I stole the spotlight. I am the franchise player. I am the one scoring goals on the ice. Without me, they wouldn't even make the playoffs. So what if they complain? Tomorrow you just go buy them a few nice watches, and those broke losers will shut up."

I gripped my phone, stayed silent for a few seconds, and let out a dry laugh.

In a daze, I thought back to our first time.

There were no gifts or flowers. There wasn't even a decent hotel.

There was only the smell of sweat on his jersey and that empty supply closet behind the locker room.

That year, he suffered a severe knee injury and lost his college scholarship. He gave up on himself. He screamed at me that we were over, and spent every day getting into fights at bars, acting like a complete wreck.

I gave him everything I had, slowly filling the hole in his heart.

I emptied my wallet to pay for his rehab. I stood on tiptoe to kiss his bloodshot eyes. I held him and promised in his ear, over and over, that we would make it to the top together.

Later, when he finally got drafted by the league and received his signing bonus, he bought me a cheap twenty-dollar plastic bracelet from a street vendor.

He said, Blair, I will only ever listen to you for the rest of my life.

Ten years had passed. Grayson now had everything, but he had completely forgotten my birthday.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. Midnight on the dot. It was the first minute of my thirtieth birthday.

I kept my tone perfectly calm. "Okay, I will go buy it for you."

Grayson went silent on the other end. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Forget it, I will have my assistant buy it. It's not safe for you to drive in the middle of the night."

I hummed in agreement and prepared to hang up.

But Grayson suddenly spoke again. "Blair, don't always keep me on such a tight leash. Guys in the league need a change of pace to relax sometimes. I am no different."

"Anyway, no matter how much I mess around, you are the one I am marrying in the end. Having a little fun before getting tied down is no big deal, right?"

If this were the past, hearing those words would have made me break down on the spot. I would have trembled with rage and demanded to know how he could treat our relationship like a joke.

But today, I was suddenly just tired. So tired that I didn't even have the energy to say we were done.

I just murmured quietly. "Understood. Have fun."

After hanging up, I immediately contacted a trusted real estate agent. I gave her full authorization to list this downtown penthouse for sale.

This was the first place we bought when he signed his first contract extension.

Back then, we squeezed onto a worn-out sofa, sharing a cheap takeout meal.

Later, he became a superstar and moved into a massive mansion the team prepared for him.

But I couldn't bear to leave. I bought the apartment from the landlord and lived here alone ever since. Grayson only came back occasionally to stay for a night.

After zipping up my suitcase, I poured myself a glass of bourbon, sat at the kitchen island, and checked to see how far the storm on Twitter had escalated.

A second later, the front door unlocked from the outside.

Grayson walked in and shoved a small velvet box into my hand.

"Happy birthday."

"I saw the messages those idiots sent in the group chat. They just have big mouths. I will definitely make them pay at practice tomorrow."

I opened the box and took a look. It was a completely generic necklace.

It was an out-of-season freebie that a brand had handed out in bulk to guests at a sponsor dinner last week.

And just yesterday, I had seen an unboxing video Cici posted on Instagram. She was showing off the latest limited-edition earrings from the exact same brand.

It wasn't hard to guess that this necklace was just something he grabbed as an afterthought to shut me up.

I closed the box again. "Thanks."

Grayson frowned. He clearly wasn't expecting this reaction from me.

For my birthday the year before last, he had hinted that he was going to propose.

I wore my most expensive dress, spent two hours doing my makeup, and waited for him in an upscale restaurant he had booked out.

I waited until the waiters started giving me pitying looks, only to receive a text saying, "Cici's migraine acted up. I will make it up to you tomorrow."

We had a massive fight after that and ignored each other for half a month.

For my birthday last year, he stood me up again. I sat alone with my cake until midnight, only to find out he had flown to an exclusive club with his frat-boy friends to party.

That fight was even worse. He smashed two vases, and things got so out of hand that team management almost got involved.

This year, he probably thought I would throw a fit over being neglected, just like before.

So he grabbed a random trinket and rushed over to keep me quiet.

He reached out, trying to pinch my cheek. "Alright, stop giving me that sour face. I didn't stand you up this year, did I? I even brought the Cup back for you."

"I know you are possessive and can't handle this. I will tell them to dial it back and stop mentioning Cici in front of you. Will that work?"

I leaned away, dodging his touch. "Grayson, haven't you checked Twitter yet?"

Grayson looked at his empty hand. His jaw tightened for a moment before his face darkened.

"Are you talking about that refund PR stunt? A bunch of sponsors called me to yell about it earlier, but I didn't bother answering. Are you trying to use this trick to force my hand again?"

"These are just your standard PR scare tactics. Do you really need to bring it up to make me feel grateful?"

I nodded in understanding. So that was it.

No wonder so much time had passed since the refund statement went live, yet Grayson and his friends hadn't made a single peep.

It wasn't that they hadn't seen the trending topics, nor were they unbothered by losing those massive endorsement fees.

It was because they firmly believed that I would always trail behind Grayson and clean up his messes.

No matter how outrageous his actions were, no matter how badly he ruined locker room relations, I would always fix it. I would never leave.

I didn't feel like wasting my breath. I offered a small smile and simply nodded.

"Yes, it is just a PR tactic."

Grayson stared at my face for a moment. He stayed quiet for a second before saying, "Once this blows over, I will take you on a vacation. Consider it a makeup trip for our engagement."