All Chapters of My Hockey Ex Rigged the Dating Show?: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

~Kiara~I almost slapped myself right across the forehead, mentally screaming at my own body. Why on earth was I flushing, standing here and giving this tyrant the satisfaction of thinking he was winning?I hated the arrogant smirk plastered across his face.Pulling myself together, I forced my expression to harden, purposefully looking right past his little brother which was very, very far from being little. It was standing directly at eye level. I swallowed hard, a sudden dry lump forming in my throat as I finally stood up off the sofa, aggressively shoving his chest back to clear some space between us.“So shameless,” I muttered.“Is there anything to be ashamed of?” He didn't budge an inch. Instead, his gaze darkened. It instantly reminded me of how he looked at me when he was buried deep between my legs.I swallowed again, fighting the sudden weakness pooling in my knees. I refused to stand here and let him trap me in this suite while he called every single shot.My eyes darted

~Kiara~He slowly held my chin. His fingers were gentle against my skin as his eyes stayed fixed on mine.He didn’t rush me or try to force an answer out of me. He simply waited, patiently watching my face as if he was trying to understand everything I wasn’t saying.I swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of how close we were. “I am not interested,” I finally said, even though my voice didn’t sound as firm as I wanted it to.“I am willing to do anything you want, Kiara,” he said quietly. “Just name it. I’m willing to do anything to prove to you that I…”He paused, his eyes falling for a moment before he looked back at me. “That I miss you. That I still love you. And after seeing you again after all these years, I don’t think I can just let you walk away from me again.” His words settled heavily between us, and I swallowed again, but this time there was barely any saliva left.My heart was beating faster than it should, and a strange feeling moved through my stomach.It felt like butt

~Kiara~I lay there afterward with my head on Zane's chest, listening to his heartbeat slow back down beneath my ear, still trying to fully process how five years of careful distance had unraveled so completely in one evening."You're thinking too loud," Zane murmured, his fingers trailing lazily along my arm. "I can hear it.""I'm supposed to be at the masquerade right now.""You are at the masquerade." He said it so simply, and certain, that it took me a second to catch up."Zane.""I had someone cover for you. She has the same build, nobody will know the difference from across a crowded ballroom."He said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.Even though I had heard him instruct whoever was at the end of the call about the double impersonation and all of that, an uneasy part of me wasn’t okay with how easily he'd made that decision without asking me first even if, if I was being honest with myself, I hadn't exactly been in a position to object at the time."You ca

~Alexei~Getting under Zane Sterling’s skin was a game I couldn't pass up.My gaze shifted across the room to the raised platform where the throne sat.The woman currently sitting on it, wearing the heavy jeweled crown of the Empress, was supposed to be Kiara.But from the moment the evening began, I noticed something was wrong.Her voice lacked the the familair flow I knew of Kiara. This impostor was far overly clingy, and far too eager to drape herself over whoever was standing nearby. Furthermore, I noticed that the man playing the role of Duke Blackthorn supposedly Zane showed zero emotional attachment to her.He didn’t look jealous, and he didn’t even try to disturb us whenever the empress and I were together like Zane had done in the first masquerade ball. That led me to conclude that someone had replaced the real Empress.And if that was true, then maybe Zane wasn’t the one playing the Duke either.Especially since there were rumors that the real Zane had rushed to Hawaii wh

~Arabella~"Is that new?" I asked, eyeing her bag with complete disgust. Delphine's smile faltered instantly. "It's — I mean, it's just—""No, it's really cute." I reached out and touched the strap, testing it between two fingers. "Where'd you get it? Because it's almost identical to mine. Which is impressive, considering mine cost more than your house."A few girls near the lockers laughed.Delphine's face went red, then pale. "It was a gift," she said quietly."From who? The clearance rack?"There was more laughter.Delphine grabbed her books and walked fast toward the bathroom. I watched her go with a proud smirk on my face. “Ten out of ten,” Priya said, delighted, her eyes sparkling with malicious approval.I smiled at my reflection in the polished screen of my phone before slipping it back into my pocket, smoothing down the front of my blazer.“Now, who is next?”I flipped my hair over my shoulder and turned to face the crowded hallway, ready to claim my morning.Lauren sudden