Fake Dating My Ex's Hockey Star Brother (Maya Scott) novel Chapter 145

JUSTIN’S POV

I shut the door to Cooper’s apartment, exhale, and get my legs to move.

This week has been shit. First, it’s Allison and that mouth breather of hers. Then, on top of that, I find out Katy and Cooper are running some fake relationship. And her ex? He cheated on her. If that’s not enough, she expects me to sit back and not break the guy’s teeth because her version of revenge involves playing around with Cooper. I mean…there’s only so much I can absorb.

Why do the women I know fall for idiots? Two best friends, and somehow both ended up with walking red flags. At least, Katy has dumped her guy.

And why is she even pissed at me for raising concerns about her and Cooper? It’s not that I don’t trust her, it’s him I don’t trust. I’ve known that guy for three years so I know what he does to women, whether he means to or not. He walks into a room and they lose their minds, even the good ones. No one stands a chance against his flirting skills and I’m a witness.

I still don’t get how we’re even friends, considering Allison used to have a massive crush on him. Hell, I almost ran him over a few times just thinking about it.

“You’ve had three girlfriends in one year, and I haven’t tried to police you about it,” Katy’s voice flits into my head as I reach for the car handle. I grimace. I can’t believe she actually thinks I dated all those girls. Just because I didn’t bother correcting the rumors doesn’t make it true.

I slide into the car, fire up the engine, and drive out.

“I’m not a kid, and this is my decision.”

She’d said that confidently, right there in front of me and Cooper.

Well…she’s not wrong.

Katy has grown a lot but I just don’t think I ever fully adjusted to that fact. Part of me still sees her as the little girl my junkie parents never protected. Of course, I was a kid too but she took the worst of it. She’s the one who found my mother choking to death on the floor but every day since that event, I still wish it had been me instead. I wish I could erase that night from her memory completely.

But I know I can’t. She remembers all of it.

That’s why she hates loud places, why she avoids parties like the plague, why seeing drugs make her shut down instantly. She gets overstimulated easily, and I hate that one night rewired her entire nervous system. I hate that it took something from her that she never got back.

So yeah, I protect her and maybe a little too much. Maybe more than she wants.

I do that because she’s fragile and her heart is too big for her own good. She thinks I’m overprotective but let’s be honest, she’s all I’ve got. I’m not letting some fuckboy, even one who happens to be my best friend, break her heart. Because that wouldn’t just destroy her. It would destroy me and it would ruin everything between Cooper and me which, frankly, would be inconvenient considering I’ve been driving one of his cars for the past year…including right now.

I turn the corner and my phone lights up from the center console beside me. I grab it with my right hand, tap the message with my thumb, and my jaw tightens.

BLACK: Don’t be a p***y. Bring me my money.

I drop the phone back into the console, my fingers curling hard around the steering wheel. I keep fantasizing about killing Sean, but the truth is, I’ve got a much bigger problem…one that’s been hanging around my neck for a while now.

I press down on the accelerator and head toward our usual meetup spot. It’s a run-down bar hidden away from anything decent, the kind of place where drug dealers, low-level criminals, and people with nothing to lose like to gather.

When I pull in, I kill the engine and step out of the car.

The place always gives me the creeps or maybe it’s not the place at all. It’s knowing who’s waiting for me inside.

Slowly, I step into the bar and it’s dim as always, smoke curling through the air. A few old men with faded tattoos eye me as I pass, but I keep my gaze forward, locked on Black. He’s in his usual spot, tapping his knife against the table with an impatient rhythm.

I slide into the seat opposite him, meeting his eyes and he looks pissed. I’m not scared of Black, but I’m scared of what he knows, what he has, and what he could do if I screw up.

“I was two seconds away from calling your coach,” he snaps.

“Your text came in while I was on my way,” I reply.

He jabs the knife into the table, leaning forward. “Then you fucking text me. You think you can piss all over me? When I ask, you bring. Them’s the rules!” He rubs his nose like he’s about to explode.

I nod, the most I can offer for now. “I’m sorry about that.”

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