Fake Dating My Ex's Hockey Star Brother (Maya Scott) novel Chapter 173

ALLISON’S POV

I wouldn’t have barged into 24:11 yesterday if I knew Justin was going to hit me with all that.

Honestly, I probably would’ve stayed back, curled up with junk instead of realizing I had zero defense and just… ran away like a total coward.

Because that’s the real problem. It’s not just knowing something’s messed up. It’s not just admitting it. It’s figuring out how to move forward, how to heal, how to be me and not let anyone else’s definition stick. It’s staring in the mirror and actually seeing someone I recognize, someone I can trust and not some version of me that’s been shaped by what I thought I had to be for two years.

Yeah, it probably looks easy from the outside. The same way people tell depressed people to just be happy, like it’s a switch you can flip if you try hard enough. As if anyone would choose to feel like this. As if I’d wake up and think, Yeah, today sounds like a great day to be depressed.

That’s exactly how it feels right now. I know I’m spiraling, I know I’m doing things that aren’t helping, maybe even hurting me but I don’t know how to stop. I don’t know how to rewind to the version of me that felt normal, or if that version even exists anymore. And worse, I don’t know if fixing it is worth how exhausting it feels.

The worst part is that no one sees me struggling. Not Katy, not anyone who laughs with me or walks beside me to class. Everyone buys the version of me I put out there.

Everyone except Justin Evans.

He sees me exactly as I am, somehow, and it’s terrifying when he throws it back at me like a mirror I didn’t ask for and can’t look away from.

I drag in a shaky breath and grab my phone, staring at the screen. I promised myself I wouldn’t call my mom until she apologized first. I was stubborn about it and I was sure I could hold out.

But right now, I just… need her.

She’s the one who gave birth to me, after all. And when everything else falls apart, you cling to the hope that the person who made you will love you no matter what. Even if they don’t do it perfectly, even if they mess you up a little.

And maybe, just maybe, she can point me back toward the girl I used to be. Or at least remind me that I was someone before all of this.

“You can do this, Allie.” I mutter, dialing her number!

It rings, and rings, and finally she picks up. I hear a shuffle, then a loud, drawn-out giggle.

“Allisonnnn,” she sings, stretching out my name. “How nice you called.”

I groan and rub my forehead. Of course she’s drunk. Of course it has to be tonight.

“Mum… seriously?” I grit out. “Are you drinking again? I thought you quit.”

“Your dad said he’d quit cheating,” she slurs, and then laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world. “Can’t we all just take back our promises?”

I clench my jaw. I didn’t call to hear about her marital drama or Dad’s latest mistress. I’ve lived through enough of that and watched them fight over every woman in sight until I started mixing Veronica with Angelica. That was my cue to back out and chase my own happiness.

“Mum… please. Stop drinking.” I take a breath, my patience snapping. “I’m hanging up.”

“You’re leaving me too?” she says, her voice dipping suddenly. “Why? Am I really that terrible?”

I close my eyes, my head tipping back against the wall. God. Maybe we both need therapy or something. I don’t even believe in that stuff, but whatever’s wrong with me is starting to feel inherited. Like a family curse passed down with bad coping mechanisms and worse men.

“You’re not terrible,” I say, quieter. “Dad’s just… not good enough for you.” I swallow. “He doesn’t value you or himself so he just keeps ruining things by The word sticks in my throat and I force it out anyway. “Self-sabotaging.”

I don’t know why I borrow words from people I’m close to, like I’m collecting pieces of them. Katy once said I change my personality to match whoever I like, but maybe it’s not that deep. Maybe I just steal bits of everyone around me because I don’t have a solid thing that’s mine yet.

“Do you think my Botox is bad?” Mum cuts in, completely derailing my thoughts. I blink. Of all the things, she still remembers that?

“No,” I say quickly. “I was just… pissed that day.” A complete lie, but I’m not about to tell her her face barely moves anymore and when she cries, she looks like an emotional alien. “You look really beautiful.”

She giggles and I hear liquid pouring into a glass on her end. Great. She’s settling in and definitely not stopping anytime soon.

“Thank you for being honest with me,” she replies, then she giggles again. “I got lip fillers too.

They’re really big.”

“Lip fillers?” I drag a hand through my hair. “Why would you do that? They migrate, Mum. Eventually they just… look bad.”

“I think your dad likes full lips,” she admits and something tightens in my chest.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify