Fake Dating My Ex's Hockey Star Brother (Maya Scott) novel Chapter 194

Chapter 54

JUSTIN’S POV

“Your sister really has Cap running laps for her,” Luke snickers as he tosses the controller at me. “So what’s his excuse for being in Chicago?”

I catch it one-handed and lean back into the couch, forcing my focus onto the screen. “Something about a convention.”

He scoffs. “A convention? Yeah, right. Since when does Cap care about anything that doesn’t involve beer, women, or skating?”

Zach glances over from his spot on the floor, his eyebrow raised. “You’re telling me the guy flew across states for a convention?”

Luke nods. “Katy’s got him in a chokehold.”

Zach snorts. “But Cap doesn’t do feelings.”

Luke bumps Zach’s knee with his foot. “Give it two weeks. He’ll be buying matching hoodies and talking about soul connections. Or am I the only one who thinks something’s going on between them?”

“You might be,” Zach replies, then grins at me. “J runs a tight ship.”

They both break into an argument, their voices overlapping as they debate whether Cooper and Katy are

actually a thing. Their words blur into background noise, fading behind the buzz in my head.

I was scared of this from the moment they cooked up that ridiculous fake-dating plan. Scared that Katy

would catch feelings, that she’d get hurt and drag us all into something messy and complicated.

But now? I’m pretty sure it’s Cooper who’s catching feelings and he’s falling hard.

He hasn’t said anything to me yet. Maybe he’s trying to pretend it’s not happening. Maybe he’s afraid to

admit it out loud. But I can see it in the way he looks at her, the way he suddenly shows up, and the way he’s always orbiting her. The guy is gone completely.

And maybe I’m relieved he hasn’t brought it up to me, not when Allison and I just hit rock bottom and she’s beyond pissed at me. Pissed doesn’t even cover it, not even close.

I hate that I said those things to her, especially the part about not trusting her. That one still sits heavy in

my chest, and I hate remembering the look on her face: pure heartbreak, pure shock and the way she fought so hard not to cry.

I promised myself I will never be the reason she’ll cry. Couldn’t even keep that promise for, what, a few

weeks?

“J, you gonna let him win?” Luke’s voice cuts through my head, snapping me back to the living room.

I blink at the screen, my fingers tightening around the controller. I don’t even know what I’ve been doing for

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the past few minutes. I’ve been here, but not really, half-stuck in my own mess.

Zach wins again and I groan, lobbing the controller at Luke.

“What’s wrong with your game tonight?” Luke asks, catching it easily.

+25 Points

They’ve both steamrolled me all night, and it’s getting painfully obvious I need to just go to bed. If I can’t exist for five minutes without spiraling about Black and Allison, then sleep is probably my only safe option.

“Just tired,” I mutter, pushing to my feet. “You guys crashing here?”

Zach lifts a brow, then slowly looks at Luke like I just said something unhinged.

“What are you on?” he asks.

I rake a hand through my hair. “What?”

“We’re hitting Kappa house once it’s ten,” Zach says, and Luke nods in agreement.

“When did-” I tilt my head, digging through my memory. “Did I ever say yes to this plan?”

Luke gets up and steps into my space, a little too close for comfort. He studies my face like he’s

diagnosing me, forcing me to back up a step.

“My grandma with dementia has better memory than you,” he says.

“Dude, your grandma’s dead,” Zach cuts in, laughing.

“That’s the point.” Luke shoots back without missing a beat, eyes still locked on me. “Only someone dead

would forget a conversation we had an hour ago. Or is he pretending?”

I almost point at myself to confirm he’s talking about me, but then I realize I genuinely don’t remember a

single thing we said an hour ago. I must’ve zoned out completely and just nodded along to everything like

an idiot. Fuck me.

“You remember now?” Zach asks.

“Yeah.” I shake my head. “But I’m exhausted. Let’s skip this one.”

“No chance.” Luke shakes his head. “You’re coming. I already texted Declan that we’re pulling up.”

I brush past him and head for my room. “Tell him something came up.”

“Come on, man, the party started like an hour ago,” he calls after me. “He said everyone’s already there-” he pauses, then adds, “even Allie.”

I freeze halfway, my hand still wrapped around the doorknob. Slowly, I turn back, and Luke is watching me with an expression that says he dropped her name on purpose. And even knowing that, I still can’t bring myself to open the door. Not when there’s even the slightest chance Allison is actually there.

“Allison?” I ask. “She’s really at the party?”

“You’ve officially got his attention,” Zach mutters, barely holding back a grin.

Chapter 54

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