Fake Dating My Ex's Hockey Star Brother (Maya Scott) novel Chapter 77

KATY’S POV

You know that moment when you want to cry so badly, but you keep swallowing it down because you can’t fall apart yet? When your throat burns from holding everything back, and your eyes won’t stop blurring? I didn’t know something could sit this heavy in my chest.

I make it down the hallway somehow, every step feeling wrong and hollow. By the time I reach my door, my hands are shaking so badly. I push the door open, and the quiet of my room hits me like a punch.

That’s all it takes.

Everything I’ve been fighting for the past thirty minutes just… breaks.

A sound….some choked, shaky sob I don’t even recognize as mine leaves my mouth. My legs buckle, and I lean back against the door as it clicks shut behind me. I slide down to the floor slowly and tears finally spill over.

My chest aches in this deep, raw way I can’t explain.

Why does it hurt like this?

Why does it feel like someone reached inside me and just… pulled something out?

I press my palm against my chest, trying to ground myself, trying to breathe through the ache, but it only seems to make it worse.

I’m the one who ended things. I made the choice. I know that.

So why does it hurt so much? Why won’t the tears stop?

“Katy? What happened?” Allie’s voice drifts in sharply, and before I can even look up, she’s already beside me.

I didn’t hear the door open, didn’t hear her footsteps and the moment her hands settle on my shoulders, something in me gives way. I reach for her like I’m drowning, folding into her arms. as another wave of tears hits me.

“It hurts,” I manage to choke out, my voice cracking.

Allie wraps her arms around me, warm and gentle. She doesn’t ask anything else. She just holds me, her hand rubbing slow circles on my back, letting me fall apart without rushing me.

So I cry. I cry until the pressure in my chest loosens, until my breathing evens just a little. And she stays with me the whole time.

I’m curled up in Allie’s bed, the two of us watching some movie she swears will fix my mood. Her iPad is right in front of me, bright and loud, but I’m barely seeing any of it. My body is here… but my mind is miles away, drifting right back to him. The one person I really, really don’t want to think about.

And that’s the scary part. Realizing just how into him I actually was. How much I liked him without even noticing it.

My fingers twist around the sheets, tightening when the thought hits me again. Maybe this is on me. Maybe it’s karma for breaking up with Bryan and then getting involved with his half brother. Maybe I’m stupid. Maybe I’m just some naive girl crying over a guy I slept with once and accidentally let myself hope for more with.

But how am I supposed to act like it was casual?

How am I supposed to pretend none of it meant anything when we talked the way we did…

when he looked at me like that?

And God, I even told him about my family. The one thing I never talk about with anyone. I

trusted him with that.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m cursed or something. Every guy I like either cheats on me or turns into a complete asshole after acting like he’s the sweetest person alive. Maybe that’s my type. Maybe I’m just really talented at choosing the worst possible men.

“Katy.”

Allie’s voice cuts into my spiral, and I lift my eyes to her. She’s watching me with that worried, soft look she’s had for hours.

“Are you okay?”

She’s asked me that every ten minutes with the same sad face, and I still don’t have a real answer for her.

“Yeah.” I nod anyway. “I think we should finish this movie another time.”

I shift and lie down, exhaustion weighing down my whole body. My head is pounding, like every thought today has been hitting the same spot over and over again. It honestly feels like the universe clocked in today just to mess with me.

Allie switches off her iPad and lies down too, turning to face me while I stare up at the ceiling.

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