By admin Fake Dating My Ex’s Favourite Hockey Player Novel CH 77
The pool is packed by the time we arrive. The sun hangs high in the sky, casting a golden. glow over everything. Laughter and splashes echo through the air, mingling with the scent of chlorine and coconut sunscreen.
Lacey spots us first, waving wildly from a lounge chair. “There you are! I was about to send a search party.”
She’s lying, of course. Lacey wouldn’t have moved from that chair if her life depended on it. But I appreciate the sentiment.
I smile, more aware of Liam’s hand on the small of my back than ever. I ditched wearing the sundress over my swimsuit, it has an open back, stopping right above my ass and exactly
where his hand stops. “Of course you were.”
Liam chuckles beside me, his fingers skimming lightly against my bare skin before he drops his hand entirely. I should be relieved, but instead, my skin feels colder without his
touch.
“About time you got here,” Lacey says, adjusting her sunglasses. “I need backup. Some guy
in blue trunks won’t stop flexing at me.”
I follow her gaze to a guy doing bicep curls with a suspiciously full margarita. “Well, in his defense, that’s some impressive multitasking.”
to?”
Lacey groans and flops dramatically onto her chair. “I hate it here.”
“Sure you do,” Liam says with a snort then looks around. “Where’s your better half run off
Lacey shakes her head, an exaggerated look of exasperation on her face. “We were both sharing the pains of bearing the sight in front of us. Single! Do you know how difficult it is being one of the only couples on this cruise that aren’t actually a couple?! Then every guy here is either hot, taken or cheating!”
I wonder what being hot has to do with anything, but Liam sarcastically sympathises with her. “That must be so hard on you.”
“Thank you! Anyways, back to my story. Then some bastard on Zane’s hockey team comes up to flirt with her… with his girlfriend, mind you. And by with his girlfriend I mean they’re both making an attempt to get into her pants. Guess what she does?”
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Chapter 77
Genuinely curious, Liam and I speak up at the same time. “What?”
Lacey sighs again, more dramatic this time. “She leaves me here and follows them into a backroom!”
I try not to laugh while Liam cackles, getting him a whack on the back. “She’s probably just having a conversation with them.”
“A really fun one I assume,” he mumbles, for my ears only and I whack him again.
“I think I’m more upset she didn’t think to invite me to join.”
“Understandably.”
Lacey looks at me, then at Liam, then at me again before breaking into a smile. “You’re both so adorable.”
Liam groans.
“Don’t say that.”
“Yeah, please don’t say that,” I echo.
Lacey only grins wider. “Why not? You are! All the tension, the eye contact, the way you’re practically vibrating toward each other-”
I throw my towel at her face. “Shut up.”
She catches it easily, waggling her brows at me like she’s just cracked some grand conspiracy.
Liam, the traitor, just stretches his arms behind his head and smirks. “She’s got a point,
love,”
That damn nickname.
I roll my eyes, ignoring the way my stomach flips. “I think you just love the sound of your
own voice.”
He leans in, close enough that I can see the water still dripping from his hair, trailing down the sharp cut of his jaw.
“Nah,” he murmurs. “I like your voice better.”
I refuse to react. Refuse. But the smug look on his face tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing.
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Chapter 77
Lacey, meanwhile, has had enough.
She dramatically rises from her lounge chair, hands in the air. “I need a drink. I need three drinks. Maybe four.” She narrows her eyes at us. “And when I come back, I better not find you two wrapped around each other.”
“Can’t promise anything,” Liam drawls.
I whip my head toward him. “Liam—”
Liam says nothing, smirking. Then reaches for the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head
in one smooth motion.
I forget how to function.
It’s not like I don’t know, or at least have an idea, what’s under there–it isn’t my first time seeing an athlete without a shirt on, okay? I have expectations, maybe some assumptions, too -but something about the golden sunlight highlighting every sharp line and muscle turns my
brain to static.
And the worst part? He knows.