Chapter Twelve

Brandy

I couldn't balance to save my life, so I flopped back on the bed, trying to pull my skinny jeans up. "There we go," I said to myself, proud of how I'd dressed with care for my date with Nate. I felt pretty good all things considered. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from chest ever since I spoke to Wyatt. Good thing I listened to Laurel. She didn't have the greatest ideas, but this one was certainly a slam dunk. I paused as I reached for my knee-high leather boots. Technically, Wyatt didn't say yes, I mused. Then again, I continued my train of thought, he didn't exactly say no. I waved my hand in the air and rolled my eyes. What was I thinking?

He was going to say yes.

Wyatt was a good guy.

A troubled guy.

But a good one, nonetheless.

I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

I slipped my boots on over my skinny jeans and looked in the mirror. "Not bad, Brandy," I remarked, admiring my handiwork with my hair and makeup. I picked up the grey and purple from my blouse with my eye makeup and, while I was no professional, it didn't look altogether bad. I had to thank Laurel's glam squad for the blending tips they gave me.

I looked good. I felt good. So I was going to forget all about Wyatt and our little arrangement and go out on a date with my boyfriend. We were going to a hockey game. He got box seats from a friend who wasn't using his tickets, and it was a big deal. We hadn't done anything special in a long time, falling into a cycle of staying in and ordering takeout or going out to eat at a local restaurant.

I needed this.

We needed this.

Nate walked in and I turned around and watched as he stopped to stare at me. "You look beautiful," he said, lifting my jacket from the bed. "Shall we go?"

I frowned for a moment, wishing he wouldn't have just said the words, but shown me how beautiful he thought I looked. I decided to stop overthinking everything. It was silly, really, that wasn't real life. And I was happy with Nate, our relationship was wonderful.

I ignored my ridiculous thoughts and nodded my agreement as I picked up my bangles from the top of my dresser. "Ready," I answered, pushing them over my wrist with high hopes for the evening.

"Good," he said, stopping to kiss just below my ear, "I don't want to hit traffic." He grinned. "You know, you smell as good as you look."

Butterflies took over my stomach at the way he looked at me in that moment and I pushed aside all the doubt in mind and let myself feel happy, happier than I'd been in a while.

"No need to stop." I pooled the hair on my neck and pushed it aside, giving him better access.

Giving in, he gave me another kiss before turning serious. "We really should go. There'll be plenty of time for dessert later."

"Dessert, huh?" I wagged my eyebrows, liking the way he thought.

He tilted his head toward the door. "Come on, the game won't wait for us."

I followed him outside and unlocked my car. "I thought I'd drive," I announced. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," he said coming around to open my door. Nate was always thoughtful like that.

The engine came to life and I pulled out onto the road. "So tell me what you've been up to lately. I feel like in all the craziness with Laurel, you and I haven't really had a chance to talk."

He eyed me as I came to a stop at a red light.

"What?" I asked curiously.

He sighed and looked away. "Nothing. It's nothing."

"It's obviously not nothing. Just say it."

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I just wonder if this sudden interest in what I'm doing is related to your mother's crusade to change me."

I couldn't help but laugh as I shifted my foot from the brake to the gas pedal. "You have got to be kidding me. She doesn't want to change you, she wants me to dump you. You know that. And I'm always interested in what you're doing. Why are you acting like this?" Part of me wondered if this had to do with Wyatt. "Is this not about my mother, but about my fake boyfriend?" I asked, deciding against calling him by name so it didn't make it feel more real. Now it all just felt like a charade, which was what I needed it to stay as.

He turned in his seat, holding the seatbelt and facing me. "What do you know about this guy?"

"Enough," I answered earnestly. "He's former military. Now he works in security, and he's working for Laurel, to help protect her. We've been over all this. I thought you liked the idea."

"I do, I'm just worried about you going away with him, that's all."

If I wasn't driving, I would have thrown my head back and groaned. We had been over this. This was nothing more than a transaction. A business deal, really. I mean, Wyatt was doing me a favor. And it wasn't like he was interested in me or anything. He didn't feel that way about me, period. Clearly, or he wouldn't have left with nothing more than a measly note all those months ago. But that wasn't even the point, I mused, even if he was interested in me, I was not interested in him. I had a boyfriend. I wasn't just going to throw away my relationship with Nate. Not for some man who couldn't even be bothered to say goodbye to me the morning after he spent the night at my place.

I cleared my throat and repeated, "For the wedding. I'm going away with him for the wedding. To appease my mother. That's it. You know that," I reminded him, thinking about how technically I hadn't even gotten around to dropping that piece of information into Wyatt's lap yet. It wasn't like that would be a game-changer or anything, though, right?

I peered over at Nate and saw he was looking down at his hands. "Hey, you know I love you. You're it for me. I'm a big girl and don't need my mom's approval. But I also know how difficult she's making things for us. This is a win-win."

I fell silent, waiting for him to say how much he loved me, but he didn't. He didn't say anything.

The rest of the car ride was one of complete silence and my heart was in two for this man who was clearly upset, but had no reason to be. Sure, Wyatt was an attractive, strong man with admirable qualities, but I was with Nate and I loved him. A long weekend with Wyatt wasn't going to change that. Was it?

Shaking off the nerve-wracking conversation, I took a deep breath as I pulled into the lot at the stadium. "Let's forget all of this and just watch some hockey," I said, grabbing his hand on his leg and holding it before getting out.

He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Anything for you, babe."

Walking hand-in-hand, we entered the stadium and were met with a burst of cold air that hit us as the doors slid open. "Woo, woo, woo!" I heard screaming coming from behind us and turned around to see a group of guys all whopping and yelling about the team. They raced in so fast, one of them bumped into me as though they didn't even see me there. He was shirtless and had the number twelve painted on his belly in red. He looked over at me, but then just kept on going and I laughed, loving the way everyone got so pumped for a game like this.

I squeezed Nate's arm and smiled. "What do you say we stop at the gift shop?"

Neither of us spoke as we walked to the gift shop before hitting the escalators to go to our box. Once inside, I unhooked my arm from his and began looking around. "Look at this, babe. It"s your size," I heard him holler, holding up a red jersey. "Want it?"

I shook my head, walking over to where he was. "No, but if you want one, you should get it. I still have my holiday bonus and it's burning a hole in my pocket."

He brushed my comment off. "I'm good," he said, flicking a silver and white pom-pom. "Maybe we should head up."

"Absolutely." I took his hand in mine and we walked to the escalators, passing our tickets off to the attendant who gave us directions. "This is nice," I said, trying to fill the silence. "I can't believe we haven't done this before."

He eyed me suspiciously and I quirked a brow.

"We have," he told me. "Don't you remember when we went to game a while back?"

Bobbing my head side to side, I thought back. I knew what he was talking about, but it wasn't the same. "I know, but this is different. We're in a box for a crying out loud! This is cool." We were going to have some amazing seats to watch the game and just enough privacy, minus the dozen or so other people from his friend's office who also used it.

Inside, I looked around and was pleasantly surprised to see no one was there yet. It had been catered already, though, and a full spread sat out on tables in the back, which Nate seemed to have noticed, too.

"Want a beer?" he asked, grabbing one.

I walked to the glass and looked out at the ice. "Not yet. Thanks." He knew I didn't prefer beer if there was an option for anything else.

Nate took a seat in the front and I turned around and walked toward him, coming to sit on his lap. I snaked my arms around his neck and looked into his eyes, wondering what he was thinking.

Placing his beer down in the armrest, he patted my back. "The game's about to start." I knew that was meant to be a gentle reminder so I'd slide off, but I didn't want to.

Instead I tightened my hold around his neck, clasping my hands together behind his head. Kiss me, dammit, I thought. If I could've willed him to do it, I would've, my thoughts so focused on his lips. "Tonight's a date night," I reminded him.

Nothing.

Giving up, I kissed him on the cheek and slipped from off his lap, taking the seat next to him as the door opened and a few people entered. We exchanged greetings and the announcer came on. It was showtime.

For the next hour or so, we sat next to each other in relative silence, watching the game and grazing on the food laid out. Even during intermissions, nothing changed, except the mascot stopped by for some photos.

Once we got back home, I undressed and toyed with the idea of putting on something slinky and seductive, but if our date was any indication, I wasn't going to get much from him and I hated being let down. Something was off, I just didn't know what it was. I would've blamed it on the whole fake boyfriend thing, but this predated that. I was really hoping tonight would get us back on track. "That's it," I announced to myself, pulling a robe from behind the back of my bathroom door. I put it on and opened the door.

But Nate wasn't there.

Where was he?

"Nate," I called out. "Where are you?"

"Coming," he said, carrying in a can of whipped cream. "I'm ready for dessert." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively and I laughed.

I untied my robe and winked at him, whipping the belt around flirtatiously. "Me, too," I confessed, glad to see he was more himself.