Page 68 of The Fake Out

I ground my teeth and shoved my phone back into my pocket. I didn’t have time for her bullshit. I pressed a hand against my chest, where Veronica had marked me with her artwork. I was done with Astrid, and it took having someone jab me with a needle to figure that out.

“Dude, you okay?” TJ asked.

“Yeah. Nothing,” I muttered, taking another sip of my beer. I hoped Astrid took the hint and stopped bothering me. She was the one who cut me out of her life. What right did she have to try to reel me back in again?

He eyed me cautiously. “That sounds fake but okay…”

I grumbled. “My ex is being a pest. It’s nothing. I want to go upstairs and call V.”

TJ smiled at me. “Yeah, man, we understand.”

Benny typed away at his phone and nodded at me. “Seriously, dude, talk to your woman. Make sure she knows you’re not abandoning her.”

I threw some bills down on the table and chugged the rest of my beer to the guys’ amusement.

Calling Veronica had been my excuse to get away from the prying eyes of my teammates. I had to be careful not to reveal too much, lest they figure out what we had wasn’t real.

I finished my nighttime routine and laid on the hotel bed in my boxers, but I ended up staring at the photos I had on my phone of Veronica and me. I missed her, and that was bad. I wasn’t supposed to miss my fuck buddy.

“Fuck it,” I muttered to myself and sent her a video call request.

I was a little surprised when she answered. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and there was paint on her cheek. I had to smile at that because it made her look so cute.

“Hi, stranger,” she said to me. “Hang on, I need to reposition my phone.”

She went off-screen for a bit, and I heard the water running, and then she was back in focus a few seconds later. She narrowed her eyes. “Did you put ointment on your tattoo yet?”

I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Yes, sweets. I did it this morning.”

“And reapplied your bandage?”

I pointed to my chest. “All good while it heals.”

“Okay, what’s up? You never call me when you’re on the road.”

I clamped my mouth shut. She was right about that. We had only been doing this fake dating thing for a couple of weeks, and it was going to be over soon, but I never talked to her that much when I was traveling.

What was I doing?

I sighed. “Astrid keeps texting me.”

“Why?”

“I think she wants me back now that I’m with someone else.”

“Ha, suck it, bitch, you can’t have him!”

I smiled at that. “Possessive much?”

She shrugged. “You play tomorrow, right? You got in okay?”

“Yup, just came up to my room after dinner with the boys. Astrid annoyed me, and I wanted to talk to you.”

“Okay, about what?”

I shrugged.

“Blaise, are you okay?”