Jonah (Chicago Blaze 7)

Once the game starts, my mind goes into the zone. A lot of what I do is automatic, but I also have to make decisions based on who has the puck and how they play.

The Austin star forward, Casey Rogue, is deliberately unpredictable. I have to stay on my toes every second with him. But Lennox McCall, he’s a one-trick pony. He always shoots too soon, wanting the glory of a long shot that somehow makes it in.

Rogue gets one in on me, tapping it into a corner of the net. But our offense is on fire, and we win the game 4–1. Austin’s starting goaltender is out with a hip injury, and their backup never stood a chance against our first line.

Back in the locker room, I close my eyes as I stand under the hot spray from the showerhead, all my physical and mental energy depleted for the day. These days all I like to do after a game is go home and eat the half-pound burger I have delivered from a local restaurant after every home game. I catch a little SportsCenter and go to bed. Partying after games has never been my thing, especially since I got married young.

After the shower, I dress in a dark suit and I’m tying my Blaze-red tie when one of the PR interns approaches and says, “Hey, they want you for press.”

I groan and nod. Fuck. I was hoping to slide out without doing interviews tonight, but no such luck.

I go to the media room, and I’ve barely even gotten through the doorway when there’s a microphone shoved in my face.

“Jonah, who’s this mystery woman you’re dating?”

I lower my brows with disdain at Jessica Moore, a reporter for a Chicago sports blog.

“Do you have any questions about the game?” I ask her.

“I have questions about your game,” she says playfully. “Come on, Jonah, your fans want to see you find love again. We’re all dying to know. Who is she?”

Jessica irritates me in every possible way. She doesn’t give a shit about hockey—she just wants to stir shit and press players to talk about their lives off the ice. I swear she’s trying to land an athlete husband.

“I’m not gonna talk about my personal life,” I say. “I never have, and I don’t plan to start.”

“Just a little hint?” she begs. “All we know is she’s very pretty and the two of you had a passionate kiss in a North Side neighborhood the other day.”

I stare at her in silence. After a few seconds, she huffs out a sigh.

“I’m trying to give you good coverage here,” she says.

Another reporter, Julia Kerr, interjects with, “Jonah, what do you think made the difference for the team tonight? It was a decisive win.”

I turn to her. “Yeah, it was. And that was thanks to our offense. They brought it hard tonight.”

“But you held Austin to one goal. What’s your strategy against their offense?”

Jessica slinks away as I continue the interview with Julia. I’m definitely bitching to PR about getting jumped like that. They usually escort us up to a table to be interviewed by all the reporters in the room. I don’t like getting blindsided by one.

I know Rey and I are supposed to be seen together, and that coverage of our relationship is the goal. But I’m letting all that unfold on its own. I’ll never feed gossip columns information about her.

She may not be my real girlfriend, and she doesn’t need me protecting her, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it anyway.Chapter NineReynaI’m wearing new Converse shoes for my third date with Jonah. Chicago isn’t a city for uncomfortable shoes. I could take Ubers from here to there and wear the heels I learned to hate in my short time wearing them, but I like to walk everywhere I can.

There’s so much to see here, and since I’ve only been to Chicago briefly for business, I want to do as much as I can while I’m here. That’s why I asked Jonah to meet me at The Bean to start our daytime date on this fall Sunday.

The other reason is because it’s time to step things up and get our fake relationship into the spotlight. Now that I’ve seen that Jonah has what it takes to help me complete this undercover case, I’m ready to push my way into Darren Shields’s view.

Even though it’s fall, it’s still pretty warm, and I’m comfortable in my cuffed jeans and maroon T-shirt. Kai put waves in my hair and then put it up in a pretty, sporty ponytail, and he applied my makeup just a little more subtle than usual. With a dark crossbody bag hanging at my hip, I’m comfortable and ready for my date with Jonah, which will hopefully catch the eyes and ears of some locals.