The Puck Decoy (Fairfield U, #2)

by G.N. Wright

In truth this place hasn’t felt like home for me in a very long time, and it feels even less like it now that I no longer live here, but for once I’m not alone. Hallie steps up beside me and loops her arm through mine as if it’s the most natural thing in the world for us.

“You’re not bailing on me already are you, Joshua, because I have to say, that’s very bad husbandly form,” she jokes with a smile, flicking her gaze to me, and when our stares lock, my heart stops thundering in my chest. That calming effect she always seems to have on me, soothing me from the inside out.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Hals, I’ll always have your back,” I tell her, and I mean it. This thing between us might be fake, but our friendship is real, and I care about her more than she knows.

At least tonight, and for the foreseeable future I guess, I’ll have her by my side for support. Which is a strangely comforting feeling I haven’t felt– or should I say, let myself feel–since I was a child..

“And I’ll always have yours,” she replies softly, and before I can thank her, she adds, “But only if we survive our first night as a fake engaged couple.”

We brush past my parents, but before I can make it another step, my father grabs my arm and leans into my ear and whispers, “Pretty, polite, and politically respectful. Looks like the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree now does it? Great choice, son.”

Bro I wanna smack this man so hard

“Come on, twenty-two, I need a drink,” she softly pleads, and I turn to find her green eyes shining bright once more, and that’s all it takes. I don’t linger, I don’t turn around to dignify my father with a retort, I just squeeze her hand softly, and pull her back into my side as we make our way fully into the party.

I mean, yes, she grew up in this world just like I did, but her parents are a far cry from mine. They have never forced her hand in anything, from school to her personal life, she has always been free to make her own choices. I mean, hell, they don’t even attend these things anymore, yet Hallie RSVPs yes to every single one. Something I think I have taken for granted in the past, but right now with her here, I feel a little contentment, especially with Maddie running late.

“You’ve played hockey since you could practically walk, how are you still this dense?” I almost choke on my champagne at her insult.

“I thought making you my fiancée might make you be a little bit nicer to me,” I reply, clearing my throat, and she rolls her eyes at me again.

“Well, you thought wrong,” she snaps, closing the small amount of distance between us as she lowers her voice to ensure she isn’t heard. “Your father is forcing your hand and now in turn mine, and you’re telling me you don’t have a game plan? I mean, look a...

I have enough pressure to deal with without adding a girlfriend to that mix, which I know is ironic considering now here I am with my future wife, but that’s a means to an end. Hallie will help me with this and then we will just go back to normal as friends.

No man, we’re just friends. Yeah, I married her? But we’re just friends. Sorry bud that’s a no

“If you want people to believe we are engaged, you might want to start pretending a little better and looking at me like you actually enjoy my company,” she laughs in a whisper, her floral scent lingering even when she pulls away, and I stare at her dumbfounded.

“But I do enjoy your company, Hals, I don’t have to pretend,” I respond without thought, and as our eyes lock her smile softens,

“Josh is actually on track to play for the NHL, so you’ll see him on your TV screens long before you find him in the Mayor’s office,” she gleams, looking ever the proud future wife I need her to be, as she smiles up at me. “Maybe you should take a day off from politics and catch a Flyers game sometime soon and you might find yourself inspired,” she adds, turning back towards Mark and fitting him with a kind glare. Yep, definitely the perfect choice for my wife.

A comforting silence stretches between us, one that can only be bound by years of friendship, as we sway with one another and block out the outside world.

I remember a time when we did this almost daily one summer. It was right before my dad’s affair with Diana Darkmore came out, and I didn’t have a care in the world. I thought my parents were the picture of happiness, I actually aspired to be like them one day, and Hallie and I would watch their wedding video on repeat and dance like it was our wedding day.

We slowly rock back and forth, and I realize this is the first time we have danced together since that summer, and it now feels a lot more intimate than it did back then.

“You know you’re nothing like him,” Hallie utters against my chest, her head tucked comfortably under my chin thanks to our height difference, and I wish her words didn’t affect me. She knows better than most what it does to me to be in his shadow. “Like, you know you’re amazing, right?”

“I mean, I haven’t had any complaints, amazing does seem to be the general consensus,” I grin, and I practically feel her eye roll. “I meant at hockey, you prick,” she curses, and I chuckle. This I can do with her, our banter, it’s simple, easy, and comfortable. I am forever fascinated by how easily I can push her buttons.

“That’s not a very nice way to speak to your future husband, Hallie Bear,” I tease, and I feel her hand tighten around my shoulder as she digs her nails into me in response. “My future husband is about to get a dick punch in front of all of his father’s friends if he isn’t careful,” she claps back in her usual, taunting manner, and I smother my laugh in her hair.

“Now now, stop flirting with me, Tink, or I’ll have to start breaking those pesky rules you wrote so carefully on that pretty pad.” My tone is joking, but my words have her pulling back and snapping her stare to meet mine, almost as if they have her intrigued. “What? Don’t tell me, little old Hallie Bear enjoys breaking the rules,” I tease, watching her closely and she huffs. “Can we get divorced yet?” she snaps before adding, “I really do hate you.”

How the hell am I going to survive this with my heart still intact? At that thought I almost tell him I’ve changed my mind, that I can’t do this without ever giving him a reason why, but then he looks at me. He looks at me and the ground beneath me shifts, because right now he isn’t looking at me like I am his friend, he is looking at me like I am his savior,

“It will work, Josh, I can make them believe it’s real,” I all but promise him, not adding out loud how easy it will be for me to do that. A real marriage requires trust, lust, and love, and unfortunately I just so happen to have all three for my fake fiancé.

Nova Darkmore greets me with a smile that I’m sure would make most women's knees go weak, including my best friend’s, but apparently my affliction to blond haired assholes, who are now technically my fiancé, makes me immune.

I pull Percy the Penguin, a soft toy my husband-to-be won for me when I was a kid, towards me and cuddle him tight, knowing that just like every night I wish there was someone to hold me while I cry.

I spy her at the back of the crowd like I thought, her brown head of curls piled in a bun on top of her head, with a few pieces at the front left down to frame her face. She is wearing leggings, tucked into a pair of black boots, matched with an oversized FU sweater and a bag slung over her shoulder.

Except that isn’t the only thing over her shoulder. A large arm engulfs her tiny frame, and I follow the length of it around her until I find its owner. Archer Gray.

We aren’t enemies, but we aren’t friends either, just teammates. Kind of in the way that Hallie and I are just teammates in this fake marriage, yet that doesn’t stop me from storming towards them in a rage.

“I suggest you get your hands off my fiancée, Gray, or playing pro hockey will be a distant dream,” I seethe, holding him down with my stare as he takes in my arrival.

“What the hell was that?” she snaps, pushing me in the chest, and I stumble back in surprise at her outburst. “You can’t just ignore me for days and then show up at my classes and accost me, Joshua, I’m not your fucking pet.”

“No but you are my fiancée, and people need to believe that, so the only hockey player who should be hanging off your damn neck is me.”

“Oh, please, he was not hanging off my neck, Archer is just like that, he is touchy feely with everyone.” She shrugs, standing her ground completely, and all it does is infuriate me even more.

“Well he can be that way with everyone except the person who is going to be my wife,” I tell her, not backing down from our heated discussion.

Ignoring my outburst, Hallie looks at me the same way she always does, without pity, without shame, without reason, and for a second I get lost in her stare. Just like always it calms me, but then she opens her mouth. “Let’s get married,” she states simply, so simply that I can’t help but laugh at how infuriated she makes me.

“Hallie, we are getting married, I asked you like four times, remember? You made me get on my knees,” I recall for her, and that almost smirk turns into a full on knowing smile.

It’s at this very moment that I know my father will always regret putting her name on the list, because he only thought of her as who she is to him, a powerful man's daughter, an asset, a business deal. Yet he didn’t factor in who she is to me, a friend, a confidant, a person I can trust. All of which will lead to his demise, which only makes me smile as I focus back on my future wife.

“Don’t make fun of your future wife, Joshua, or you will be on your knees again, only this time you’ll be begging for forgiveness,” she tells me with a smug smile. “I told you, Tink, you want me on my knees again, all you have to do is ask,” I tell her with a wink, and her answering blush makes me laugh out loud.

There has always been this tension between us, this friendly banter that I always like to test the boundaries of, and she has never been one to shy away from it. In fact she pushes every single button I have and somehow still finds more. So maybe being married won’t be so bad afterall, especially to someone who used to be your best friend.

“Hals, I’m sorry, you know I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just the guy’s a douche. I don’t know what she sees in him.” I don’t bother listing the many assets that not just Maddie, but half the female population here at FU see in Nova Darkmore, and instead just laugh.

“And I’m sure there are some people who are going to wonder what I see in my lovely future husband,” I muse in response, and he smiles, shaking his head.

“Damn, Peters, I know you had a no touching rule for her, but I didn’t think it was because you were banging her yourself, you dog,” Landon drawls, diving off the sofa and holding his hand up for a high five.

“She’s my fiancée and you and everyone else in this house will treat her with respect,” Josh grits, not backing down from his anger, and Levi’s eyes flare wide.

“Fiancée?” he splutters, clearly taken aback by this whole situation, and I can feel this thing falling apart before it’s even begun, which is why I know I need to take a stand.

“You can’t honestly be this surprised, Levi, I mean how long have we known each other? You must have known how I truly felt about him,” I tell him with as much conviction as I can muster, which isn’t hard considering everything I just said is true. Then I lean into Josh and add, “I just had to wait for this dumbass to realize how amazing I am.” I mix it with my signature eye roll for effect, and Josh scoffs a laugh, placing his arm around my waist.

“Oh yeah, with every barb from your lips I just fell head over heels,” he drawls sarcastically, selling the lie even more.

I knew there would be a ring, but I guess I didn’t truly think about this moment, and what it would mean to walk around with his fake claim to me on my finger.

I flick my stare up to Josh and find him watching me closely with an amused grin as he purrs, “Do I have to get on my knees again for you to take it? I know how much you’d enjoy that.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I tell him truthfully, not trusting myself to not get emotional. “It’s so beautiful it almost looks real,” I add in a whisper, still just staring at it, and to my surprise he drops to his knees before me.

“Don’t insult me, Hallie, of course it’s real,” he snaps, rolling his eyes as if the idea of having a fake ring for a fake marriage is totally ridiculous, yet still I say nothing. “I know it’s no ring pop, but as soon as I saw it, I thought of you,” he tells me innocently, not realizing he is making the heart that beats for him and only him, soar even higher. “Like Tinkerbell in a ring,” he laughs, taking the box back from my hand and plucking the ring from it.