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I closed my locker, picking my bag up from the bench and pulling it over one shoulder.

"Vince." I looked over at Christian as he pulled his shirt on. "Where were you yesterday?" he asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Michael mumbled, "you didn't show up. Everything good?"

"Everything's fine," I nodded. "I just... wasn't feeling up to it."

"You weren't feeling up to it or Demi decided you needed a day off?" Christian asked knowingly.

She told me about what she said to James and coach. I'm guessing the team members were told or they overheard. "It was personal, guys," I huffed.

"That's fine, we're not asking. But you're okay, yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."

They glanced at each other and I walked around them and out the door.

"Hunter!" I stopped as coach Peters walked up to me. "I don't know why you couldn't make it into practice yesterday," he sighed.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I missed one day, big deal. I made up for that today, I learned the whole strategy, what is the problem?

"But it was last minute and sounded urgent. That's why I let it slide. Don't let it happen again. We have our first real seasonal game this Friday. We can't afford to lose. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," I nodded.

He hummed in approval and then moved out of the way, walking past me to the locker room.

I walked over, spotting Demi sitting at the bleachers, scrolling through her phone.

She pulled me through yesterday and the night before. If she wasn't there, I probably would have either had the worst attitude you can imagine and been a dick to everybody at practice. It's what happens every time after one of these nightmares.

I have a shitty day, I can't practice properly, my body doesn't cooperate, and I can't remember the strategy.

Yesterday, Demi stayed home with me. We cooked lunch and dinner together and ate together, we watched some movies, she cleaned up the place a little, and she took me out for a drive. I wasn't really feeling up to it, but she made it her mission to drag me out of bed and go for a drive. Just here and there. We stopped by a candy stand and she bought cotton candy and handed it to me.

I said, "I don't eat cotton candy."

And she replied, "It's for me. Just hold onto it till we get home." Only, by the time we got home, I finished the whole thing.

I made it over to her and she stood up, pocketing her phone while smiling. "Hi."

"Hi," I mumbled. "Do I have anywhere else to go?"

She shook her head. "You're free for the rest of the day. Until six, we have practice then."

I stared at her for a minute.

Her brows twitched in confusion. "If you want to go—"

"I'm tired."

She blinked a few times and then nodded. "I'll take you home." She fished the keys out of her pocket and held out her hand, wiggling her fingers.

I grabbed her hand and she rocked our hands back and forth while we left, walking to the car. I tugged her to a halt when we reached the car.

She turned to me, eyebrows raised.

"I didn't... thank you. For everything you did. From the night before up until today."

She chuckled softly, "Why would you thank me? I'm your girlfriend, remember? Isn't that what I should have done?"

"You didn't have to. You could have played the assistant role and told me to put it aside, get out of bed, and get my ass to practice. That's what any other assistant would have done."

"Yeah," she said slowly, "but I'm not just your assistant anymore, am I?"

We stood in silence for a minute before I sent my thoughts to shit and hugged her. She froze for a split second before going on her toes and putting her arms around my neck. "Demi," I mumbled without pulling away.

"Hmm?"

"I don't know what I would do without you," I breathed out.

"Do you want to find out?" she teased.

"No," I said almost immediately. "I never want to find out."

"It's a good thing you never have to," she replied. I could hear the smile in her voice as she said that. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm," I mumbled.

"Why are you suddenly hugging me?"

I paused, thinking about it. "Because I can. Because I want to."

"Why, all of a sudden?"

"Because I—" I blinked in realization, cutting myself short on time. Because I like her. I don't know what kind of 'like' it is. Whether I just like her as a person because she does a lot for me. Whether I admire or adore her. Or whether I really liked her. Romantically. I have no idea. But I do know that it can't be the last one because if it is, we'll both be in a lot of trouble. "Just because I can," I finally replied.

"You do a lot just because you can, huh?" she laughed softly.

I hummed while pulling away. "I can do whatever I want," I nodded.

"Sometimes I think you forget that," she said softly. I held her gaze while she nodded towards the car. "Let's go."

While she drove, I scrolled through social media and some emails. "There were paparazzi at the stadium?"

"What?" she asked, glancing at me. The car stopped at a red light and she turned to me.

I showed her my phone screen. There was a picture that was taken no less than five minutes ago where we were hugging outside the stadium.

She frowned in confusion, "I didn't see anyone. Did you?"

I shook my head and then liked the picture.

"Why did you like it?" she questioned.

"It helps with what people will say," I shrugged.

When we reached the apartment, we both sat on the couch in the living room. "Do you want to watch a movie?" she asked, grabbing the remote. We settled for watching Catch me if you can and less than halfway into the movie, I noticed that she was dozing off. She must be tired. She's been taking care of me and paying attention to me like crazy since that night.

I turned to her, watching in amusement as every time she fell asleep, her head would jerk and she'd wake back up. "You can lay down," I said.

She woke up, turning to me. "Huh?"

I chuckled, straightening my legs out. "Lay down, Demi. Go to sleep."

"I'm fine."

"Are you? After checking on me every few hours in the middle of the night?"

She held my gaze. "You knew I did that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Lay down." She sighed and moved to lay down, her legs facing me but I grabbed her arm, pulling her back up. "This way."

She hesitated but lay down, resting her head in my lap. I picked up the throw blanket off the couch and draped it over her. I waited until I could hear her breathing evenly, telling me she was asleep. Then I started running my fingers through her hair, looking down at her instead of watching the movie.

What is it that I'm feeling? Maybe I'm just realizing that I care about her more than I think I do. Maybe I'm realizing she's more important than I think she is. Maybe I just do like her. In every sense of the word. Only problem is, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not supposed to catch feelings for her, I'm not supposed to have or feel these feelings for her. And... I don't know what to do now that I do.

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It was almost time for practice and she was still fast asleep in my lap. The movie ended hours ago so I turned the TV off but I didn't want to wake her up. She seemed so exhausted and was sleeping so peacefully. I thought it would be better if I left her sleeping and went to practice on my own.

So I moved out from under her, struggling to not wake her up, and placed a pillow under her head. I watched her for a minute as she shuffled a little, humming in her sleep.

I went up to my room and changed, grabbing the duffel bag with all the hockey equipment before coming back downstairs. Before leaving, I stopped in front of where she was sleeping on the couch and put my bag down, crossing my legs and sitting on the floor in front of where she slept. One of her hands was hanging off the edge, so I grabbed it softly, lifting it up.

My eyes traveled across her face, lingering on her lips.

Wasn't this supposed to be a fake romance? A romance to save our reputations, to feed the public? It's all supposed to be fake. Then why does it feel so real at times like this? The lines just blur. And eventually, they'll disappear. Then everything will come crashing down.

I found myself leaning forward, wanting to kiss her. I stopped, my lips brushing against hers.

What the hell am I doing?

I should have pulled back but I couldn't. My body and heart weren't obeying my brain's orders. My heart was getting all the wrong signals. This was supposed to be fake. She's supposed to be my assistant in my eyes. Why are things getting so complicated?

I forced myself to pull back. I can't kiss her. I pressed a kiss to her forehead instead before leaving. I sent her a text, letting her know that I was at practice before I started the drive.

I sighed to myself loudly, "God. What is happening to me?"

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