Faking It With The Hockey Playboy

Lila POV

"RYAN! PLEASE!" I screamed until my throat burned, my voice cracking with desperation.

My heart was breaking as I watched my stepbrother struggle on the ice below. This wasn't just any game. This was THE game. The one that would decide his entire future. College scouts filled the arena, notebooks ready, waiting to choose the next hockey superstar.

And Ryan was losing.

"Come on, Ryan" I whispered, gripping the cold metal railing so hard my knuckles turned white. "You can do this. You have to do this."

I had been in love with Ryan for three long, painful years. Every morning I watched him eat breakfast, wishing he would look at me the way he looked at his hockey trophies. Every night I dreamed of him holding me, kissing me, wanting me back.

But Ryan only saw me as his annoying little stepsister. Nothing more.

The arena was so loud I could barely think. Thousands of people were on their feet, screaming, cheering, hoping. The championship game was tied with only two minutes left. Ryan's whole life depended on these next 120 seconds.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer's voice boomed like thunder. "This is it! Two minutes to decide who becomes the next college hockey sensation!"

My stomach twisted into knots. Ryan was skating hard, sweat dripping down his beautiful face. He looked so focused, so determined. God, he was gorgeous even when he was exhausted.

Then I saw him.

Derek Stone.

The devil himself gliding across the ice like a predator hunting prey. Derek was everything parents warned their daughters about - dangerous, wild, and absolutely ruthless. He had been kicked out of his last school for fighting, and now he played for our biggest rival.

Derek hated Ryan. Ryan hated Derek. They had been enemies since junior league.

"No, no, no," I breathed, watching Derek move toward Ryan like a shark smelling blood.

In one swift, brutal move, Derek stole the puck right from Ryan's stick. The crowd gasped. My heart stopped beating.

"DEREK STONE HAS THE PUCK!" the announcer roared. "HE'S FLYING DOWN THE ICE LIKE A MAN POSSESSED!"

Time slowed down. I watched Derek dance around our defenders like they were standing still. He was fast, graceful, and completely unstoppable.

"Please miss," I prayed desperately. "Please, God, let him miss."

Derek pulled back his stick. The arena held its breath.

He shot.

"GOOOOOOOAL!"

The sound hit me like a physical blow. Half the arena exploded in celebration while our side sat in stunned, heartbroken silence. Derek threw his arms up in victory, his teammates mobbing him like he was a conquering hero.

I felt tears burning my eyes as I watched Ryan's shoulders slump in defeat. His dream was dying right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do to save him.

"AND DEREK STONE DOES IT AGAIN!" the announcer screamed with excitement. "THAT'S HIS SECOND GOAL OF THE NIGHT! WHAT A SUPERSTAR!"

The clock kept ticking down. Ryan tried desperately to score, but it was too late. Derek had destroyed everything Ryan had worked for his entire life.

When the final buzzer sounded, Derek's team erupted like they had won the World Cup. The crowd chanted Derek's name like he was some kind of god. I watched him remove his helmet, his dark hair damp with sweat, that cocky, arrogant smile spreading across his handsome face.

Derek Stone was now the star everyone would remember. Not my Ryan.

I felt physically sick. This was supposed to be Ryan's moment of glory. The scouts were supposed to fight over him, not that arrogant jerk Derek.

I ran down from the bleachers, pushing through crowds of people, desperate to find Ryan and comfort him. The hallways were chaos - celebrating fans mixing with devastated supporters.

Finally, I found him.

Ryan stood alone by the exit, still in his gear, staring at nothing. He looked broken, defeated, like someone had ripped his soul out of his body.

"Ryan," I whispered, approaching him like he might shatter if I spoke too loud. "Baby, I'm so sorry. You played amazingly. Derek just got lucky, that's all."

Ryan looked up at me with the saddest eyes I had ever seen.

"It's over, Lila," he said, his voice flat and empty. "Derek won. The scouts saw everything they needed to see."

"No!" I said fiercely, my heart breaking for him. "You're ten times better than him! This was just one bad game. You'll get other chances, I promise!"

Ryan shook his head slowly, like even that small movement hurt.

"The season's finished," he said. "This was my only shot, and I blew it."

"Please don't give up," I begged, reaching for his arm. "You've worked so hard for this dream. I believe in you, Ryan. I've always believed in you. I love-"

He pulled away before I could finish.

"Lila, I appreciate you trying to help," Ryan said coldly. "But it's done. Derek Stone is the new golden boy now, and there's nothing anyone can do to change it."

Then he walked away. Just left me standing there like I meant nothing to him.

Tears poured down my face as I watched the only person I had ever loved disappear around the corner without looking back.

"Why?" I whispered to the empty hallway. "Why don't you ever see me? Why don't you care that I'm dying inside?"

For three years, I had loved Ryan with every piece of my heart. I went to every game, cheered until I lost my voice, supported him through everything. But to him, I was invisible. Just his annoying stepsister who got in the way.

I was so lost in my heartbreak that I wasn't watching where I was going. I clutched my notebook against my chest like a shield - the notebook that contained my most dangerous secrets.

Inside those pages, I had written everything I could never say out loud. Stories about Ryan's perfect body, about touching his muscles, about kissing him until we both couldn't breathe. I also wrote about other hot guys on campus - their abs, their arms, their lips.

Everyone at school was obsessed with these stories. They had been posted online anonymously, and the whole campus was trying to figure out who the mystery writer was. The one who wrote such detailed, steamy descriptions of the hottest guys at Riverside High.

They had no idea it was quiet, invisible Lila Richmond.

Suddenly, I crashed into something solid and warm.

The impact was so hard that my notebook exploded from my hands. Papers flew everywhere like snow in a blizzard. The person I had slammed into was dripping wet from a shower, and my most private thoughts stuck to his damp, muscled chest.

"Watch where you're going, you little-"

The deep, angry voice stopped mid-sentence.

I looked up in pure terror.

Derek Stone stood before me like a beautiful nightmare. Water droplets clung to his dark hair. His green eyes pierced right through me. His perfect chest was visible through his wet shirt, and my secret papers were plastered all over his body.

Time stopped. Derek peeled one of my papers off his chest and began to read. I watched in horror as his expression changed from annoyance to shock to a slow, evil smile.

"Give those back!" I screamed, lunging for the papers. "You have no right to read them!"

But Derek kept reading, his eyes getting wider with each word. The smile on his face grew more wicked and dangerous.

"Well, well, well," Derek said, his voice like silk over steel. "So YOU'RE the mystery writer everyone's been going crazy over."

My blood turned to ice.

"The one who writes those incredibly detailed stories about guys' bodies," Derek continued, reading more. "About touching them, kissing them, wanting them..."

"Stop!" I begged, my face burning with shame. "Please stop reading!"

Derek looked from the paper to me, then his smile became absolutely deadly.

"And look what we have here," he said, holding up another paper. "Sweet little Lila fantasizing about her stepbrother Ryan's body. Writing about how badly she wants to touch him, kiss him, have him..."

The world started spinning around me. This couldn't be happening. Derek Stone, my worst enemy, had just discovered the secret that could destroy my entire life.

"Please," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll do anything."

Derek's eyes lit up with a dangerous fire as he realized the power he now held over me. My most shameful secrets were literally stuck to his body, and I was completely at his mercy.

"Anything?" Derek repeated slowly, that evil smile growing wider. "Now that's very interesting, Lila Richmond. Very interesting indeed."

My whole world had just collapsed, and the devil himself was holding the pieces.

Lila POV

"What I want," Derek said slowly, his voice dripping with dark satisfaction, "is very simple."

I stood there frozen, my papers still stuck to his wet chest like my secrets were literally glued to him. The hallway felt like it was closing in around me. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.

"You're going to be my girlfriend," Derek announced casually, like he was talking about the weather.

My brain stopped working completely.

"WHAT?" I choked out, my voice cracking like a broken whistle.

Derek's evil smile grew wider as he watched me fall apart in front of him. "You heard me perfectly, Lila Richmond. You're going to be my girlfriend. We're going to hold hands, go on dates, kiss in the hallways. The whole show."

"Are you insane?" I gasped, backing away from him like he had just grown horns. "I would never in a million years be your girlfriend! I hate you! Everyone knows I hate you!"

"Do they?" Derek asked, tilting his head like a predator studying its prey. "Because from where I'm standing, it looked like you were just fantasizing about my body. Your eyes were closed, your lips were parted, you looked like you wanted me to kiss you right here, right now."

My face exploded into flames of humiliation. "I was NOT thinking about you! I was thinking about-"

I stopped myself just in time, but Derek's eyes lit up with wicked understanding.

"About your stepbrother," he finished for me. "You were imagining it was Ryan standing here half-naked, weren't you? God, you really are messed up."

Tears burned my eyes. This was torture. Pure evil torture.

"Here's what's going to happen," Derek continued, completely ignoring my obvious distress. "You're going to pretend to be madly in love with me. You're going to write those sexy stories about me instead of your stepbrother. And in return, I'll keep your disgusting little secret safe."

"I won't do it," I whispered, my voice shaking. "I can't do it."

Derek shrugged and started to peel another one of my papers off his chest. "Fine. Then I guess everyone's going to find out that sweet, innocent Lila Richmond has been writing detailed sexual fantasies about her own stepbrother's body."

He cleared his throat and began to read out loud: "Ryan's muscles rippled as he-"

"STOP!" I screamed, lunging forward to cover his mouth with my hands. "Please don't! Please!"

Derek grabbed my wrists gently but firmly, holding my hands against his face. His skin was warm and his eyes were staring directly into mine. For a moment, we were so close I could feel his breath on my fingers.

"Then say yes," he whispered against my palms. "Say you'll be my girlfriend, and I'll keep your secret forever."

I felt trapped, cornered, completely helpless. If he told anyone about my stories, my life would be over. My family would disown me. I'd be expelled from school. Everyone would think I was a sick freak.

"Why?" I asked desperately. "Why do you want me to be your fake girlfriend? You could have any girl in school!"

Derek's expression changed for just a moment. Something flickered in his eyes - something that looked almost vulnerable. But then the cocky mask slipped back into place.

"Let's just say it would solve some problems for both of us," he said mysteriously.

"For how long?" I asked, feeling my resistance crumbling.

"Until I say it's over," Derek replied. "Those are my terms. Take them or leave them."

I closed my eyes and felt my world tilt sideways. I was about to agree to be fake girlfriend to my worst enemy. The boy who had just destroyed Ryan's dreams. The boy who was now destroying mine.

"Fine," I whispered, the word tasting like poison in my mouth. "I'll do it."

Derek's triumphant smile was absolutely blinding. "Perfect. We start tomorrow. And Lila?"

"What?" I asked miserably.

"You better make it convincing. Because if anyone suspects we're faking it, our deal is off and your secrets go public."

He released my wrists and stepped back, finally handing me my soggy papers. But as I reached for them, our fingers brushed and I felt an unexpected jolt of electricity shoot up my arm.

What the hell was that?

"Sweet dreams, girlfriend," Derek said with a wink, then walked away whistling like he didn't have a care in the world.

I stood there holding my ruined papers, feeling like I had just made a deal with the devil himself. My hands were still tingling from where he had touched me, and I hated myself for noticing how good he smelled up close.

"This is a nightmare," I muttered to myself. "An absolute nightmare."

But as I started walking toward the exit, trying to process what had just happened to my life, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Two people were kissing passionately against the wall near the main entrance. The girl was blonde and perfect, her hands tangled in the guy's hair. And the guy...

My heart stopped beating.

Those shoulders. That hair. That perfect profile that had haunted my dreams for three years.

Ryan. The papers fell from my numb fingers as I watched my stepbrother kiss another girl like she was his salvation.

But when the blonde girl turned her head slightly, I saw her face.

And my blood turned to ice.

I knew that face. I knew those cruel blue eyes and that perfect smile.

It was the face of my worst nightmare.

Lila POV

"Cassandra Williams," I whispered, the name tasting like poison on my tongue.

The girl pulling away from Ryan's lips was my worst nightmare made flesh. Those same cruel blue eyes that had haunted my middle school years. That same perfect blonde hair that had whipped around as she laughed at my pain. That same cold smile that had destroyed my confidence for years.

My bully. My tormentor. The girl who had made my life hell for three straight years.

And now she was kissing my stepbrother like she owned him.

"Lila!" Ryan's voice cut through my shock. "There you are!"

They broke apart and walked toward me, Ryan's arm wrapped around Cassandra's tiny waist. I felt like I was going to throw up. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.

"I want you to meet my girlfriend," Ryan said with the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. "This is Cassandra. She just transferred here from Jefferson High school, and she's already the new cheerleading captain."

Jefferson High school. My old middle school. Of course.

Cassandra looked at me with those same calculating eyes, but her expression was pure fake sweetness. "Oh my goodness! Lila Richmond! What a small world!"

The way she said my name made my skin crawl. Like she was tasting something disgusting.

"And Cassandra, this is my amazing stepsister Lila," Ryan continued, completely clueless about the nightmare unfolding in front of him.

"We know each other very well, don't we Lila?" Cassandra said, her voice dripping with false warmth. "We were such good friends back in middle school."

Friends. She called us friends.

This was the girl who had pushed me down stairs. Who had spread rumors that I smelled bad. Who had made me eat lunch in the bathroom because I was too scared to sit in the cafeteria. Who had called me fat, ugly, worthless every single day for three years.

"Really? That's incredible!" Ryan beamed. "This is perfect! My girlfriend and my sister already know each other!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I felt like I was drowning in memories of every cruel thing Cassandra had ever done to me.

"We sure do have history," Cassandra said, her smile sharp as a knife. "Don't we, Lila?"

The way she was looking at me made it clear that nothing had changed. She was still the same evil girl who had destroyed my confidence, and I was still her favorite target.

"Well, this is amazing!" Ryan said happily. "I'll leave you two to catch up. I need to shower and get out of this gear."

No. No, no, no. He couldn't leave me alone with her.

"Ryan, wait-" I started to say, but he was already walking away, whistling like he didn't have a care in the world.

The moment Ryan disappeared around the corner, Cassandra's fake smile melted away like ice in fire. Her true face emerged cold and absolutely vicious.

"Well, well, well," she said, stepping closer to me like a predator circling its prey. "Look what the cat dragged in. Little Lila Richmond, still ugly, still pathetic, still completely invisible."

Each word hit me like a physical blow. I was thirteen years old again, scared and helpless and alone.

"I can't believe you go to school here now," Cassandra continued, her voice filled with disgust. "I thought I was finally free of you, but here you are, still ruining everything just by existing."

"I didn't know you were coming here," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

"Of course you didn't," Cassandra laughed coldly. "You never know anything useful, do you? Still the same stupid, worthless little girl I remember."

I bent down to pick up my scattered papers, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold them. I just wanted to get away from her, to escape before she could hurt me more.

But Cassandra wasn't done with me yet.

"Tell me something, Lila," she said, her voice dangerously sweet. "Does your stepbrother know what a freak you really are? Does he know how pathetic and desperate you were in middle school?"

"Please just leave me alone," I begged, still trying to gather my papers.

"Oh, I don't think so," Cassandra said, crouching down next to me. "You see, I worked very hard to reinvent myself for high school. New school, new reputation, new me. And I'm not going to let you ruin that."

She grabbed my wrist painfully tight, her nails digging into my skin.

"If you say one word to Ryan about our history," she whispered, her voice filled with venom, "if you even think about telling him how things really were between us, I will make your life so miserable that you'll beg to go back to middle school."

Tears burned my eyes as her grip tightened.

"Do you understand me?" Cassandra demanded.

I nodded frantically, too scared to speak.

"Good girl," she said, releasing my wrist and standing up. "Now, let me make something else very clear. Ryan is mine now. He's my boyfriend, my future, my everything. And you're going to stay far away from him."

"He's my stepbrother," I said weakly. "I live with him."

"Then you better learn to be invisible again," Cassandra snapped. "Just like you were in middle school. Because if I catch you trying to get between us, if I see you flirting with him or being anything more than the pathetic little sister you are, I will destroy you."

She leaned down close to my ear, her breath hot against my skin.

"And this time," she whispered, "there won't be any teachers to save you. This time, it'll be just you and me."

With that, she stood up and smoothed down her perfect hair, transforming back into the sweet, innocent girl Ryan thought she was.

"It was so nice catching up with you, Lila," she said loudly, just as Ryan's footsteps echoed down the hallway. "We'll have to do this again soon!"

Ryan appeared around the corner, freshly showered and grinning like an idiot.

"So, how did the reunion go?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Cassandra from behind.

"Wonderful," Cassandra purred, melting into his embrace. "Lila and I have so much to catch up on."

She looked at me over Ryan's shoulder, and her smile was pure evil.

I stood there holding my wet papers, feeling like my whole world was falling apart. In one night, Derek had my secrets, Ryan had broken my heart, and now my worst enemy was back to make my life hell.

But as I watched Ryan kiss Cassandra's head so sweetly, my heart broke all over again. The boy I loved was holding the girl who had destroyed me.

I started walking toward the exit, my legs shaking. I just wanted to go home and cry.

But just as I reached the door, I heard Cassandra's voice behind me.

"Oh, and Lila?"

I turned around slowly.

Cassandra was smiling that same evil smile from middle school. The smile that meant someone was about to get hurt.

"If you tell Ryan one single thing about our past," she said sweetly, "I'll make sure he knows the real truth about who the bully really was."

My blood turned to ice. She was going to lie about everything. Make Ryan think I was the mean one.

"Sweet dreams, little sister," Cassandra whispered, her voice like poison.