Taking the puck, she shot it, hitting the pipe. “Just fine.”

He shook his head, heading back to the circle as they waited for the puck. “Okay, I’m done letting you win.”

She scoffed, a grin covering her face. “Sure you are.”

The puck dropped, and they both went after it, wrestling in the middle. He somehow got it out, rushing to the goal with ease, but she was gassed. She hadn’t played in a while, but she dug in, throwing her stick out, blocking his shot. Unfortunately, that move also knocked her stick out of her hand, which gave him the chance to score with ease.

“So, here we are, tied, two-to-two. I have to say, Ms. Soledad, I’m impressed.”

Holding Vaughn’s heated gaze, she laughed. “I have to admit, I’m not. I thought you were better.”

As the puck dropped, she yanked it away from him and threw it hard to the net, but it went wide, bouncing off the Zamboni door and right onto Vaughn’s stick. She was too far from him, and probably to taunt her, he wristed the hell out of the puck and it smacked dead center on the pipe. Glancing back at her, he pulled his helmet off. “Is that good enough for you?”

She lost.

Damn it.

Turning to the camera, she smiled big as she pulled off her helmet. “Well, can’t win them all. But hey, make sure to get out and learn some hockey. One day, you can be like us! I’m Brie Soledad, and thanks for tuning in.”

“Cut,” Russell said, and Brie started for the bench. “I’ll have to cut a lot of the talking, but it was good. You’re good, Brie.”

“Fuck you, Russell,” she snapped before walking off and down into the tunnel.

She was going to get in trouble for that, but the farther away from Vaughn, the better. She didn’t understand the game he was playing. Why was he still talking to her? Why was he still spitting his game? She told him no, and she meant no. Yet, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that she wasn’t an idiot and that there was a good guy in there, but she didn’t want a fixer-upper kind of guy. She wanted the guy who was going to be there for her, as she would be there for him. She wanted the guy who would love her until the end of her days, not someone she had to beg to love her. Vaughn would be a fixer-upper. She wasn’t sure what had happened, and in a way, she didn’t want to know. The sob story would surely pull at her heartstrings, and then she would give in, taking on the fixer-upper she didn’t want. She just didn’t want to do that.

Though, she still wanted him.

And that alone had her more confused than she could ever explain.

After showering and then getting some food, Brie headed home, unsure how to take all the events that had transpired. She went through everything Vaughn said, and it just didn’t make sense. If he didn’t want a relationship and didn’t do relationships, then why in the hell was he saying he missed her or that he wanted to talk to her. He thought he was cute, trying to get her in that wager, but she knew it would be nothing but trouble. He was nothing but trouble, but she couldn’t shake him. These feelings, these drowning feelings, were killing her, and she had no clue what to do with them.

How did this happen?

Why did this happen?

When she said she wanted a relationship, she really wanted it to be two-sided. But maybe that was her life. A life full of one-sided relationships. God, she was so pathetic. The only good thing coming out of this day was that she hadn’t gotten in trouble with Russell. He just wished her a good day, much to her surprise.

Sighing, she opened her door, ignoring the cries from Tricksie across the hall as she shut the door. If she didn’t, she’d be sneaking treats under the door, and she was sure Vaughn was home. He had left before her, and she just couldn’t face him, not now. Hell, probably not ever.

Was why her life such a mess?

After sitting down on the couch with an armful of mail, she let it fall to the table before she opened her container of Chipotle. She wasn’t that hungry, but she figured she needed to eat after her shitty performance on the ice. If she were smarter, she would have played better, but he’d gotten under her skin and she’d sucked.

Damn it.

Taking a fork full of food, she went to take a bite, but then she saw an envelope with the NateWay Two return address on it.

“What in the world?”

Reaching for it, she opened it quickly, pulling out a single sheet of paper. It was from the billing department of NateWay, and when she saw the balance at the bottom of the page, her heart stopped.

“That motherfucking son of a bitch.”

When Vaughn and Jensen exited the elevator on their floor, Brie’s voice carried down the hall. “Open the fucking door! I know you’re in there.”

Pausing, they both glanced at each other as Jensen shook his head. “Oh, that does not sound good.”

“Nope, not at all.”

“You should have let her win.”

“She’d still be pissed,” Vaughn decided as he started around the corner to see her banging on his door, her face so damn red, as Tricksie went crazy on the other side. “Hey, you’re scaring my dog.”

Her eyes went wide as she huffed in a deep breath and let it out. Stomping with all her five-foot, one-inch glory, she went toe-to-toe with him before holding a piece of paper from NateWay up in his face, her knuckle connecting with his lip. He wasn’t sure if she had done it on purpose, but before he could ask, she was screaming. “You promised! You told me it would cost me nothing! You looked me in the eye and promised. But then, what do I expect? You promised you wouldn’t hurt me ever again, and that was a fucking lie. I don’t have this kind of money, and it makes me sick that you are charging me now. Why? Because I won’t fucking sleep with you? I have to sleep with you to have my brother in your community? Well, guess what, fucker? I’ll go sell myself to someone else because you’ll never get in my pants ever fucking again!”

“Jesus,” Jensen breathed as he shook his head, going around her. “You two are on your own. I’ve got a headache.”

Looking at the paper, ignoring both of them, Vaughn shook his head. “Brie—”

“No! You are a fucking piece of motherfucking—”

“Brianna!” he yelled, cutting her off. “If you would have read the whole page, right here,” he said, turning it around to show her, “it says, ‘This is not a bill.’ They send this for your records. We do it for everyone.”