Chapter 10 – Pretending You Are Mine Novel

I lead her out onto the ice. The staff has truly made something special out of the event, they always do. Half of the ice is a rink for family and friends to skate on. Covered by rugs, the other half has a mix of couches, chairs, tables, and of course, hot cocoa and s’mores stations, which are really more for the kids. Food is up in the club section. I’ve been to this event a few times with Sarah, so being here with Ollie feels slightly awkward.

“Oh wow, this is . . . this is bigger than I expected,” she says as she glances around the arena. “You play hockey here? Look at all those empty seats. Are they usually full?”

“Every home game,” I say.

“It must get loud in here.”

“Very loud, but the cheering fans only spur me on to work harder.”

“Sexy,” she coos as I take her over to the skates section. Of course, the players all have their skates on display and below them are their respective family and friends. We had to provide the team with sizes prior to arriving to make it easier.

“Mr. Taters, are you ready to skate?” the attendant asks.

“I am,” I say. “And please, call me Silas.”

“Sure thing,” she says as she retrieves the skates and hands them off to us.

“Thank you.” I guide Ollie to a couch, then kneel in front of her.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Helping you put your skates on,” I answer and then carefully slip her shoe off. When I glance up at her, I notice her cheeks are blushing. I don’t know how much of that has to do with me kneeling in front of her or the chill of the ice beneath us.

“Oh, that’s not necessary.”

“Have you done it before?”

“No,” she answers.

“Then let me help you . . . babe.”

She chuckles. “Really going with that, aren’t you?”

I’m about to answer when I hear, “Oh my God, Pacey, look, he’s helping her with her skates.”

Winnie.

Here we go.

“Hi,” Winnie says, walking right up to us and holding her hand out. “You must be Ollie. I’m Winnie, Pacey’s fiancée.”

“Hi, Winnie,” Ollie says with a bright smile. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Good God, she’s gorgeous.” Winnie knees me in the side. “Potato, she’s so freaking pretty.”

Ughhhhh, Winnie.

“Potato?” Ollie asks. There it is.

“Oh yes, that’s what I call Taters. Just reminded me of a potato.” I glance up at Ollie to see her smiling from ear to ear.

“I rather like that nickname.”

“Don’t even think about it,” I mutter under my breath as I pick up her foot and help her insert it in the skate. When it’s fully in, I lace her up.

“When Pacey told me Potato was bringing you, I could not stop thinking about all the things I want to talk to you about.”

“Winnie,” Pacey says. “Give her a second to breathe.”

But Winnie takes a seat right next to Ollie and says, “How on earth did you two meet? The first time I met Silas, he was a total ass. Sure, I was crashing his guy vacation, but God, he was a tough one to break.”

“And you think you’ve broken me?” I ask with a raise of my brow.

“It’s adorable that you think I haven’t.” Winnie pats me on the head and turns back to Ollie. “So how did you two meet?”

Here we fucking go . . .

“Well, it was at a doctor’s office,” Ollie starts, and I take her other foot and slip it into the skate as I hear her tell the story of how we “met.” Pacey and Winnie are laughing the entire time.

“Dude . . . what were you doing with your penis out near the donkeys?” Pacey asks.

“My dick wasn’t out,” I groan as I stand, my muscles firing. “My fly was just down, that’s all. Right, Ollie?”

She nods. “There was no perverting over the donkeys.”

“I’m wondering why you were holding a chicken tender,” Winnie says. “That doesn’t seem like something you would eat. You’re fancy.”

“I like to switch it up when I’m at the zoo,” I say, just going with the flow at this point.

“I didn’t even know you like to go to the zoo by yourself,” Pacey says.

“Who goes to the zoo by themselves?” Posey says, walking up alone.

“Taters,” Pacey says.

“Really?” Posey asks. “That doesn’t seem like something you would do.”

“And he had a chicken tender with his fly undone while jerking off to the donkeys,” Winnie adds, causing me to pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Jesus, dude . . . come on. There are children at the zoo.”

I stand from where I was helping Ollie and hold out my hand to her. “Ready, babe?”

“Oooo.” Winnie claps her hands. “He calls her babe. Pacey, did you hear that?”

“I did.”

“I still can’t believe it. Potato has a girlfriend.”

“Glad you’re not making a big deal about it,” I say to Winnie.

“I’m happy for you. For both of you,” she says. “Let’s chat some more. I want to hear about all of the romantic things Potato does for you.”

Ollie smiles. “There’s a lot. He’s easily the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.”

Winnie clutches her chest and then, out of nowhere, comes up to me and gives me a hug. Unsure of what to do, I awkwardly pat her back as she squeezes tight.

“I’m so happy for you,” she quietly says. “I hated seeing you so upset over the summer.” She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “I can’t wait to learn more about your girl.”

Okay . . . someone is super emotional today.

Winnie and I had a rocky start, but a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was still trying to get over my breakup with Sarah and what happened that summer. It was supposed to be spent with my guys. But it was interrupted on day one by Winnie. It took me a while to accept her into the group, but after I got to know her better and saw how much she cared about Pacey, I knew she was a keeper.

And now, as she hugs me tightly, I can honestly call her a friend, even though a lot of the times she drives me nuts.

“Thanks, Winnie.”

She pulls away and goes to Pacey, who hugs her into his side. “Let’s get your skates,” he says. “Ollie, I expect to see you more later.”

“Of course.”

And with that, I take her hand in mine and guide her toward the edge of the carpet.

“So . . . potato, huh?”

I chuckle. “Winnie is something special. She’s the only one who gets to call me that.”

“And what nickname should I use for you?”

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