Chapter 5 All part of the act

Chapter five 

Dean 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I hissed, stepping forward.

"Woah woah. Chill out, Morgan." Asher threw me a smirk, while raising his hands in surrender. "It was just a joke. Wasn't it?" 

"You_" 

"Of course." Lucius cut in before I could protest. I felt him tug at the back of my suit jacket, and I found myself obediently stepping backward till we were pressed close again. 

He was like a gravitational force that continued to reel me in, and while I knew all of this wasn't real and I was supposed to be resisting every part of my stupid brain that was getting too used to this, I found myself pliant instead. 

And it was all wrong. 

"Don't you have a speech to give?" Luc shot me a look that I couldn't decipher. 

"It's not a big deal." Cole said. "It's the usual bullshit we have to spit out at all of these events. Grateful to the team, grateful to our family, yada yada. The PR team sends them out a day or two before the d day." 

Cassandra had sent my speech to my mail yesterday morning, and just like Cole said, it was almost identical to all the ones I had given in the past. Except one key difference. 

I peeked over at Luc to find him laughing at one of Dmitri's jokes that nobody ever understood but just laughed to to indulge him. The Russian had a peculiar sense of humor, for want of a better word. 

"Please, let's welcome the captain of the Chicago Bruins, Dean Morgan to the stage." The woman's voice cut through my thoughts. 

Applause rang out across the hall, eyes following me as I adjusted the lapel of my suit and headed up to the stage. 

"Thank you for granting me the honour to speak tonight." I said. "As most of us know, I'm more of an action on ice guy than a speech giving guy. They only keep insisting I come up here cause I've got the only camera friendly face on the team." 

Laughter rang out over the crowd, but my gaze seemed unable to shift away from Lucius for more than ten seconds. What the hell was going on with me? Why was I so attuned to him?  

It was a recipe for disaster. 

"I want to thank the team leadership, all supporters and fans for believing in us." I said. "I want to thank my teammates for being my family and having my back on ice. There's no one I'd rather skate with."

"Love you too." Cole's voice called out from the crowd, drawing out another round of laughter. 

I shook my head with a smile. "This season, we're going to go harder, we're going to be faster, sharper, and more focused. We're going to do everybody that has ever supported us proud. We're going to bring that championship home." 

I waited for the applause to die down before letting a soft smile curve my mouth, and fixing my gaze on my pretend date. "Lastly, I want to thank the man who supports me off the ice. I hope you're enjoying yourself tonight, Luc."

I stepped off the stage while guests strained their necks to find the so called Luc. Cole's eyes were like lasers burning into the side of my head as I made my way back to the blond man's side. 

"Seriously, what's going on?" Cole cornered me before I could get to Lucius side. "Who is this guy? You've never called out Penny publicly like this, but all of a sudden, this dude deserves a mention? And don't give me that bullshit about being business partners. It's more than that. Are you gay now or what?"

"Fuck no!" I spat out before I could think about it. 

"And what's so wrong with being gay?" Luc asked as he joined us, looking irritated. "Maybe he is, maybe he's not. Do you have a problem with that?" 

"What? I don't_" 

I cut Cole off. "I'm not freaking gay! I love women. Always have, always will. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with it, but give me the good old fashioned relationship dynamics any day." 

I laughed, slapping Lucius shoulder with an obscene eye wiggle. Warning bells were going off in my head, telling me to quit acting like an asshole, but I was already too far gone. 

"Why the hell would anyone want to be gay when there are so many beautiful women in the world. It honestly makes no sense to me. Again, not that there's anything wrong with people who do that sort of thing." I winked at Cole. 

His expression was somewhere between confused and concerned, while the man at my side looked like he was either about to strangle me or cart me off to a mental institution. 

"Uh, I'll be right back. I think I hear someone calling for me." Cole announced, gaze bouncing between us. He zoomed off without waiting for a reply. 

"You're such an ass." Luc scoffed. "I don't know why the hell I thought this would be a good idea." 

He muttered something that sounded like 'I'm so fucking dumb' under his breath. 

"I didn't mean to say there's anything wrong with_"

"Don't try to patronise me." He hissed, eyes burning with fury. "If that's how you're going to react every time someone implies that you might not be a hundred percent straight, then this deal was a mistake." 

"I’ve spent thirty years knowing exactly who I am. You can’t just throw something like that at me and expect me not to react.” I defended.

“I wasn’t throwing anything at you." He stared down at me from under his nose even though I was a couple inches taller.

"Look, I panicked. Okay?" 

"No. That wasn't just panic. That was you revealing exactly how you felt." He stabbed his index finger into my chest, and I immediately grabbed at it, holding it there. 

He froze at the move, his eyes widening. 

"I c-can't do this to myself. Not again." 

"Again? What do you mean?" 

He ripped his hand away with a snarl. "I'll find some way to repay you the money. Thanks for everything." 

"We signed a contract." I snapped, suddenly angry and terrified. 

I couldn't let him walk away. I needed him. We were far from done with our deal. 

Something flickered across his face, hurt and disappointment. "Sue me if you want, Dean Morgan. It's your career in the damn mud if the world finds out about this." He taunted. 

"Lucius_" his name was a warning on my tongue. 

But he was already stepping away, jaw clenched. "If my mother woke up to find out what I got myself into for her sake, she'd never forgive herself. So go to hell, Dean. I'm not getting myself entangled with a man who thinks I'm an abnormality." 

He turned to leave. 

"How are you going to get the money? We both know if you had other options, you wouldn't have said yes to this deal in the first place."

He glanced over his shoulder, eyes hard as gemstones. "I'll get you your money. What are the chances of me finding another man who's in the market for a fake boyfriend?" 

The words slammed into me like a sledgehammer. I stood there frozen, chest burning with a feeling I couldn't place while I watched him walk away. 

God damn it.