Free Hockey Is My Boyfriend: Part Three by Melanie Ting

satisfaction. “Not a total beast.”
    Phil laughed. “So Kelly, you want to go out for dinner tonight? And I could use a date to my parent’s big anniversary shindig on the weekend. I think you owe me big for being your fake fiancé.”
    “I owe you? You didn’t have to do a thing.”
    “My photo is on your desk, and my reputation is on the line. Now everyone in Vancouver thinks I’m the marrying kind of guy. From now on, my first dates will be littered with wedding magazines and china patterns. I’m doomed!”
    I started giggling, yet inside I felt uneasy. Being with Phil again was so much fun. But when I saw Jimmy, he had stirred a lot of warm feelings in me. How could I be attracted to both of them at the same time? And what was I going to do?
    When I returned to the office, things were back to normal. Brian came by to talk to me after his show ended.
    “Uh, big oops, Kelly. So you really do have a fiancé, even if he is a cheap bastard. You should have held out for a real diamond at least. Did he tell you it was a fake?”
    I found it deeply ironic that now that I was ready to tell the truth, nobody was going to believe me. Given that I was interested in dating again, it was time to be single. However, it would be too mind-boggling to explain that I was dating my ex-fiancé.
    I dropped into Cheryl’s office. Her desk was perfectly clean now, and she beamed at me.
    “Did you and Phil have a nice lunch?”
    “Er, yes, great.”
    “What an adorable couple you are.”
    “Well, about that, I have to tell you—I’m not really engaged.”
    She gave me a blank stare, and then her eyebrows knotted in concern. “Oh Kelly, I’m so sorry. He broke up with you? And on your lunch hour, that’s rather heartless. Did you want to take the rest of the day off?” She reached out to pat my hand.
    “No, no, that’s not it at all.” I took a deep breath. “Okay, this started way back. Remember my friend, Karen? She warned me that the guys were really a pain here, and we decided that if I pretended to be engaged it would make things easier.”
    Cheryl looked at me with one eye closed. “I have to admit, that’s rather clever. It did seem to work. So why are you confessing this now? Phil seemed fine with the deception—rather happy, actually.”
    This was even harder to explain. “Well, I’m sick of lying about it. And now I think I’d like to start actually dating and not have to worry about running into anyone from work.”
    She nodded. “I think I understand. Dating someone other than Phil.”
    “Sort of. I’ll probably be dating Phil. But, um, other people too.”
    Cheryl frowned at me. “You young people have more complicated lives than I ever did. But your personal life isn’t really our business. As long as you continue to do a good job here, that’ll be fine.”
    Complicated? She had no idea. Unfortunately, neither did I.

11

The Dating Game
    “ Y ou know , I’ve never been a big believer in fate,” I told April. “But I think that all the craziness in the past week has occurred for a reason.”
    She snorted. “And that reason is to make every other woman in Vancouver realize how much her social life sucks.”
    “Oh, don’t start with me. How many dates do you have this weekend?”
    April made a noise that sounded a lot like a purr. “Only two. But I’m going for dinner at Tojo’s on Friday. It’s a double treat. The best Japanese food in town, and I miss your night to cook.”
    “Oh, burn. Anyway, I was complaining about how much my personal life sucked, and suddenly—bam—the two most important guys in my life are back. It’s an amazing opportunity. But how do I decide?”
    “Yeah, it’s so difficult. Should you take the totally hot guy with a good future ahead of him or the guy with a great body and oodles of money? A quandary, for sure.”
    “But the thing is—I’ve changed, and presumably they’ve changed too. So I can’t do some dumb pros and cons sheet.”
    “Cage