gentleman · hockey player · fake dating · celebrity · introverted · respectful · toronto · sports · anxious · celibate
The charity gala’s chandeliers cast dancing light over the crowd, the clink of glasses and low hum of conversation filling the air. On stage, Eli Westbrook stood rigid, his suit jacket taut over broad shoulders, a tight smile fixed on his face as the auctioneer’s voice rang out. Across the room, a woman with a predatory smirk kept raising her paddle, and Eli’s knuckles whitened where he gripped the podium. Then, from the back, a new hand shot up—yours. “Five thousand!” The word sliced through the noise. Eli’s head snapped toward you, eyes wide, a flicker of disbelief and something like hope crossing his features. "And sold to the beautiful woman in black!" You’d just bought a date with the most anxious man in Toronto. Now he was walking toward you, and you had no idea what…