Page 41 of Fate on the Ice

The plate that’s handed to me is so heaping full of food that I don’t think I could eat all of it, even after a full day of working out and teaching. Then it hits me. My clients. I haven’t been to see them.

“What about my lessons? Did anyone get ahold of my students?” I ask nobody in particular in the room.

“I did,” Forrest announces, which surprises me because he’s the least responsible one of all of us. “We divvied your clients out among us. Reid and Thomas helped out as well. In the end, all of us just took on one more kid.”

“Thanks,” I rasp.

Forrest rolls his eyes to the ceiling before he flops down in his normal chair. We all have our undesignated/designated spots in the living room. And Grace has found hers, tucked into my side.

I wouldn’t have her any other place.

We begin to eat, and the men start chatting and asking Grace questions. None of them know the truth yet, though, about the coach—her father. I think about telling them. But I decide it isn’t my place. When she’s ready, Grace can tell them who her father is.

She doesn’t need to say anything today. This can be just a day for us. And that’s what it is. We play cards, and I nap off and on. She doesn’t, though. Grace keeps me medicated per doctor's orders. Alexei keeps me fed.

It’s a day to write home about or call.

I’m not sure how late we stay up, but when we all stumble into bed, I climb in and watch as Grace stands at the side of my bed. “Are you staying again?” I ask.

She sinks her teeth into the corner of her bottom lip, tugging on the flesh slightly before she nods twice. Then she grasps the hem of the shirt that she’s wearing. Her roommates brought over some clothes, along with some store-bought cookies, because I’m convinced none of them can actually cook.

They can cut up cheese, veggies, and fruit before placing it all on a tray with cold cuts, but I’m pretty sure that’s all they can do. So, store-bought cookies it is, and they were pretty damn good.

“I’m staying,” she exhales as she begins to slowly strip out of her top.

I watch her as she stands in front of me only wearing a bra and short lounge shorts. She reaches down to hook her thumbs in the waist of her shorts and tug them over her ass, then lets them slide to her ankles.

“We have some things to discuss, don’t we?” she asks.

I nod my head, although it’s beginning to escape me what exactly we need to talk about. I want to see her naked. She reaches behind her back, unclasping her bra before she allows the straps to fall down her arms and onto the floor.

My eyes take in her tits as she breathes. Her chest rises and falls. Slowly, I tear my eyes from her hardening nipples as my gaze lifts to meet hers. I try to think about the things we’re supposed to discuss, but they have all been lost on me completely. Her naked body distracts the absolute fuck out of me.

“There’s the matter of my proposal,” I start.

“You remember that?” she asks.

Nodding once, I suck in a breath. “Of course, I remember. Did you think I wasn’t serious?” I ask.

She shrugs a shoulder. “I thought the drugs were talking, not the man,” she says in a whisper.

“Take off your panties, climb up, and give me your answer.”

She tugs her panties down and climbs up on me, her thighs straddling my hips. I grip the outsides of her thighs. Her palms rest against my chest as she looks into my eyes.

I wonder if she is disgusted by the ugly red suture line across my cheek. I would be if I had to look at it all the time. “Does my face bother you?” I ask.

I’m not sure what made me ask. I’m not a vain person. But having something like this across your whole-ass face, having a bionic cheek, it makes me feel self-conscious. I knew losing teeth was a possibility. I’m lucky I have all mine intact, but I never imagined this.

“Never,” Grace whispers. “It could never. Not even if you were mangled beyond recognition.”

She pauses for a moment as her eyes roam my face, then they connect with mine and grow intense.

“I’ve fallen in love with you, Otto. So, my answer is yes.”

My lips curve up slightly before I tug my athletic shorts down and toss them onto the floor. Carefully, I take my shirt off, too. My face aches and my pain meds are beginning to wear off, but I don’t give a fuck. This moment is not going to be ruined by my face.

Chapter

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