Page 9 of Fate on the Ice

“Why’s that?” I ask, walking into the kitchen and heading straight for the fridge.

Tugging the door open, I scan the contents. Every week, one of us shops for the house in an effort to keep things fair. Last week was Lev’s, and it’s obvious. The man has never heard of a snack in his whole fucking life. He buys ingredients for meals and cooks food but nothing to snack on—ever.

“The girls are inviting us over for dinner and drinks. Got a new one who just moved in today.”

That gets my attention.

I want to see the woman with the ass up close and in person. I need to know how gorgeous she is. I have to know. Because without a doubt, if she is half as nice up close as she is from a distance, I’m going to have a hard time staying away from her.

“Girl dinner?” I ask.

Lev breaks out a laugh. “You know that is what it will be. It’s what it always is.”

“You got any ideas of what we could cook in the time we need to make it so we don’t end up with hangovers?” I ask.

“We need carbs,” Alexei’s voice booms from the top of the stairs.

A few moments later, the grill is on and warming up to make burgers. Lev has cut up all the fixings, and the fries are in the oven. If we don’t get some food in us, that little meat and cheese tray the girls try to call dinner will just piss us off, and I’m still on the edge of a hangover from our celebration a few nights ago.

Food consumed, showers taken, and a couple of six-packs in hand, we all walk across the street to the house that has become almost a second home to us. A place we’re all comfortable.

It’s a place that is always on my radar, too. I glance at it out of the corner of my eye every day, coming and going, keeping an eye on them. The houseful of girls who live there, no matter what, will always be looked after.

I want to make sure they’re safe—always.

I feel as if we have a duty, all of us, to them. I know they’re independent women. I know they’re strong and perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, but at the same time, we all feel a sense of duty to them.

Lifting my hand, I ball my fingers into a fist and start to knock on the door when it flies open, and Brooklynn greets me with a big smile.

“Come inside,” she says as she steps to the side.

There is music already playing, and the women are in the backyard. “We decided on a patio party since the weather is nice,” Brooklynn announces.

I follow her through the living room and then the sliding glass door. There, the girls’ charcuterie is set up on a table, along with an ice chest that’s filled with beer and ice. Crouching down, I take the beers I brought out of my carrier and shove them down in the ice. Forrest does the same.

Standing from the ice chest, I look around the yard. It doesn’t take me long to find exactly what I’m looking for… or rather, who. She’s there. Just a few feet away, her back to me. That ass on display in a pair of tight jeans.

“Grace, I want you to meet the guys,” Brooklynn calls out.

Then Grace spins around, and my goddamn heart stops beating in my chest. Holy fucking shit. I recognize her from the arena the other day. I bumped into her after walking out of Coach Burns’ office. She’s just as fucking stunning now as she was the other day.

Long blonde hair and green eyes that could suck the soul out of a man and hold him hostage. My spine straightens as if someone has picked it up for me and placed it perfectly rod straight.

And those eyes are going to suck my fucking soul out of my body and hold it hostage. I think I would let her, too. I’ve never seen a woman like her before. I don’t know why I’m drawn to her. I don’t know why she makes me feel this intense, but I need to find out.

I don’t ask her what she was doing at the coach’s office. It doesn’t matter—nothing does—because she owns me. One look, one smile—she owns me.

“Timberrrrrrr,” Lev calls out. “I think we may have lost another one.”

Grace breaks eye contact with me and glances at Lev. Her brows knit together, and she opens her mouth, likely to ask him what the fuck he’s talking about. But before she can, I introduce myself.

“I’m Otto,” I say.

Her eyes come back to meet mine, and she gives me a small smile. Extending my arm, I hold my hand out for her. She slips her fingers inside, and I gently grip her, shaking her hand once.

Sparks fly. I never understood that before now. How you could feel jolts of electricity coming from a single touch. But it zaps throughout my entire body, and I want it again and again. I wonder what it’s going to feel like when I slide inside of her because I will be fucking her… eventually.

“Nice to meet you,” she whispers.

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