Page 82 of Ice Cold Hearts

“It helps us become better hockey players. We’re attuning,” Alexei says completely seriously.

He grabs my hand. Now, I’m stuck. I have to either grab Ian’s hand or back down. I’ve never been one to quit, so I grab his hand.

I don’t normally hold hands with men, but I’ve had worse experiences. At least neither of them is sweaty. I hate sweaty hands. There was actually an agent who tried to bring me on at the same time as Liza, and one of the major reasons I didn’t go with him was because his handshake was always moist.

“I see.” She smiles in spite of herself. “And what, exactly, are you attuning to?”

“Our souls,” Alexei deadpans. “We’re synchronizing our vibes so we can sense each other out on the ice. It’s very cutting edge.”

Emily completely loses it. She folds almost completely in half cackling and snorting. Her face is red and splotchy. Her hair is a damp, tangled pile of noodles. There are tears in her eyes and dried toothpaste by the corner of her mouth.

I’ve seen this woman in mom jeans and a tank top without a stitch of makeup on and chasing Audrey around our yard. I’ve seen her in scrubs that bring out the gold flecks in her brown eyes on her way to and from work. I’ve seen her look heartbreakingly beautiful in a form-fitting navy dress dancing at our favorite nightclub. I’ve seen her stretched out on my bed wearing only the marks we’ve left on her, begging me to fuck her. She’s shown me so many captivating sides of her, and yet, it’s right now when she looks like an absolute mess that I realize I’m madly in love with her.

Emily addresses the wriggling blanket behind us. “The jig is up. Time for bed, Audrey.”

“Aww, man,” grumbles the blanket.

We scoot over so Emily can talk to Audrey more easily.

“All right,” she says, crouching down, “How do you want to go to bed? I can carry you like a suitcase. Or you can hop to bed.”

Audrey pokes her face out of the blanket.

“Hop,” she answers.

“Okay, little bunny, hop upstairs and pick a story. I’ll be right behind you,” she promises.

Audrey wriggles out of the blanket and takes two experimental hops before stopping and looking back at us.

“Will you come and read me stories too? I can’t fall asleep without my bestest uncles in the whole wide world,” she asks forlornly.

I know she’s stalling the same way I know when Alexei is about to pass the puck in a game before he even makes a move. It’s like I can smell it. Still, I’m suckered in by her big brown eyes and quivering lip, so I stand up and tell her I’ll be right behind her. Once she’s secured Ian and Alexei, she hops contentedly upstairs.

“You’re hopeless. She’s going to become an absolute monster if we ever live together if you guys keep going on like this,” Emily says shaking her head.

The three of us freeze and just stare at her.

“What?”

“You want to live with us?” I ask.

“Well, not anytime soon. I’d like to be dating you all at least a year before we start figuring that out.” Emily flushes beet red.

“So you’re saying you’re starting to see us as something permanent in your life,” Alexei says with a hint of a smile.

“I… well, there’s still a lot to… what I mean is…” She growls, frustrated. “Yes, damn it. I do. Are you satisfied? Now will you all stop looking so smug and help me put Audrey to bed before she runs down here again?”

Ian and Alexei head upstairs, but I grab her wrist and stop her before she can follow. Before she can protest, I pull her to me and steal a kiss from her.

I smile. “I’m not.”

“Not what?” she asks, scrunching her nose.

“You asked me if I was satisfied,” I say, grabbing her ass. “I’m not even close to it, Kitten, but don’t worry, as soon as we get that little gal to bed, you’re going to help me with that.”

27

EMILY

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