Page 32 of Frozen Play

We went back to the garage apartment after eating leftovers and watching another movie. Oscar said he wasn’t giving up his room for us. I stiffened, not having planned on getting physical with Skye when her brother was right there, probably hearing everything. Her cheeks went red, and she told her brother he was an idiot.

At least I was able to wrap my arm around Skye, keeping us close in the dip in the middle of the sofa. We outlasted Oscar, who yawned for a while but finally went to bed, warning us that the couch was sacred from sex cooties.

Skye glared at him. “Have you cootied this couch?”

“Oh, look at the time. I have to go.”

Skye eyed the furniture in question suspiciously, so I sat in Oscar’s chair and pulled her down on my lap.

“I’m not— I mean, Oscar is right there…”

I wrapped my arms around her. “No, I’m not bringing out the sex cooties while your brother is in the next room. I just want to hold you. Make sure this is real.”

She relaxed against me and let out a long sigh. “You feel like that too?”

“I’d do it all over again to wind up here, with you. Best Christmas ever.”

“Oh, we can make it better.” She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Let’s fill Oscar’s chair with kissing cooties.”

We did.

It took me a while to get to sleep after making out with Skye and not getting anyone naked.

I wokeup first the next morning and went for another run. Skye and Oscar were up and making coffee when I got back. I crossed to kiss Skye, who pretended to be upset by my sweat. But she kissed me back.

“I need to get back to Toronto, unfortunately.”

Oscar looked from Skye to me. “Maybe Skye could drive you back.”

A smile crossed my face. Skye looked rumpled like she had the previous morning, and I wanted to see her that way in my bed. But could she stay that long?

Skye frowned at her brother. “We’ve got the pumps, and the store open today.”

“Christine’s cousin is looking for some work. She helped us last summer, so she knows what she’s doing.”

Skye bit her lip.

“Probably safer if she doesn’t drive back here in the dark,” I said into my coffee cup.

Oscar snorted. “Yeah, Riley and I thought of that. We won’t expect you back right away, sis.” Her eyes opened wide. “We’ve got a new investor, so we can afford for you to take some vacation time. We’ve only got the one truck for towing and you can’t work in the garage, so go. Have fun. All the fun.”

She shot him the finger. And then wrapped him in a hug.

This kind of connection was what I needed in my life, and these people were the ones I wanted it with. Still, I couldn’t wait to get back to my place where it would be just Skye and me—and heat and water and a big bed.

Skye droveus back in her car. After the snow and cold of Christmas, the temperature was rising and the sky overcast. If more snow was coming, I’d be glad to be back in the city.

There were still a lot of issues that could affect this new relationship. The Blaze were struggling this season, after going to the finals last year. We had just turned things around, but Ducky, one of our first line wingers, had been hurt in a freak check. He wouldn’t be playing again this season, but we’d pulled out wins without him before the break and we hoped that if we could keep it up, management might be willing to trade for some help rather than giving up on us and selling off assets for a rebuild.

I definitely wanted to be as close to Skye as possible, so I did not want to be traded. I couldn’t argue with management about that, but I could be on the ice every game as part of the shut down line and make sure the other team’s top scorers were tangled up with us and not scoring.

So, there was my job. My family might be a problem too. But before tackling those issues, we needed some time with just the two of us. We didn’t talk much on the drive, too aware of the non-talking we wanted to do.

I finally turned on my phone. It had died at the cottage, and I hadn’t bothered with it while at the Duvalls. Any big news about the team would have been publicly broadcast, and tradedeals were frozen, so I didn’t think it was necessary to get Oppy’s weird posts or Petey’s warnings about how to behave.

I’d been avoiding contact with my family as well. I’d sent them a message before I left, about missing the Christmas dinner and the Christmas Eve party. I’d wished them a happy holiday and pushed them out of my mind.

Once I plugged it into the charger, my phone sprouted notifications like weeds. I read the team ones first—where Oppy had found a Santa toy that rude I had no idea. The family guys posted photos of their cute kids and pets with stockings, reminding me of Rowan. Ducky appeared to have survived having his girlfriend and mother both around while he was recovering.

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