Page 36 of Frozen Play

“Don’teversay anything like that about Skye again. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you were friends with her. You know better.”

Quin shrugged. Phin stepped back and Quin straightened his collar and left the room. The door closed behind them and the house settled back into quiet.

I reached for Phin’s hand again. “You okay?”

He drew in a long breath. “I will be. Not how I hoped it would go, but what I expected.”

“What did you hope for?”

“That Dad and I could talk. But now he has Lina, and he lets her do all the hard stuff for him. Since I’m not following the plan Lina likes, I’m difficult. And I can’t even remember the last time he and I had a discussion in private.”

“I’m sorry. Do you want me to go?”

He turned to me, pulling me close. “No, that is definitely the last thing I want.” He swallowed. “Unless you want to leave after the family drama? They weren’t nice to you.”

I slid my hands up, around his neck, pressing myself against him. “I’m not going anywhere.” I’d like to strangle his relatives with my bare hands, but since that would be frowned on, I would bring him into mine. A family where he was wanted, just the way he was. “What do you need now?”

He met my gaze, open and vulnerable. “I need to feel like someone cares.”

“Then this is your lucky day, because I can definitely do that.” I stepped back, because I wanted something better than couch cushions. “Now, where is your bedroom?”

His whole body relaxed and a sexy smile curved up one corner of his mouth. “Upstairs. Unless you want to see the rest of this floor first?”

“Later,” I said. “Show me the way.”

Chapter 15

The last first time

Phin

I was amazedthat Skye stayed, and even more sure that we belonged together. If that family confrontation hadn’t convinced her to leave, I had confidence in what we could be in the future. Right now, I wanted to lose myself in her. Show her how I felt when it was too early for the words.

To my family I was a problem. To the puck bunnies, a conquest. To the fans, as good as what I did on the ice. To my teammates, I was Bongo, one of the shutdown line and part of the poker group.

Skye made me feel like Phin, and like that was enough. That it was more than enough. Right now that was all I wanted to focus on.

I held her hand as I led her up the stairs and down the hall to my room. We paused in the doorway, and I tried to see the room through her eyes.

A sleigh bed, my one attempt to work with the house. It was king-sized and took up a lot of the space in the room. I’d picked green sheets and duvet for the bed. Cooper had done up his placein team colors, but I wanted an oasis, not hockey reminders, when I escaped here. No pictures yet, just a dresser, and bedside tables that at least had lamps.

What would she think? “I can change the sheets.”

She was still examining the room. “Are they disgusting?”

“They were changed just before I left.”

“Then let’s not wait.” She tugged me into the room and over to my bed. “You have condoms?”

“Yeah, in the ensuite.” Time to get them.

“Interesting. Not the nightstand?”

I paused in the doorway to the bathroom. “I’ve never brought anyone back here.”

She blinked at me. “Really?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know where I lived. Before, with Ducky, it was a condo with security. But I don’t have that here.”

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