Page 36 of On Thin Ice

“Uh, great. Nice city. Team’s looking good this year. Can’t complain,” I answered calmly, shifting on my skates.

“Wasn’t Ally just in Denver?” Baz asked.

Control your face.

“She was?” I asked.

Harty shot Baz a look.

“Yeah. She was there for a work conference or something,” Harty replied.

“Too bad she didn’t reach out. I could’ve taken her sightseeing or something.”

I stifled a groan. Fucking hell, you dumbass.

Harty tilted his head, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“Sightseeing. Yeah. Sure.” Baz chuckled.

“Fuck off, man. Ally and Dom were never really friends,” Harty said.

I tamped down a snort. Harty could say Ally and I weren’t close all he wanted, but he knew we’d hooked up years ago, regardless of his discouragement.

“Sure. Of course,” Baz said, his eyes never leaving mine.

Was my throat closing up?

“Yeah, I guess we really aren’t friends.” What the fuck else was I supposed to say?

“Sorry for snapping, man. It’s good to see you. Oh, and also, sorry, we’re going to send you home with zero points,” Harty said before he skated off.

Baz tapped his glove against his stick. “I just find it interesting that you’d want to see her at all. But then again, you were awfully close to each other at Harty and Penny’s wedding last year, and I thought I saw you two leaving Crash and Byrne together after the last game you guys played here in March.” He paused for a moment. “And now she’s pretty pregnant.”

What.

The.

Fuck.

“Don’t pass out, man,” Baz said.

The guy had always been too observant. He played the bumbling prankster perfectly, and it was easy to forget that he could read people so well you’d think he was a fucking fortune teller or some shit.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, panic welling up in my chest.

Baz skated closer to me. “Look, it’s not my place to tell you what to do, but Ally’s a great girl, and you two have a weird history. Just figure it out before that little girl shows up, okay? And I already got her a Bastian jersey.”

“Fuck that. She’ll be wearing Tremblay,” I fired back.

Jake skated to a stop next to me and Baz, his eyes wide. “No fucking way.”

“Jake,” I began.

“You got Ally pregnant,” Jake announced before I could stop him.

“What the actual fuck? You’re the one who fucking knocked up my sister?” Harty growled as he shoved Baz aside and gripped my jersey.

Jake shook his head. “Oh fuck, man.”

---