Page 126 of On Thin Ice

Harty scoffed. “Fuck no. She’s got to support both of us.”

“Look at you two being all friendly,” Baz said, skating up next to us. “Little Harty needs to bring Livi to our locker room after the game so everyone can meet her. I have a jersey for her in my bag.”

“Oh, fuck no. She’s definitely not wearing yours.”

Baz grinned. “I’m going to be her most favorite uncle.”

“Like hell. I’m her favorite uncle,” Harty replied.

“Nice to see you not trying to maim Dom, Harty,” Flower said, stopping in front of us.

“We’ve come to an understanding. As long as he doesn’t hurt Ally, I won’t hurt him.”

“And since I love your sister more than I thought possible, I would never do anything to hurt her.” Yeah, we were teasing each other, throwing jabs, as usual, but I wanted to make it clear how much I loved Ally and how truly important she was to me. Harty’s nod told me that he heard me. I’d respected this man since I’d started in the league, and I was glad that we were slowly getting back to a space where he didn’t look down at me as just some punk asshole who got his sister pregnant.

“Great. Little Harty, she’s adorable,” Baz called out just before we all reached the glass where Livi, Ally, and her parents were in the front row.

Ally grinned and I echoed it. Livi looked ridiculously cute in her Tremblay jersey and headphones, snuggled up against Ally’s chest. Her eyes were wide open as she took everything in. This wasn’t her first game, but she was getting extra attention tonight.

“She’s smiling at me,” Baz boasted.

“She’s a bit young for a true smile. Probably just gas.” Ally laughed, shaking her head at me.

“How dare you?” Baz tried to sound offended, then turned to talk through the camera hole in the glass. “Little Harty, I was just telling Tremblay that you should come down to the locker room after the game so we can all meet her. She’s super cute, and you look so happy.”

“Thanks, Baz.” She smiled at the burly defenseman.

Then she made Livi wave her hand at me and my heart squeezed in my chest. Fuck, I loved them so damn much.

“Love the bow, Olivia.” Harty smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

“The jersey makes a better statement.”

Ally shook her head. “You’re both ridiculous. Now, each of you has to get Livi a goal. Who’s going to do it first?”

I tapped my chest with my stick. “Obviously me.”

“We’ll see,” Harty muttered.

“Go play, boys,” Ally said, grinning.

I blew both of them a kiss and headed back to my side of the ice with a lightness that kept me smiling through the first two periods. Especially after I got Livi her goal, eons before Harty potted his. Damn fucking right, I was first.

***

“Fuck, that was brutal,” Micah said, dropping onto the locker room bench later that night.

We’d held our own through the first two periods, keeping it tied at two as we headed into the third. And then we couldn’t get the puck on our sticks to save our lives. At least Tucks had managed to keep all but one puck out of the net in the third, so we’d only lost four to three. Not that the final score matteredwhen the night ended with zero points for us, but at least it hadn’t been a blowout.

Tally dropped onto the bench seat on the other side of me. “Fuck. That sucked, but nice to see Harty not gunning for you anymore. Everything all good on that?”

“Yeah. We’re good as long as I don’t do anything stupid. And I have no plans to fuck things up with Ally. She and Livi are my life.”

“That’s sosweet,” Sin said, grinning obnoxiously.

Tally kicked him in the leg. “Don’t be a dick. We’re all happy for Dom and Ally.”

Sin rubbed his shin. “Ouch, man.”

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