Page 37 of On Thin Ice

“This is your fault, Baz, running your damn mouth as usual,” I said as Harty twisted my jersey.

“Pretty sure this is all on you, man,” Baz said, holding up his hands. He at least had the decency to look slightly chagrined. If I really thought about it, the fucker probably planned this.

“Tell me again how you got Ally pregnant,” Harty gritted out.

“Pretty sure you don’t want a play-by-play,” Jake joked.

Harty turned to glare at his best friend. “Fuck. Off.”

“Look, it just happened, man,” I said, and before I could think of something smart to actually say, Harty had me pressed into the boards, his elbow at my throat.

“You fucked her and walked away? Leaving her to navigate being pregnant on her own and raise this baby on her own? Not that she’ll be alone because she has all of us, but what the fuck, asshole? You should’ve stayed away from her, like I told you more than once. Now she’s pregnant, and you clearly don’t give a shit,” he said, his words slicing through me.

“Listen, I didn’t know about the baby until she came to Denver,” I said, shifting my shoulders.

His eyes bored into mine, and I swallowed hard, which wasn’t easy since he still had his forearm across my throat.

Flower skated up, and his gaze darted between Harty and me. “What’s going on over here?”

“Why don’t you ask pretty boy over here?” Harty growled, still glaring at me.

“Harty, come on, man. Let him go,” Flower said.

“What the hell is happening?” Tally asked from right behind me.

“Just having a nice, friendly Striker reunion,” Baz deadpanned.

“Dom was just telling me how he knocked up my sister and abandoned her. So I’m sharing my feelings with him,” Harty said, finally dropping his arm from my throat as he continued to glare at me.

“Oh fuck,” I heard Micah say from somewhere, but I kept my eyes on Harty.

“You got Little Harty pregnant?” Flower asked. “Oh fuck, man.”

I swallowed again. “Look, can we not do this right now? Harty, man, I know we need to talk. And I didn’t abandon her. She just told me when she was in Denver last month. We’re working it out, but have some respect for your sister, and don’t air her personal business on the ice in front of everyone.” I didn’t need to scan the ice to know that players on both sides had started watching us.

His eyes narrowed further if that was possible, and he shoved my shoulder. “You’re going to tell me how to respect my sister when you clearly didn’t give a fuck?”

Someone whistled low, and I definitely heard anoh fuck,andyou idiotfloat through the air. Yeah, not my best choice of words, but I was still trying to get oxygen to my brain after he’d pressed his arm to my throat.

“This is between Ally and me, Harty. I swear I didn’t know until recently and I promise we’re figuring things out. Give me the fucking benefit of the doubt, man. We played together for years. You know me.”

“Yeah, which is exactly why I told you to stay away from her. She deserves better than some snot-nosed asshole player,” he gritted out.

I took in a deep breath, speaking slowly and hoping Harty would fucking listen. “She does deserve better than me, but we’re having a kid—your niece—and we are working on what happens next, so back off. And since you clearly don’t trust what I’m saying, maybe talk to her,” I said, anger bubbling in my chest.

Yeah, Ally deserved better, and I had been a player. But I wasn’t that punk nineteen-year-old rookie anymore, and Harty fucking knew it.

“Okay, okay. Let’s just step back for a moment, everybody,” Flower said.

I finally glanced up to see both teams watching us. I hated that we’d made a scene, but I had to stand up for myself. For Ally.

Fuck. She was going to freak out when she heard about this, and there was no way she wouldn’t.

I was surprised Millsy hadn’t come over to ask what the fuck was going on.

Harty jabbed me in the chest. “This isn’t over. You and I are both going to talk to Ally after the game, and if you’re lying to me, I’m going to skewer you.”

I swallowed hard. “Got it.”

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