Page 42 of On Thin Ice

Haldy passed it to me, and I caught Harty out of the corner of my eye. I fell back a step before he could check me and skated around him toward Gally in net. Baz grinned like a damn menace as he tracked my every move, his stick poking out to grab the puck, but I fired my shot, and it went five-hole between Gally’s legs. The goal buzzer blared, and Baz shook his head at me.

“Nice goal, asshole,” he muttered as my teammates crashed into me in a bruising hug.

A hug that I felt more this time because Harty was clearly making it his mission tonight to injure me. As my teammates patted my helmet and slapped me on the back, I glanced up at the Strikers family suite. What the hell was Ally thinking right now?

When the period ended without another run-in with Harty, I breathed a sigh of relief. It would be short lived since I still had another forty minutes of bruising hockey to go.

“So, Harty’s pissed,” Micah said as we headed down the tunnel to the locker room.

I side-eyed him. “You think?”

At this point, the entire team knew I had a baby on the way. News had traveled down the bench as fast as I could skate a length of ice. Not that I thought it’d stay a secret after my scuffle with Harty during warm-ups.

As I walked into the locker room, all eyes turned to me. A fewfucking hellsanddamn, manwere thrown out as I took my seat in front of my stall.

Millsy stopped in front of me. “How you feeling, Dom? He’s gunning for you, as expected, but the hits have looked mostly clean. He’s a great player.”

I looked up at my coach and shrugged. “What am I going to do at this point? He’s going to hit me because he’s pissed. I’m doing my best to play the game and beat them.”

Millsy chuckled. “Can’t give you too much shit since you did get the only goal of the period. Just try to avoid any actual injury and don’t take any penalties, and it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, just sign me up for an ice bath after this.” I shook my head. “Uh, do you mind if I go check my phone? I’m sure Ally’s freaking out.”

“Go ahead, but only a few minutes,” he said.

I ducked into the changing room where we kept our personal stuff and suits and grabbed my phone.

Ally: Shit. How did he find out?

Ally: I should’ve told him.

Then, there were more texts in the last ten minutes.

Ally: I’m so sorry he’s being an ass. Penny’s going to talk to him.

Ally: And if he hits you again, I’m gonna punch him.

Ally: Fuck. Sorry. He’s acting like a child.

Ally: Are you okay?

Ally: Should I come check on you?

Her concern warmed my entire body.

Dom: I can handle him. It’s okay. But will you come down after the game? We should probably talk to him together.

Dom: That is, if he doesn’t send me to the hospital.

Ally: Oh my god. Don’t even joke like that. I’m seriously going to kick him in the balls if he tries.

Ally: Ugh, his overbearing big brother act is irritating as hell.

Dom: It’s fine. I get it. I’d probably be the same if I had a sister.

Ally: It’s annoying and unnecessary. I’m going to text him and tell him to back off.

Dom: Don’t worry about it. I can handle him.

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