Page 48 of On Thin Ice

She threw up her hands at me. “Fine. Yeah. I don’t really want to do this here, and you promised me a late dinner. I’m not that hungry, but I have ice cream in my freezer. This conversation would probably be better with some B and J.”

I made a choking sound.

“Oh my god. I mean Ben and Jerry’s. Not a BJ. After tonight, that’s definitely not happening any time soon. I mean, not that it was on the table before tonight, but just. Ugh. Just no,” she said, her cheeks flushed.

My stupid cock hardened. I would never not want this woman.

Not tonight, buddy.

“Sorry. I’m just remembering—”

“Seriously, just stop,” she interrupted, poking me in the chest.

I grabbed her hand and tugged her into me. Fucking hell, I loved having her in my arms. She was glaring at me. Shit. I was making a mess of this, but she’d said B and J, and my brain had short-circuited.

“You’re all flushed and gorgeous, and of course, my thoughts went there. We always did have fun hooking up.” I was digging myself a bigger hole, but I couldn’t help myself when it came to Ally.

She sucked in a breath, her glare still in place. “I’m flushed because you’re annoying the hell out of me right now, and don’t try to weasel out of explaining what happened tonight.”

“I swear I’m not.”

“If you can control yourself, we can go back to my place. For ice cream and an explanation.” She drew out the last part.

I chuckled, and she punched me in the biceps.

“Ouch,” I said. She got me right where Harty had drilled me into the boards more than once.

“What? Oh yeah, my stupid brother. Come on. Let’s go,” she said, pulling out her phone. A few taps later, she added, “A car will be here in four minutes.”

I linked my fingers with hers, refusing to let go as we made our way out of my old arena. It was still weird walking these halls as a visitor, let alone with Ally and our daughter.

The car ride to her place was relatively quick and mostly silent. I wasn’t sure how to read her. And since my dick had taken overmy brain for a moment back in the arena, I figured keeping quiet would benefit both of us.

Not that I was even sure what to say to her. But the idea of having her move to Denver had settled firmly in my chest and I was going to do everything I had to convince her it was the best plan. How would I figure out how to be a good father if I barely got to spend time with my daughter as soon as she arrived? And I knew that it shouldn’t be all about me, but I wanted to have Ally and our daughter close. I wanted to develop that bond from day one. I just had to convince Ally that it made sense for her to move in with me, and so far, I wasn’t doing a good job at that.

When the car pulled to a stop in front of her building, she was out of the vehicle before I could even unbuckle my seat belt and get to her side to hold the door open.

“Ally, wait,” I called out as she made her way up the walkway to the front door.

I swear I heard her mutter, “I have to pee,” and I swallowed my chuckle. I’d read that babies liked hanging out on their mother’s bladders, especially later in the pregnancy.

I hadn’t lied to her. I was reading everything I could to understand what she was going through and to prepare myself for having a child. I might’ve had shitty examples growing up, but I was determined not to fall back on that as a reason to be a clueless father. Ally and our daughter deserved better than that.

I followed her into the building and up to her apartment.

“Be right back,” she said, disappearing down the hall and into the bathroom. It’d been a while since I’d been here—since March, to be exact.

Since conception.

So fucking weird to think about it like that.

Making myself useful would go a long way in showing her that I would be there for her and that I could anticipate her needs, so I walked into her kitchen and opened the freezer. Holy shit,there was a lot of Ben and Jerry’s in here. There were a handful of flavors, but multiple pints of Vanilla Caramel Fudge, so I pulled out one of them, assuming it was her favorite. Grabbing two spoons, I moved to the living room and sat down on the couch to wait for her.

“Don’t think I’m sharing,” she said when she took the seat next to me on the couch. She grabbed the pint from my hand and shifted it away from me.

I chuckled and ducked my spoon around her arm to grab some ice cream.

“Rude,” she mumbled, taking a bite. Then she sighed. “That’s so much better.”

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