Page 4 of Melting the Ice

“It was Blaine. And he was fun for a while, plus I wanted a change of scenery. Denver is a great city. Didn’t expect him to ditch like he did, but I always find a way to land on my feet. I promise I won’t cramp your style for too long. I’ll start looking for a place to rent this week.”

I swore I heard him sigh, and I turned to watch his profile as he drove.

“You don’t have to rush. And you’re right, I’m only home half the year right now with the season going, so you staying with me isn’t a big deal.”

Reaching over the center console, I squeezed his hand. “Thanks, Micah. I’m going to be the best and easiest roommate ever.”

He snorted.

“Swear, I am. You won’t even notice I’m there.”

He barked out a laugh. “Says the hurricane.”

“I’m not that destructive,” I muttered, ignoring how his chuckle warmed my entire body.

Within minutes, we were pulling into a garage under a huge condo building.

I whistled. “Fancy.”

“It’s pretty nice. The team owners have been great to us, hooked us up with a place to live when we first landed. I ended up buying my unit last summer after signing a new contract. A lot of the guys are still here, especially the single ones.”

“Ooh, a building full of hockey players,” I teased.

He parked and turned to look at me. “Don’t hook up with my teammates.”

I huffed. “Seriously? I’m not going to sleep with the team or something.”

“Just stop. None of them are good enough for you.”

“Nice save.”

His green gaze held mine. “It wasn’t a save. Just looking out for my almost-sister.”

Then, it was my turn to roll my eyes. “I do not need another annoying big brother.”

He shook his head at me, a common occurrence when we were growing up. I swore Micah had been a grown-up even when we were children. So serious. It made me want to rile him up in the worst way.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.” Then he paused. “But, uh, I just realized that I don’t have the second bedroom set up.”

We got out of the car and he grabbed my bags as I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

“It’s fine. I’ll take the couch or something. I can get a blow-up mattress for the spare room tomorrow.” Not sure how I’d get to the store, but I’d figure that out tomorrow.

The elevator ride was short and soon enough, we were walking down the hallway to his front door.

“Uh. I mean, it has stuff in there, just not bedroom stuff.” He dropped one of my bags next to the front door after we walked in.

“So what’s in there? Is it like a sex dungeon? Except not a dungeon because it’s not like you have a basement.”

He stared up at the ceiling and I swore he took in a deep breath. It was another move I’d seen many times with him over the years. Usually when I said something ridiculous, which is exactly why I did it. Micah with a sex room. I bit back a laugh. Yeah, right.

Heat spiraled through me and I shoved it way down. Dirty thoughts about this man would get me nowhere but frustrated.

“It’s okay if you have one.”

He met my gaze. “I do not have a sex room, Josie. Seriously, where do you come up with these things?”

I shrugged. “You could. After all, it’s the quiet ones who are the spicy ones.”

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