Page 108 of Melting the Ice

I refused to let him ruin the rest of my day. I had work to do. Work I loved. And as soon as these pups were home, I was going right back to Harper’s place and working on my spicy images for Elaine. And for a new author, Jade. She wrote romantasy and loved the sample illustrations I’d sent her last week.

And tonight, I was going to watch my boyfriend—my loving, supportive boyfriend—kick ass on the ice.

Yup. The rest of the day was going to be great.

***

My phone buzzed as I walked toward the WAG suite later that night. I hadn’t seen Micah or Ray since the blowup this morning. I’d wanted time to myself, and thankfully, they’d both given it to me. Micah, of course, had texted that his pregame nap sucked without me and said he’d steer me right past my brother if I wanted to join him. But I’d declined. One, I didn’t want to see Ray and his judgy eyes right now, and two, Wally needed some rooftop playtime.

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and saw that my brother had just texted.

Ray: I feel like a dick.

Ray: Micah lit into me again before he headed to the arena.

I leaned against the wall outside the suite. I wasn’t ready to talk to him, but part of me wondered if he only felt like a dick because he’d pissed off his best friend. I’d never needed to come first with my brother, but I could do without the disdain.

Ray: I deserved it. Just talk to me, Josie.

Ray: I’m at the game tonight if you want to join me down here. Or we could grab a beer or something after the game? At intermission? Let me know.

“What did he do?”

Harper’s voice startled a squeak out of me, and my head darted up.

“Am I kicking him in the balls? Connor says they need him to play well tonight, but I’ll march down there right now.”

My laugh was watery. “He told me he loved me today.”

Harper put her hand on her chest. “That bastard.” Then her eyes narrowed. “No. That’s not all of it because you wouldn’t be looking so dejected right now. I know you’re as madly in love with him as he clearly is with you.”

“He might’ve said it after my brother heard us having sex and then gave me shit about hurting Micah and maybe not sticking around. Oh, and that we lied to him. That last part is obviously true, of course.”

Her eyes widened, and she grabbed my arm, guiding me into the suite. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. That’s a lot to unpack.”

“What’s going on?” Ally asked, walking toward us with Livi strapped to her chest. “Micah being a dumbass? They’re really good at that.” She looked down at her wide-eyed daughter. “Boys are the worst, Livi. Remember that.”

“Not always,” Harper said. “How are those earplugs holding up, Josie?”

Ally chuckled as I laughed. “Oh my god. Timmy would be bright red if he heard you say that.”

“Just trying to make you smile,” Harper said.

“Why are we making her smile? What’s going on?” Cora asked when she stopped in front of me.

I glanced around the suite. There were a handful of women and kids scattered around, but warm-ups hadn’t started yet, and the suite was relatively empty.

Then Cora handed me my favorite beer from behind the bar set up in the corner. “Need something stronger?”

Did I want to spill my guts to all of them right now? Honestly, yes. I’d never had this kind of friendship in my life, and I had grown to love it. Not only were they truly supportive of each other, but we were all in relationships with professional athletes, and that commonality was beyond helpful. We understood where each other was coming from.

I took a sip of my beer and guided them all to a quiet corner. While there weren’t a lot of people in here yet, I didn’t need my day broadcasted or shared with anyone else.

“So, uh. Ray heard Micah and me having sex this morning, so then we obviously had to tell him we were together, and he freaked out.”

“Yikes. Because you’re his sister? Yeah, been there,” Ally said. “I mean, Ethan never heard us having sex, but obviously that happened,” she said, gesturing to Livi.

“Uh, not exactly. He was pissed that we lied to him, and then he was mad at me because he’s afraid I’ll break Micah’s heart or something. That I’m going to leave him and Denver if something better comes along because I never like to stay put.”

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