Page 1 of Melting the Ice

Chapter 1

MICAH

“I’m out of here.” Domenic Tremblay, one of our star forwards, set his empty glass on the bar top at Tipsy.

We were celebrating our latest win. Tonight, we’d trounced Boston four to one, and we were looking pretty good with less than two months to go in the regular season. I was itching for playoff hockey this year, just like the rest of my teammates. The Stampede was still a new team, only in our second year of existence. Making a playoff run would be epic, and I was ready for it. I hadn’t made the playoffs in my first and only year with Seattle, and my previous years in Edmonton had been frustrating as well, but there was something about this team here in Denver.

It was a move I hadn’t wanted, but I was glad to be here now.

“Always bailing early. We’re celebrating here,” called out Harry Sinclair, known to everyone as Sin—and with goodreason. The man was a loose cannon, both entertaining and annoying.

Dom grinned. “You’d always want to be home if you had Ally and Olivia waiting for you. Well, not them specifically, of course. They’re mine.”

Sin shuddered. “Yeah, no thanks. Enjoy those diapers.”

“Worth every blowout.” He lifted his hand to wave at the rest of us and all but ran out of the bar. He and Ally had had more than a few obstacles, but I was glad they’d finally figured their shit out before baby Olivia had arrived two months ago.

“Yeah. No fucking thanks on that.” Haldy grabbed another beer and gestured across the room. “I’d rather go home with her. Fuck, she’s hot. Never seen her in here before.”

I followed his gaze, and my heart slammed to a stop.

“Fuck no, you’re not,” I growled as I watched the woman walk toward us.

The woman who had irritated me for most of my life because she happened to be the annoying little sister of my best friend back home.

What the hell was Josie Caine doing here? I’d almost forgotten that she was still in Denver.

She caught me looking at her, and her smile knocked me back a step. I hadn’t seen her in a few years, and it’d been four years since I’d made the mistake of kissing her.

One fucking kiss that no one else could ever know about, especially my best friend. Ray would string me up, and hell, I’d probably help him. I’d had no business kissing her, and it would do my memory well to remember that.

She tucked a long strand of purple hair behind her ear, looking hotter than she had any right to, and stopped in front of me.

“Hey, Micahtron, been awhile.”

Sin burst out laughing. “Micahtron?”

“Go away,” I muttered, not sparing a glance at my teammate. My focus stayed on the hurricane in front of me.

“I’m definitely not going anywhere now,Micahtron.”Then his hand poked out next to my side in Josie’s direction. “Hi there. I’m Sin.”

I elbowed his arm away and didn’t miss Josie’s quirked brow.

“Fucking rude, man,” Sin said next to me, but I continued to ignore him.

“What are you doing here?” Ray had told me two months ago that she was moving to Denver with some douchebag boyfriend and that he’d given Josie my number if she needed anything, but she hadn’t reached out.

She stared up at me with hazel eyes, nibbling on her lip like she was nervous.

Josie was never nervous.

Except, right before she’d murmured something about going for it and then kissed me.

Fuck. I hadn’t thought about that night in a long time. My gut swirled anxiously.

“Just hoping to see you. It’s been a while, Micahtron,” she said, that smile back in place.

Sin barked out a laugh. Fucking hell, why was he still standing there?

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