Page 7 of Holiday Power Play

Was it inappropriate to strip down in a public place? Yes. But did I do it for the fans? Also yes. So why am I the one being punished and asked to lie low during Christmas this year?

Those were the words from our team’s PR manager, Rina Lopez.“Just lie low this Christmas. Maybe leave town. Your stupidity will be forgotten.”

Hence why Mick invited me to the mountains for Christmas with his family. We leave tomorrow.

“Wait…” I flop to my side to look at him. “Your sister is coming, isn’t she?”

“She wasn’t going to… but she called me earlier and told me that her car got impounded. So… yeah. It looks like she’s joining us.”

I groan. “Well, does she know I’m coming?”

“She will,” he says, pushing himself up and stretching a hand out to me.

“Gah… I wish I would’ve known that before I had her car towed.”

“You just had to be a dick to Lana,” Mick says, hauling me up.

Huh. So her name’s Lana. Pretty.

“I mean, she’s not very nice herself.”

Even if she’s quite literally the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Her ridiculous personality kind of ruins the whole vibe for me.

When I saw Lana MacDonald–why does that sound like a clown name? Well, when she pulled the door open to her townhome I almost changed my mind and was willing to drop the whole parking spot situation.

In the grand scheme of things. It wasn’t that big a deal. But then she opened her mouth and I thought better about it.

She’d run me over with her tiny car the first chance she got if I showed her even an ounce of weakness.

“Give her a chance, man. Lana’s had a rough month. And you calling a tow truck on her… that was the disgusting maraschino cherry on top.”

“What? I love maraschino cherries,” I tell him, grabbing the backpack I dropped off at the entrance next to my helmet and swinging it onto my back.

“Yeah, well Lana doesn’t. She hates cherries.”

I’ll file that valuable information away for later. Just in case.

“I could just fly to Breckenridge… I don’t want to be the third wheel.”

“Technically, Lana is the third wheel. She wasn’t planning on coming out this year. But like I said, she’s had a rough month.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel like a total dick for fighting her on the parking spot thing. Because it’s not working,” I inform him.

I push the door open to the exit of the gym and hold it out for him.

“Yes, you should. But don’t worry, she’ll make sure you don’t get away with it,” he gives me a reassuring wink.

“Awesome,” I mutter.

We're walking out of the gym and to our parking spots. The cool Texas air blows through my wet head reminding me that it really is winter. Even if it hasn't felt cold enough here to embrace it lately. His crossover SUV is parked right next to my motorcycle.

“I don’t know man… maybe we can just forget the whole thing. Rina asked me to lie low. I can just stay home.”

“And eat ramen noodles on Christmas day because you don’t cook? I won’t let you do that.”

Mick is a big guy. One of those guys that you're scared of going head to head with on ice. But off the ice, he's just a giant Canadian teddy bear I call my friend. His bright green eyes against his mocha skin stay glued on me, waiting for a response.

"It’s a family event. And I’m not family. I don’t want to crash a family event."

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