Page 76 of Cold as Ice

“Aw, okay, fine, send me off with blue balls.” Elliott batted his eyelashes. “You still gonna tutor me tonight?”

“Actually,” Mal said, smiling now, “I think you’re gonna tutorme.”

Chapter 10

“I should’ve seen thatcoming, right after that power play,” Finn said morosely as he sipped his Coke.

“You shouldn’t have even been in that position,” Brody reassured him.

“It was a bullshit call,” Nate Greene agreed. “I didn’t trip anyone. He tripped sure, but if the refs think I did it, they need fucking glasses.”

“Listen, shit happens,” Elliott said. “We gotta listen to Coach B. We fought hard. We nearly came back.”

“Yeah, that was a fucking sick shot you almost made. The way Mal flicked the puck back to you? How’d he even know you were there?”

“Mal knows more than you think he does,” Elliott said.

“I didn’t bring you guys here so you could agonize,” Ramsey said firmly. “Who’s gonna play me in foosball? Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be you, Reynolds.”

Finn shot him a dark look. “No. No way.”

“You’re the best, though. If I wanna be the best, I gotta cut my teeth on the best,” Ramsey said, shooting Finn his most charming smile. “Come on.”

Brody turned to Elliott after the pair of them had wandered towards an empty table. “He’s gonna crack up,” Brody said under his breath.

“No, he’s not.” Elliott more wanted to believe it was true than heactuallybelieved it was true.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he glanced at the screen. It was the sister chat.

Tough loss, baby bro,Nina texted.

That shot tho! How did Mal know you were even there?That was from Connie.

PFM,Macey responded.

AKA, Elliott translated,pure fucking magic.

We’ve been working on some things.

Technically, that was not a lie. They had been working on their on-ice chemistry, sure, but they’d been doing it all year, and despite their success as the top line on the team, it wasn’t like ithadgotten magically better.

No, Mal had trusted him in that moment and he’d taken the shot, and if not for bad luck, they’d be talking about it in hushed tones now.

“Your sisters?” Brody asked, glancing down at Elliott’s phone.

“Yeah,” Elliott said. “They’re something else.”

Brody had met them last year when they’d arriveden massefor one of the last games of the season.

“Entertaining at best, annoying at worst?” Brody wondered.

Elliott nodded.

“Sometimes I’d like to have a brother or a sister.” Brody sighed.

“You got a roommate, though,” Elliott teased, remembering what he’d initially hoped to wiggle out of the guy.

“Yeah, what about Dean?” Brody’s expression was carefully neutral. So neutral Elliott was convinced he was right.

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