Page 54 of Ice Cold Rival

I’d managed to avoid the first couple of book clubs, but I didn’t have a good excuse for this one. Avery offered to pick me up so her, me, and Marco could all Zoom in together, which is how I ended up at Reece’s house a couple of hours after he’d left me questioning my sanity, while he and his roommates were away at morning skate.

“Wait, what was that?” I stammered out as I yanked my wandering thoughts away from Reece yet again.

Stephen unmuted himself to answer. “Marco wanted to call us the Book Bunnies for obvious reasons, but Avery vetoed it. Then Eva suggested Ball Bunny Book Club, which Marco loved, and since Avery had already used her veto, we voted on it. Mac insisted he got two votes for the book club being his idea, and him, Eva, and Marco outnumbered me and Avery.”

He hit the mute button again and sat back with a raised brow I assumed was pointed at Eva. She remained unfazed by his recap.

“Don’t be a sore loser. Anyway, you’re stuck in dicksand, struck immobile by his cock and sinking fast. You need to float your ass out of there until you’re on solid ground.”

I glanced at Avery with wide eyes. All I’d said was I felt I might be in over my head with Reece, then I’d asked for advice. Avery shrugged, helpful as always.

“No,” Eva leaned forward, pointing at the screen. “Don’t do that big, doe-eyed scared thing. Dear god, no wonder Reece has lost his mind. He finally finds someone who puts up with his bullshit, and she’s a Disney princess. I told him this morning he’d better not fuck this up.”

I cocked my head. “Why were you talking to Reece this morning?”

She blew hair out of her face. “Shit, I’m losing my touch. See? Dicksand. Makes you stupid. I can’t tell you what he called about, but you’ll find out soon enough.”

Stephen unmuted again. “Has your language actually gottenworse?”

Suddenly, Stephen’s square disappeared, and we got the message that he’d left the call.

Eva cleared her throat. “Any other complaints?”

I raised my hand, then thought better of it and dropped it back into my lap. “Could we possibly get back to my question?”

She held up the dark romance novel we were supposed to be talking about. “Did anyone read the book?”

Marco shoved his face between me and the camera. “I did, but I’d much rather dissect Kenzie’s relationship.”

“Seconded,” Avery said loudly from off-screen.

Eva sighed and tossed the book over her shoulder. “The usual then. At least Mac couldn’t make it. You know how upset he gets when we don’t talk about the book.”

Everyone around me nodded solemnly, and I wondered if I’d accidentally joined a cult.

Eva clapped her hands. “Okay, what kind of advice are you looking for? Because despite the efforts ofsomeof us…” Marco blushed, and I made a note to ask about it later. “None of us have actually succeeded in getting Reece naked for sexy times. You’re the unicorn here. We should be asking you for advice.”

My gaze shifted from face to face as I asked myself the same question. What did I want to know? He’d come to me last night and said he needed me. This morning, he’d kissed me like he couldn’t get enough, both in front of an audienceand before. What were we doing? How much of this was real?

I opened my mouth, then closed it again when I realized I couldn’t share what was bothering me without revealing our deal. Eva thought I was a unicorn because Reece wanted to date me, but what if I was a unicorn because he trusted me with his deepest secrets? What if I stopped second-guessing everything and simply trusted him back? Easier said than done, but I could try at least.

Reece said he wanted me. Since I had no plans to tumble into another long-term relationship right away, I didn’t need to know any more—I just needed to get out of my own way and enjoy him.

I smiled at the group. “I’m good, actually. I think I worked it out on my own.”

Eva high-fived herself right as Stephen logged back in with a plate of chocolate chip cookies I could literally see steaming on the screen.

He took a big bite, and Marco made a high-pitched whining sound next to me. “What’d I miss?”

“I helped Kenzie solve her relationship problem.” She disappeared for a second to retrieve her book. “Everyone turn to page sixty-three and someone explain to me how that position is physically possible.”

19

Instead of napping before our game, I drove out to Lucky Duck and adopted a black kitten who might be part bat and who definitely wouldn’t be called Satan. Gavin had given the okay as our landlord. I’d known Cole would say yes—he lived to make people happy.

I didn’t ask Mase. Vampires liked black cats, right?

When I got home with the furball, both my roommates were awake and shuffling around in the kitchen for pre-game snacks. We’d already had lunch, but hockey games burned a lot of calories.

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