Page 57 of Ice Cold Rival

“How about this. If Cole were to come to you with worries about his future team or his farm or his squadron of attack geese, what would you tell him?”

I rubbed my mouth as his point hit me, not too happy with his insight. “I’d tell him to stop worrying. The things bothering him are outside his control… but it’s not the same.”

Mase scoffed. “That’s what they all say.”

“Is that what they toldyou?”

His lips twitched. “They tried. Turns out, things outside your control can still do serious damage.”

“What did you do?”

“I found a way to take control—and I never let go.” Under the steely determination, shadows haunted his eyes.

I could ask for details, but he wouldn’t answer. He’d most likely get up and leave. Instead, I took a bite of my sandwich and chewed while I turned over his advice in my mind.

“You think I’m being too harsh on myself.”

It wasn’t a question, but Mase nodded anyway.

“Okay, big man, what do you suggest I do instead of worry?”

He grabbed a chip from the bag and crunched through it before he answered. “You can either let it go or grab the reins.”

I shook my head. “You’ve been hanging out with Cole’s cowboy ass too much.”

“I heard that,” he threw out from the kitchen. “Stephen is coming up next weekend, by the way.”

Mase scrubbed a hand down his face. “I like Stephen, but when did we become a bed and breakfast? Marco doesn’t even live here, and none of us can use the living room when Stephen visits.”

He wasn’t wrong. Stephen brought more and more luggage each time he came. If Marco was willing to move in, Stephen’s spread would be contained in a single bedroom.

My mind raced as an idea hit me. We didn’t need Marco to live here to fix up the extra room with a bed for when Stephen visited. Like a guest room situation. We could even keep most of the workout stuff in there still with a little organization.

Mase would get his living room back, and I wouldn’t be tripping over Louis Vuitton bags every other weekend. I’d need to run the idea by Gavin first, but he’d said yes to all my other crazy requests.

Faint barking invaded the silence, and Mase got up to glare out the window. “Have you guys met the new neighbors yet?”

I leaned over to check the view, but all I could see was our fence. “We have new neighbors?”

Mase growled. “They moved in last week, and their dog is a menace.”

“I’m sure having a new cat will help with that,” Cole muttered under his breath. “On that note, I’m going to go ravish Coach’s daughter while he’s busy at the rink.”

Cole tossed the sponge back in the sink, dried his hands, and didn’t look back on his way out the door. I waited a full five seconds before turning slowly to Mase.

“Isn’t Coach home working on the renovation thing?”

Mase cocked his head. “You know, you may be right. Someone should probably warn him.”

“Yeah, if only he had better friends.” The kitten stretched, pricking me with his little claws, and gave a rusty meow before falling back asleep. “I’d better go pick up supplies. By the way, I overnighted one of those robot litter boxes. Should be here soon. You might want to get Sunny used to it.”

Mase rolled his eyes. “Yay.”

I didn’t know what I was worried about with these guys. They didn’t care that I’d dropped almost a grand on a litter box, but they’d shove my head in the toilet if I skipped out on practice to go to brunch. Priorities.

20

The first thing I saw when Reece let me in that night was the tiny black kitten curled up next to the duck on a pile of clothes. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands.

---