Page 11 of Break The Ice

“All right, not officially yet.” Callan gets up and sits on the coffee table in front of me. “Raider is impulsive and dumb when he gets scared. He’s got a good heart. He will let you go, and we can all just forget about this.”

“No.” Raider and I say at the same time.

Callan scrapes his fingers through his hair and casts a wide-eyed look at Kit. I can hear the silent ‘what do I do?’ from here.

“She’s just going to have to stay here!”

“RAIDER!” Callan shouts. “We can’t kidnap people.”

“If we let her go, we lose everything. Let’s just keep her for a few days and convince her we’re good people!”

Yes, keep me. I sit back and watch them argue this out. It’s the best idea I’ve come up with in years. It ticks all the boxes. Hope unfurls within me, and I sort through all the prongs of this idea, rapidly going through the pros and cons and come out sunshine. This is the best solution.

“I’ll stay here. If at the end of a month you can convince me he’s a good person, then I’ll let it all go.”

The three of them have turned to statues, frozen, staring at me like I’ve grown another head.

“It’s either that or take me to the cop shop.”

“We could kill you,” Raider growls.

“Raider!” Callan snarls and hits the hockey god upside the back of the head.

I chortle happily. “Now, first things first. I need a burrito.”

Kit covers his mouth with his hand, but I can see his smile easily.

“A burrito?” Raider echoes. His face transforms into black thunderclouds. “You’re holding my entire life hostage, and you want a burrito?”

I cock my head to the side and try to control the way my whole body is reacting to this alpha’s pissy mood. Okay, so my eight-year crush on this guy is still going strong. Good to know.

“I do!” I manage to croak out.

He lets out a roar that has me gripping the couch cushions tighter so I don’t throw myself at him. It’s all those hours of watching him bashing other hockey players into the boards. Seeing him work out. This alpha male in all his glorious rage, completely undone by my womanly logic.

So damn cute.

By all that’s fair and just on this Earth, I need to live here for a month. After all I’ve put up with, it’s only right that the universe reward me just this once.

Kit elbows me. “You got a bit of drool.” He touches his chin and winks.

Raider is too busy throwing an epic man tantrum, and it's the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

“This is outstanding,” I breathe.

Kit snickers, but I can’t take my eyes off Raider and Callan, who dryly points out logic and calm solutions to the overstimulated ball of rage.

“Do you ever do this just for fun?”

Kit bites his bottom lip without taking his gaze from the alphas and nods. “Uh, yes, sometimes it’s just, uh, well, he’s just so responsive.”

I nod in agreement. “He really is.”

Raider shoves himself free of Callan and points at me, his eyes wild, black hair messy around his face. If he told me to get on my knees, I’d totally do it right now.

“No burrito!”

My ardor turns to ice. “That’s just mean, Alpha.”

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