Page 155 of Break The Ice

I grin back because I know what he’s thinking, and I think we should do it!

“We should watch the game,” Callan says, and I think he’s clued into where Kit and I are heading.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Kit purrs, drawing all the alpha eyes.

I hum, but when he turns his face towards my stomach; I lose my ability to think.

“All right, I think that’s a great idea,” I agree enthusiastically.

Kit bounces up and returns with several bottles of booze. “So, have you ever played Drunk Yoga?”

Wren sits up slowly while Raider blinks. Callan just laughs.

Two hours later, theGreene Demons, with their temporary coach, missing two of their veteran players, win the championship game.

When Ramirez is asked, he smiles at the camera and says, “We won it for Raines and Turner. This is their victory.”

The team roars.

None of us notice.

We’re lost, laughing, happy. Our simple life is rolling around on the lounge floor, practicing yoga while drunk, and having a damn good time.

That dream of a family that we all thought we’d lost out on is ours, and it’s bigger than we ever thought.

I smile up at the ceiling as I’ve collapsed on my back.

My parents would be happy for me. They would these guys. I blink rapidly and smile, then laugh. I turn on my side, chortling.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s just you’re stuck with me forever now. Poor you.”

Raider rolls me on my back and pins me in place. “Lucky me.”

I stare up at him, suddenly closer to sober.

They didn’t just go to war, they thawed my frozen heart, too.

“No, I’m the lucky one,” I murmur.

“Do you have anything to say to the fans?” The reporter asks on the TV.

“A really amazing person who is absolutely one of the team told us something her dad said, and it’s stuck with me. I said it to myself all night tonight, and I’ll tell my kids when I have them, too.”

“What was it?”

Waraski smiles at the camera. “Just a tremendous shout out to Pack Mogel and our new sister Ryann. Break the ice, Inmate.”

I tilt my head and stare up at the upside down screen in shock. What did he just say?

On the screen, Waraski beams. “It means don’t give up, don’t stop fighting.” Waraski smiles at the camera and blows a kiss.

“I love him!” I shout and sit up so I can look at the screen properly. “We’re keeping him!”

Wren laughs, and once he starts, he keeps going.

“I’m going to beat his ass,” Raider says.

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