Page 5 of On Thin Ice

Murdock’s booming laugh echoed from nearby. “I mean, is he wrong?”

My mouth hitched to the side in a self-deprecating smirk at Murdock’s harmless chirp. “Nope. I have zero game.”

His grin faded somewhat, his expression giving me the impression I wasn’t going to like whatever he said next. “So, um, speaking of. I hate to bring up bad shit, but I heard through the grapevine things with Lacey are over for real this time.”

I nodded, pasting what I hoped was a disappointed-looking frown on my face. “Yeah, she’s great, but the whole long-distance thing wasn’t really working for either of us. She met someone, and it sounds pretty serious. I’m really happy for her, to be honest.”

My on-again, off-again “relationship” with up-and-coming actress Lacey Bledsoe originally started as a temporary business arrangement put together by our agents. I got a pretty young thing on my arm for events, and her career saw a major boost from dating a pro athlete.

A few months after our scheduled breakup, Lacey surprised the shit out of me by asking if I was interested in getting back together. Given that our fauxmance was a complete lie, I freaked the fuck out. When she finally stopped laughing long enough to speak, she explained she only wanted to extend our contract since having a famous, hockey-playing boyfriend was the perfect cover for her new ‘friendship’ with a beautiful pop star who’d turned her world upside down. Now she wanted to marry the girl, which meant we’d staged one final breakup just before I left for Maine.

“Damn, man. Guess it’s time to rebound, then.” Viggy gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. “I know a girl who’d be totally into that surly thing you’ve got going on if you’re interested.” He raised an eyebrow in question.

“Nah, that’s okay,” I said, fighting the urge to grimace. God, I hated all this pretending. “I don’t really think I’m cut out for relationships.”

The words felt hollow in my mouth, a lie on top of so many others I’d told over the years.

The truth was, I’d love to fall in love someday, come home to warm arms and a happy smile.

Sadly, I didn’t think that was in the cards for me.

Viggy shook his head. “Who said anything about a relationship?”

Ah, right.I should have known better. Viggy wasn’t a relationship guy, either. In fact, in the years I’d known him, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him with the same woman twice.

“Anyway,” he continued. “I’m glad you had a nice summer. It’s good to spend time with family.”

It was. Truly. But the older I got without settling down, the harder those visits were becoming. I was thinking about not even going back next summer.

“Thanks, man,” I murmured, turning back to my stall to finish getting ready, but as I finished tying up my laces, my gaze drifted to Stryker Bell.

His hair was longer than it had been in the photos he’d posted all summer long. Blonder, too. And he was still tan from the weeks he’d spent surfing in Costa Rica.

I dropped my eyes back down to my skates, hating that I knew how he’d spent his time off between college graduation and showing up in Austin.

Two seconds.

That was how long it took before I looked again, like an idiot. This time, I caught the cocky, lopsided smirk he flashed as he traded stories with Miller Fahn.

Miller was one of the Aces’ other new forwards, picked up from the Chicago Ice Foxes after their Stanley Cup win last season. Why they’d traded him, I had no fucking clue, but their loss was our gain—the kid was a beast on the ice.

He also happened to be gay, though he didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Not the way Stryker did about his bisexuality.

Still, as two of only a handful of out players in the NHL, it made sense they’d gravitate toward each other.

And fuck, did that sting.

What I wouldn’t have given back when I was just starting out to have had someone along for the ride who understood what it was like. Someone who made it feel possible to exist in this league without hiding who I was.

Would I have still wound up constantly afraid that someone would take one look at me and justknowthat I was gay?

Probably.

But at least then I wouldn’t have felt so fucking alone all the damn time.

Before I could sink too deep into that familiar pit of self-loathing and despair, I watched Stryker throw his head back and laugh, the sound bright and unguarded.

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