Page 61 of On Thin Ice

“Carrying the team on my back,” I chirped, stretching lazily and winking at the marketing interns. “It’s heavy work, but someone’s gotta do it.” It was bullshit and I knew it, but I liked to keep people on their toes.

Ethan huffed out a breath that might have been a laugh or a sigh of pure despair. Hard to tell with him sometimes.

Dante smiled politely, used to my shit by now. “Actually, that’s what we wanted to talk to you about.” She tapped the folder sitting on the corner of the desk. “You two have become a bit of a phenomenon.”

I raised a brow. Ethan’s scowl only deepened.

“So, umm …” Blair started, casting a nervous glance at her boss, who gave her a tiny, encouraging nod. Blair cleared her throat and started again. “Every time we post anything on social media channels featuring you two together—umm, whether it’s practice clips, Bell’s goal celebrations, or candid shots—our engagement triples. Fans really love your dynamic,” she rushed out, her hands knotting nervously in front of her.

I snuck a look at Ethan. His jaw was rigid, a tiny muscle ticking in his cheek. Unfortunately, I knew that look. He was locking down his emotions, activating retreat mode.

Not good. But maybe not a total disaster yet.

“I’m going to cut right to the chase. We’re planning to launch a new behind-the-scenes series featuring the two of you,” Dante continued smoothly.

I didn’t know if she hadn’t noticed Ethan’s discomfort or if she was used to him shutting down like this and was choosing to ignore it. “Things like a day-in-the-life video, mic’d up practice footage, maybe even a TikTok challenge or two.”

I gave her a thumbs-up. She was speaking my language. “Sounds fun.”

Ethan continued to sit there like a slab of granite, his arms crossed over his chest, looking like he’d rather eat glass than film a TikTok with me.

“Obviously, we’ll clear everything with you first,” Dante continued, finally casting a nervous glance in Ethan’s direction.

He didn’t move. Didn’t even blink.

“Nothing invasive, of course. We want it to feel natural.”

Ethan finally spoke. “I’m not doing anything stupid.”

“Define stupid,” I teased.

Because lately? Everything we did together off the ice was stupid. And reckless. And oh so fucking amazing that I feared I’d never experience anything like it again for as long as I lived.

Ethan shot me another look. One that saidshut the fuck up before I make you pay for it later.

And honestly? It made my skin prickle in the best way.

Ramos chuckled, oblivious to the tension thrumming between us. “You’ll have final approval over what gets posted. But the point is, our fans love the two of you together. The banter. The chemistry.”

Chemistry.

The word hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. They thought we were funny. Cute and marketable.

They had no idea what we really were.

And no one ever would.

I swallowed hard and pasted on a smile. “Sounds great,” I said brightly, ignoring the way that thought terrified me.

“We’ll get everything set up after practice tomorrow,” Blair said. “If you have any concerns, let me know.”

Ramos stood, signaling the meeting was over.

Ethan was on his feet immediately, practically lunging for the door. I followed, my heart a heavy, stupid thing dragging behind me.

The second we were in the hall, I bumped his shoulder. “Relax. It’s not like they asked us to start an OnlyFans. Though, can you imagine?” I waggled my brows.

He snorted, shaking his head in a way that let me know he thought I was hopeless. “See you later,” he said, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and turning in the opposite direction.

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