Page 90 of Heart on Ice

“Welcome to The Mavericks, Felix St. Pierre.” The announcer calls out my brother’s name, and I watch him launch himself out on the ice as the crowd goes wild. Some of the other guys jostle me, jeering me up for my turn.

“Keep that Mavericks welcome coming for Pierre St. Pierre,” the announcer says, and I skate out to the stadium going crazy. I take a moment to look around and wave at everyone, appreciating their support before skating out to warm up with the other guys.

“She’s not here,” Felix says as he stretches.

“She might be running late or grabbing a drink,” I reassure him. His eyes move and watch his old teammates skate around. Stephen looks over and sends daggers my brother’s way. There’s no way these two aren’t fighting tonight.

“Head in the game. Forget everything else. We beat those fuckers. Show them they can’t mess with the St. Pierre brothers. Yeah.”

“Yeah.” My brother smiles, and I can see him finally focus.

We skate around our fans’ areas and sign pucks and shirts for fans, but I am starting to worry as the minutes on the clock for the warmup count down and our girls aren’t here. I see our sister and skate over to her.

“Where are the girls?” I ask her.

“Don’t tell Felix but shits gone down,” she says.

“Is Issy okay?”

“Yes. She’s fine. She’s with Mom up in the family suites. She didn’t want to come down and distract you. But Harper isn’t, and we need Felix’s head in the game,” she warns me.

Shit.

“Hey, Lettie,” Felix says, skating over and joining me.

“Hey. You guys look good out there together. Can I get a picture?” she says, changing the subject. We pose for photos for her which has Felix smiling.

“Do you know if Harper is coming?” he asks her.

“She should be. There’s an accident, so traffic is crazy,” she reassures him. This relaxes him, and he gives her a thumbs up before skating away. “Smash them,” she says.

“I’ll do my best.”

LA has been playing dirty all night. I can see them chirping away at Felix every second they can, and he is trying to ignore them, but he’s failing. They are relentless. I body check a couple of players into the wall, which is satisfying as does the rest of ourteammates. Who knew this would be the team bonding session we needed?

Felix joins me on the bench and squirts his face with water to cool down. “Would you stop letting them get into your head,” I tell him as I watch him make simple mistakes.

“Fuck you, I’ve got this under control,” he yells at me.

“I don’t think you do. You’re missing simple passes.”

“I know, okay. But I’ve got this.” He slams his stick into the wall a couple of times.

“You better,” I warn him as we head back out on the ice again.

I hear one of the guys say something about nudes, and my brother sees red.

He scores. Hell yes. Everyone goes wild. I skate over to congratulate him.

“In your face,” he screams at his old teammates.

“Like your woman’s tits are in everyone’s faces.” Stephen chuckles.

That’s low.

“What the fuck did you say?” Felix asks as she pushes him.

“Oh no, you don’t know.” Stephen bursts out laughing. My brother pushes him again. The refs’ whistles blow, and I call out to my brother, but before I know it, he’s taking off his helmet, throwing his gloves down, and launching himself at his ex-best friend. One in all in. And the rest of our team starts in on the other team. I am pummelling this guy, and the next thing I know, the entire stadium goes quiet. I pull away from the guy and turn to see Felix on the ground, not moving.

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