Page 25 of Ice Block

Everyone raises their glasses and shouts of cheers ring out through the pavilion. I turn my head and raise my vodka to the feisty bombshell next to me, “Cheers to an amazing week, Magdalina.”

She picks up her glass of champagne and clinks it against mine. “Whatever,” she huffs before swallowing her entire drink in one gulp.

17

maggie

After dinner, I race across the pavilion to hug some of my dearest found family, who I am shocked have made the journey to the Caribbean. “Walt! Johnny!” I stand behind their chairs squeezing my head between the two of them as I wrap my arms around their shoulders as tight as I can. “I still can’t believe you’re here!”

“Hey sweetheart,” Walt replies, squeezing me back. “We can’t believe we’re here either. Hayes and Liv invited us since our place is where they first met, but we had to turn them down. We couldn’t figure out who could run the bar while we were gone, and we definitely couldn’t afford to close. Then, an envelope showed up at the office with enough cash to cover the cost of being shut down for the week.”

I shake my head, my eyes wide in disbelief. “Seriously?! Who was it from? Hayes?”

Johnny looks at me. “I have my suspicions, but I don’t think it was Hayes. I’m keeping my guesses to myself, but you know there isn’t much that gets past me. I know these Riders inside and out.”

“Comeon,Johnny—You can’t hold out on me like that! Who do you think it was? Zack? EJ? Bougie? You can’t be all ‘I have my suspicions’ and not tell your favorite girl.”

“I’m pretty sure they donated it anonymously because they wanted to remain anonymous,” Walt chimes in, giving me his standard side eye, letting me know I should mind my own business.Even though he knows I never listen.

I give him a snarky look and stick my tongue out. “Fine. Keep me in the dark. But…God, do I love you two. I’m so glad you’re here!” I say, squeezing them close to me once again. “It’ll be nice to not have to take a break from spilling my guts to you while you have to serve other people at the bar. Now I can have your undivided attention. What are you two going to do all week since you don’t have to work?”

“Relaxing is priority number one,” Walt hums, reaching over to grab Johnny’s hand. “We’ve workedreallyhard for a long time, and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. But we’re getting old and tired. It will be nice to unwind and rest our old asses in the sand.”

Johnny smiles at his partner, giving his hand a little squeeze. I swear these two are the sweetest couple in the entire world. I close my eyes, just for a second, as something tight twists in my chest.I want that.

“So, Maggie, I hear you and Vladi are sharing a room this week?” Johnny says with a knowing smirk on his face.

My jaw drops. “How the hell did you hear that?!”

“I told you, Mags, I know these Riders inside and out.” He settles into his seat, taking a sip of his water. “What’s the latest with you two, anyway?”

I look at Walt, who has a raised eyebrow and an expression that says ‘I have nothing to do with this.’

I sigh, hanging my head between them. “Nothing. I can’t standthat dark-haired Thor-looking piece of shit, butsomehowmy reservation got cancelled. So, yes, we are sharing a room. Reluctantly.”

Johnny flashes me a smirk, his eyes twinkling with some deeper knowledge he hasn’t filled me in on yet. “You keep tellin’ yourself that, honey. I see the tension between you two. And it’s not because you hate one another. I know he hurt you, but there’s something more in that man. I know you see it too.”

I fessed up to Johnny a while back. I couldn’t talk to Liv, and Kennedy was traveling a lot and, well…aside from my hairdresser, a bartender who is basically family is the best therapist there is.

“He doesn’t want a relationship, Johnny. That’s what I want. What I need. I refuse to open myself up to getting hurt again.”

“Have you talked to him about a relationship since that night?”

I shake my head in disappointment, feeling my sigh through my whole body. “No.”

“And why not?” He places a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“Because I’m hurt, dammit! I just…I can’t take a second rejection.”

Walt loops his arm around my back, “You know I don’t like to get into this stuff, not like this one who gets his nose into everyone’s business,” he nods his head toward Johnny, “but I can tell you from experience, sometimes people like Vladi are just scared. Often they just need a little push in the right direction.” He turns, giving a knowing look to Johnny, both of them smiling like teenagers in love.My God these two cannot get any cuter.Why can’t I have this? Why can’t my brain focus on anything but the jackass they insist is scared and needs a push? I scrunch my nose, biting the inside of my cheek.Fuck that.

“A push? A push off a cliff maybe…” I grumble as they both turn to glare at me, the lovey-dovey look now gone. “Sorry! But you are trying to tell methatguy is scared?” I point to Vladi who is eyeing Bougie like he’s going to strangle him. “That giant goalie,full of muscle and currently looking like he’s going to murder someone, isscared?”

“He’s right, sweetheart,” Johnny chimes in, “People hide their emotions in a lot of ways. Some get defensive, some run and hide, and some portray anger as a way to choke down what’s bubbling under the surface. Maybe he just needs the right person to help him deal with that. Someone who can dish back as much chaos as what he’s serving up.”

“Dammit you two! Do you just sit in a tree like wise-ass owls all damn day?” I say with a laugh. “Stop giving me good advice. Just tell me to hate him.”

“We would gladly tell you to hate him, Maggie, but something tells me that’s not really how you feel.”

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