Page 73 of From Ice to Home
I smile, loving the idea of her settling into this part of my life. “We can definitely do that.”
My hand rests on her waist and I can’t resist pulling her a bit closer. She leans into me slightly before—
“Walker!” Mitch’s voice cuts through the conversation before his hand connects with my shoulder. “Great game tonight. Although I think that second goal you should’ve just buried the puck instead of passing. You were probably too busy thinking about your new wife in the stands instead of finishing the play.“
“You sound jealous, Cap,” I say with a grin as Mitch settlesnext to me. “I managed to finish the play that counts while you’re still out here trying to catch up.”
“I’m unmarried on purpose,” Mitch says with a smile before looking at Hannah. “This must be the infamous wife.”
Hannah laughs. “I don’t know about infamous, but yes.”
Mitch gestures to the dark-haired woman who’s always been beside him. “This is my fiancee, Charlotte.”
Hannah smiles warmly, reaching out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too!” Charlotte says enthusiastically before leaning in conspiratorially. “You’ve got to tell me how you got this one to tie the knot so fast. I’ve been waiting seven years and still no luck.” She winks, wiggling her left hand, sporting a giant diamond.
My stomach sinks wondering what Hannah is going to say. She’s not wearing her ring and we haven’t really gotten around to talking about it. Maybe it’s because I didn’t get her a giant rock like Charlotte’s, although a part of me thinks Hannah wouldn’t like a gigantic diamond on her finger.
“When you guys come over for dinner, I’ll tell you all my secrets,” Hannah says with a small laugh.
Charlotte’s face lights up. “Oh, I’m holding you to that. You have no idea how nice it is to finally have another wife in the mix. The team’s social scene is…well, a mess.” She gestures toward Megan, who’s now recording another video with Declan in the background. “A lot of in and out. It makes it hard to make real friends.”
Charlotte pulls out her phone and hands it to Hannah who takes it with a small frown forming between her eyes.
“Give me your number,” Charlotte says with a smile. “We always have special jackets made for the playoffs, and we’re going to need to get you one pronto. The final game is around the corner so we’ll have to get moving.”
Hannah has a genuine smile on her face as she adds hernumber to Charlotte’s phone. “That is so thoughtful, thank you.”
“Great,” Charlotte says, beaming. “I’ll loop you in on everything, so expect an invite to the group chat. Our little WAG group isn’t nearly as established as the others, but that’s because we have a bunch of boys on the team who refuse to grow up.”
Charlotte says it with a smile on her face, but I don’t miss the serious undertone.
“Oh come on,” EJ says, taking a sip of his soda. “Have you seen us on the ice? We’re men. Not boys.”
“Says the one who brings his sister to the games,” Charlotte shoots back smoothly, a teasing lilt in her voice. “The ’S’ in WAGS is not for sisters, EJ. Get yourself a girl.”
EJ huffs, clearly taken aback. “Yeah, well maybe it should be for ‘sisters’. They last a lot longer than a girlfriend. They’re permanent.”
“Exactly my point,” Charlotte says with a laugh.
Her attention shifts to me and Hannah, the amusement in her expression shifting to hint at something more serious. She studies us for a beat, her gaze flicking between the two of us like she’s trying to piece something together.
“I’m not going to lie,” she admits, her voice softer now. “When I first heard about your Vegas wedding, I thought—“ she hesitates for half a second, weighing her words before continuing, “—you might have been caught by a bunny, Lucas. But seeing you two together, it’s clear that you’re in love.”
There’s an endearing smile on Charlotte’s face as she leans into Mitch, the both of them looking at us with approval.
“Thanks for saying that,” Hannah says. Then, turning to EJ, she adds with a small smirk, “And I won’t mind if you get yourself a wife, EJ, but please make sure Avah stays too. She’s my kind of people.”
Hannah looks over her shoulder to where Avah was aminute ago. Then as her gaze lands on something across the room, her entire posture stiffens beside me.
I follow her gaze and immediately know why.
A group of women just entered our VIP area. Women who are barely wearing anything, those who are here for one reason and one reason only. Some of the places we’ve used for our parties or dinners have been much better at keeping out uninvited visitors…but it’s clearly not the case tonight.
Megan leans toward Hannah, detaching herself from Declan for a second. “See what I told you?” Megan says, her eyes sparkling with something sharp and smug. “Just eager to grab their spot.”
Hannah tenses next to me, her entire body going rigid. Her fingers fumble slightly with her dress and I don’t like the way she’s trying to make herself seem smaller.
