Page 69 of Broken Ice
CHAPTER TWELVE
Freddy’s next present was a box of chocolates.
“Damn, man. These look fancy as hell,” Beau said.
Freddy beamed. Beau had thought about telling him that he didn’t have to get him so much stuff, but Freddy obviously got a kick out of it, so who was Beau to put a damper on that?
“Thanks, man.” Beau inspected the large, flat box with its blue and silver lettering.
“You can share it with the team if you want.”
Beau grinned. “Oh, nice. I’ll tell them it was from you.”
That seemed to make Freddy especially happy.
Beau walked into the locker room, unwrapping the gift.
Tinny was on his ass immediately. “What’s that?”
“Chocolates. Freddy gave them to me. You want one?”
Tinny picked one out as the rest of the guys who were there wandered over.
Pavel peered over Beau’s shoulder. “Freddy from equipment management?”
“Yeah. We’ve been, you know. Hanging out and stuff.”
Moose, who had picked out his own treat, froze with it halfway to his mouth. “Really?”
“Yeah. That stuff in my stall is from him. That rock is from his hometown, and that card is me…’cause I’m a fucking magician on the puck.”
The joke fell flat, everyone going weirdly quiet.
“Damn, okay. Forgot the only magician here is Pav.” He bumped Pavel on the shoulder.
“Does Emilio know about Freddy?” Pavel asked.
Beau wrinkled his nose. What a weird fucking question. “Pretty sure Emilio isn’t the boss of who I hang out with.”
“Right, but…I mean, yeah.”
Beau rolled his eyes, trudging to his stall. Alphas were so fucking weird sometimes.
Emilio arrived a few minutes later, sweats covered in dog hair, which got Beau whining about how long it’d been since he’d seen the little guy.
“Fine. Come over after skate, then.”
Pavel interrupted. “I haven’t seen Bingo in a while either.”
Beau glared at him. Not that he didn’t like hanging out with Pavel, but, like…it was nice to spend some time just with Emilio.
Luckily, Emilio brushed Pavel off. “What are you talking about? You saw him yesterday.”
“Yeah, but—”
Beau interrupted him loudly. “Anyway. Let’s get on the ice, yeah?”
Practice was fun. Emilio was in a good mood, laughing at Beau’s attempts at rattling Dee, who was in net.
