Page 70 of Broken Ice
Pavel, on the other hand, was moody as fuck, but Beau just ignored him.
Beau followed Emilio in his own car, barrelling past him the instant Emilio opened the front door to his house.
“Bingo,” Beau cheered loudly as the dog ran towards them.
Beau squatted, cackling as Bingo jumped on him, wagging his tail so hard all his body wiggled.
“Yes, it’s me! Your favourite person,” Beau cooed, landing on his ass when Bingo pawed at his chest.
Emilio snorted, and Bingo, the traitor, went to him, bouncing ecstatically.
“Well, that’s just rude,” Beau complained.
Emilio walked off, Bingo trotting after him. Beau scrambled to his feet.
“Rude.”
Beau sat on a stool and chattered while Emilio put something together for lunch.
“So, I mean, it’s not like I have a say on who Cleo dates—”
“And yet here you are…”
Beau ignored him. “But she’s so down bad for this Lisa, and Lisa is always, like, oh, let’s keep it casual, you know? Like, Cleo deserves someone who is absolutely crazy for her.”
Emilio set a plate in front of Beau and sat on the stool beside him. “I mean…you don’t choose who you fall in love with.”
Beau twitched. Well, that was depressingly relevant to his own life. “Still. My baby sister deservesthe best.”
“I mean…no argument from me.”
“I can’t wait for you to meet her. You’re gonna love her,” Beau said happily and then pointed at his plate. “Oh, this is really good.”
“Thanks. You think we’ll get along? Have you…talked about me?” Emilio hedged.
“Dude, you’re my liney. ’Course I’ve talked about you.”
“Right.”
“Also you’re helping me through my heats, so.” Not that he’d shared the details with his little sister, but the aftermath of the suppressants had been a big deal. His whole family had beenaffected by Beau’s health, especially since they’d been there with him as he stopped taking them.
Beau had managed to keep it vague with his parents—he already knew what they’d say. His mom would worry about how the relationship could affect team dynamics and chemistry. She wouldn’t meddle, and she’d be worried about him, but she’d be a little disappointed too, that he was rocking the boat this hard after what happened the previous year.
His dad would probably have a lot to say about Beau’s fixation with Emilio ever since he was a fucking rookie. He’d take a look at Beau’s face andknowhow deep in his feelings he was.
His siblings were different. He couldn’t keep shit from them if he tried, honestly, mainly because they were annoying as fuck.
And also he loved them or whatever.
“She knows about that?” Emilio asked.
“Yeah. Noah too, but he promised not to beat you up about it.”
“Why would he beat me up for being your Al—for spending your heats with you?”
Beau shrugged. “He’s protective.” After Alex, Noah had become a little overinvolved in Beau’s romantic well-being. He’d had a few choice words to say about this whole thing with Emilio, but Beau was used to ignoring him.
Emilio nodded approvingly. “Yeah. Good.”
