Page 86 of Broken Ice
Even the front office didn’t bat an eyelash.
Apparently, Beau and Emilio had beenreallyobvious about being hot for each other. Go figure.
Beau’s family took it as well as one could hope. His mom was impressed by the calibre of hockey player he’d bagged—even though that wasn’t even relevant,Mom—and his dad was glad he had someone that helped him through his heats and ‘made him happy’, as he put it. Any worries they had about team dynamics and Beau’s heart were put to rest when he assured them that this was something serious.
That if everything went to plan, they’d be mated in the summer.
The news gotmostlypositive reactions from his siblings. Cleo was just relieved the drama was over, and Noah was an overprotective asshole. Beau wasn’t sure if he was annoyed Beau had chosen Emilio, the Alpha he competed against for Sammy’s attention—even though Noah would never admit that—or if he was relieved Emilio was taken now and wasn’t somehow going to steal his teammate.
Who Noah did not have a hopeless crush on. Apparently.
Beau video chatted with Emilio’s family, who were all very nice and very laid-back compared to the Lavoies’ overinvolved way of doing things. The love between them was palpable, though, and Emilio assured him that Beau had made a good impression.
“My mom was mad at me after the whole…incident happened.”
“You mean the time I smelt so good on the ice that you almost got a boner?”
Emilio sighed. “I truly regret telling you how much I like your scent.”
“Babe, you could barely keep it to yourself. I would have found out sooner or later.”
“Oh, yeah. You really seemed on track to figuring it out on your own. Your intuition for these things…unmatched.”
“You know what? I want a divorce,” Beau stated imperiously and then didn’t complain as Emilio dragged him onto his lap and fucked him silly.
Because they were responsible adults, they agreed not to get mated until the off-season. The bite could take time to adjust to, what with the changing pheromones, so it was best left to when they could spend a few days undisturbed.
Theydidstop using scent-neutralising soap once everything with Freddy—who Beau had told about Emilio so he wasn’t blindsided—died down.
The first day Beau and Emilio arrived at practice after a heat, stinking like each other despite thorough showers, was quite the event.
Tinny covered his nose as they entered, putting on an exaggerated expression of disgust. “Holyfuck. Did he pee on you? Jesus Christ.”
Beau raised his nose at him. “Just because you can’t find an Omega who wants to spend their heat with you doesn’t mean everybody has to be so unfortunate.”
Emilio chuckled beside him, slapping Tinny on the back forcefully. “You’ll understand when you grow up.”
“I’m the same age as you,” Tinny protested.
“Not in inches,” Beau retorted, ducking the roll of tape Tinny threw at him.
Even Pavel, though, twitched his nose at Beau. “Glad you two figured it out. Finally.Didhe piss on you, though?” he deadpanned.
“Why, Cap? You wanna watch?” Beau waggled his eyebrows as Pavel went pink and rolled his eyes.
Emilio sidled up, throwing an arm over Pavel’s shoulders. “Stop teasing him,” he told Beau.
“Me?I’m innocent of all crimes, ever.”
“Yeah. Your PIMs agree,” Emilio drawled. And, okay, Beau got his fair share of penalty minutes—but only because the linesmen had it out for him.
“I’m being unfairly targeted for being so pretty.”
Pavel and Emilio snorted in unison.
Ironically enough, it was Emilio who started getting more penalties after they stopped hiding the scent of their relationship.
The game against the DC Eagles had been annoying from the beginning. It was the first one since Beau and Emilio had come out to the media as a couple with a short, impersonal statement asking for privacy, and the Eagles were having a hell of a time with the way Beau smelt.
