“About your hand?” I ask, taking the bottle of water that Levon drops off at the table before moving on. That was really sweet.
“Skating, and thanks Levon,” Miles calls after him.
“I’m down as long as it’s not really busy,” I decide.
“Go during the day, while kids are in school,” Santo says.
“Under that condition, I’ll go skating with you,” I say.
“I will watch and drink hot chocolate,” Santo smirks. “I know my limits, and I’m not coordinated enough for skating.”
“Fair,” I giggle.
“Okay, now it’s time to show you off,” Miles sighs, standing. “Take your water. I still think you’re not drinking enough.”
“Yes, Alpha,” I purr, capping my water as I stand as well.
“You’re so in for it,” he mutters, his orange scent getting heavier around me.
“But not yet,” I giggle, twitching my skirt to make sure it’s not bunching at all. Grabbing my hand, he reaches for the plate, but Santo beats him to it.
“I got it,” Santo says. “I need to check the kitchen anyway. I have more batches of brownies in the oven.”
“Save us a pan of brownies?” Miles asks. “If they made Caelia moan, they have to be good.”
Santo merely nods with a grin as Miles leads me across the back yard to meet everyone. I get a lot of surprised glances from people, though Rhett looks like he has questions he wants to ask. I’m sure it’s innocent, but I still stick close to Miles.
His arm immediately wraps around me, helping me relax against him. I may be getting better about meeting new people, but it’s a work in progress.
“Why are you eying my girl like that, Rhett?” Miles growls, pulling Rhett out of his musings.
“What?” Rhett asks. “Oh. It’s just odd that she’s a rival coach’s daughter, is all.”
“You mean like the way that you failed to defend against the Dragons so Troy could slip past you at the last game?” I ask, pulling from my memory. “I don’t have to sabotage this team because you do it for yourself.”
“Caelia also lost her job because the owner of the Dragons thought that she was feeding team secrets to me,” Miles says, his voice low and dangerous. “Are you going to make her life difficult, Rhett?”
“No…no, sir. Ah, fuck. No, Coach,” he babbles. “You also weren’t watching the game that closely, Caelia? All I remember is how your face was buried in your phone.”
“I used to create content for the Dragons,” I explain. “I’m now unable to do any of that because of my contract.”
“The owner of the Dragons is currently being sued for calling Caelia some pretty unfavorable names before he fired her,” Miles grumbles.
I know that my bite marks are healing and on display on my body, and Rhett’s gaze keeps darting to them.
“So this is for real,” he grunts.
“As real as forever gets,” I reply.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Miles says. “Since she lives here, how about giving her some more respect than you would a puck bunny? I can guarantee, Caelia has a pretty low tolerance for hockey players.”
“Hate them,” I mutter.
“Didn’t I see you hugging Levon?” Rhett asks, confused.
“You did,” I say. “It’s very different when fate gives you a hockey player as a scent match. Outside of that? I hope you fall on the ice and break your tailbone.”
“That sounds like a curse,” Rhett complains.
