He laughs, shaking his head. Connor gives him a confused look.
I hook my arm in Étienne’s. “Don’t be silly, Étienne. You love me.”
He grumbles as he pulls open the door, cursing in French.
“What is going on?” Connor asks quietly to Roman.
Roman only laughs as they follow us down the hall and to the elevator.
Epilogue
Roman
Two months later…
“I can’t believe I held this in this whole time,” Connor says as he bursts into our hotel room. “Seriously, it’s been driving me crazy. I’ve had to listen to Étienne whine and complain about how he misses me and I’ve had to lie to him. Lie, Roman. I’m not good at lying.”
I raise a brow. “Pretty sure you love all of Étienne’s whining and complaining. So stop saying it like it’s a bad thing.”
An annoyed sound leaves his throat, and he points at me. “You better be ready to walk out this door in five minutes.”
I get up from the bed. “Just need to put my shoes on.”
He goes into the bathroom, grumbling to himself.
I have no idea how Connor and I got so lucky. Getting signed to the same Canadian team? Nearly impossible. But the timing was right. They traded one of their defenseman while another retired, so they were in the market and we were interested. The league knows we play well together, so it made sense to keep us together. It’s just unheard of, and even though we’ve been talking about it non-stop, neither of us actually thought it would happen.
But it did.
We signed our contracts this morning. Nico is well aware of my intentions, but Connor wanted to keep his a secret. He thought it would be a good idea to surprise Étienne with this news, so really, it’s his own fault that he’s lying and not mine. This was his idea.
Connor comes out of the bathroom and we head out to grab a car to the rink.
Nico is practicing and I told him that he had to have Étienne join him today. He was annoyed, because Étienne wanted nothing to do with it, stating he had enough of the ice, but Nico worked his magic.
“Why am I so nervous?” Connor mutters as we’re dropped off at the rink. “I shouldn’t be so nervous.”
I chuckle as I shove my hands into my pockets and we walk up the path to the front doors. Connor keeps mumbling as I open the door for him.
“You need to chill out,” I say.
He stops and gives me the dirtiest look. “You think I want this?” He hisses. “You think I’m enjoying this?”
“You need to get laid,” I mutter and keep walking.
He catches up and grins at me. “Pretty sure I will after this.”
The laugh that leaves me this time is loud, no doubt catching the attention of everyone nearby. Oops.
As planned, Connor waits just outside the rink doors and I head in. My eyes immediately find Nico on the ice, skating like an angel. He glides across the ice smoothly, turns, and completes a perfect backflip.
“Show off,” I call out just loud enough for him to hear.
He turns toward me, grinning a mile wide and skates over. He hops off the ice and I open my arms. Nico leaps into them, and I catch him with ease, kissing his chilly lips.
“Did you do it?” he whispers.
I hug him tighter. “I did it.”
