“Okay, you lovebirds, you coming?” Trevor yelled from the ice, breaking the moment between us.
“Yeah, this was your idea. Get out here,” Bryton added.
I closed my eyes, willing the hard-on in my pants to go down. I rested my head on the top of Emmie’s thighs as she giggled, hands running through my hair.
“My family is a bunch of cockblockers,” I muttered.
“You okay?” Emmie raked her nails against my scalp, which did nothing to help the situation in my pants.
“I’m going to need a minute. How about you go first?” I pulled away from her lap and sat back on my heels. Emmie’s eyes went straight to my crotch and the sizable tent I was sporting.
She chuckled as she stood. “I’ll give you two a moment.”
“You evil creature.” I pressed a kiss to her stomach. “Go be with my family, I’ll be right behind you.”
Emmie pecked my head before moving around me and heading for the ice. I forced my eyes away from her ass and took a few deep breaths, trying to conjure images in my head to make my hard-on go away.
I sat on the bench Emmie just occupied, my own skates sitting on the floor. The sound of laughter, paired with the picture of my brothers and mother, helped cool me off. I made quick work of putting my skates on.
When I reached the little opening in the boards to get onto the ice, I paused, taking everything in before me. My entire family was out on the ice together, even my mom whorarely skated. Including Emmie felt right. It was like she’d been a part of my family for years, not just a few hours.
I watched as she held Wren’s hands, bent at the waist as she gently skated backward, and pulled her along. Josie and Wyatt started teaching the kids to skate over the summer, so Wren wasn’t too afraid, but she also wasn’t that sturdy on her feet yet. With the way she beamed up at Emmie, you’d have thought she was flying across the ice.
I couldn’t hear what Emmie was saying but whatever it was had Wren nodding, her little legs shuffling her blades across the ice.
Emmie was stunning, effortlessly so. Not just in the way she looked, but in who she was. Every part of her caught me off guard. Now that I had her, I couldn’t imagine her not being in my life. Which was crazy to say since we’d only known each other for two months.
Not wanting to bother Emmie and Wren, I skated over to Wyatt, Trevor, and Bryton. I caught the tail end of their conversation when I stopped beside them.
“Fitz won’t be missed, that's for sure,” Trevor muttered.
“He wasn’t a team player anyway,” Bryton added.
“Wait, did Fitz finally get traded?” I asked.
Wyatt nodded. “Yep, the deal was finalized this morning.”
“Surprised the guy hasn’t been traded until now,” I remarked. Fitz has been with the Toronto Knights for years, but not a single player liked the guy. In a way, he reminded me of Jennings. There’s always one player, no matter the sport, that ruffled feathers.
“Management finally listened.” Trevor shrugged. “Plus, he was shit on the ice.” The others grunted in agreement.
“Are you guys ready for the season to start?” I questioned.
“It’s going to be a good one,” Wyatt said with a wistful tone. I knew what he was alluding to. What he’d been alluding to for months now—same as Trevor and Bryton. Ididn’t think any of them wanted to say the words out loud quite yet—hell, I didn’t either—so I kept my mouth shut.
“I’ll be there for the first game of the season.” I’d been to every single season opener since Wyatt entered the league. It would be a tight schedule since I had a game that morning and puck drop was at six. Thankfully, I could get on a plane as soon as the game was over and make it in time.
“You know you don’t have to,” Wyatt said, but I shook my head. Like hell I’d miss my brothers, as well as Trevor and Bryton’s, potentially last first game of their career.
My tone left no room for arguments. “Of course I’m going.”
“Wow, since when did you become so mature?” Trevor joked.
“I’ve always been the mature one.”
“Yeah, right,” Bryton snorted.
“Funny,” I said, glancing between them. “Your wives never complained.”
