Page 65 of On Thin Ice

We talk for a while longer, going over our plans for the next few days which mostly consist of counting the minutes until we can see each other and trying to keep busy. Sean has a few more games before they come home and I can tell by the way his voice drags when he speaks about it that he’s struggling with the exhaustion of so many games jammed so close together in his schedule. He has two whole weeks off when he’s home and I intend to stay within a metre of him for as much of those two weeks as I can.

I don’t get much sleep even though I'm painfully tired, so when I wake for the fifth time at 6am I decide to just give up on chasing sleep and get up, tiptoeing down the stairs to make a coffee in silence. Lewis is sleeping on the couch right now considering he can’t get up the steep staircase to his room with the state of his injured leg, so I try extra hard not to wake him as I make my liquid gold. Taking the first sip and proceeding to burn my bottom lip however isn’t a good start and I try to let the curse that slips from my lips escape as quietly as possible, but Lewis sits up straight from his position on the sofa. He digs into his eye sockets with the heels of his palms before squinting over at me as I hold my hands up in apology. “Shit, sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” I grimace, “I was trying to be extra quiet but the coffee was so fucking hot it burnt me and the curse just fell out of my mouth before I could stop it, I’m sorry.”

Lewis shakes his head, a lazy grin plastered across his face. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve been tossing and turning all night anyway, this sofa is really uncomfortable.” He plants his hands on his lower back, twisting his body and cracking the achy bones with a groan.

“Yeah,” I mutter, “I was tossing and turning too.”

“Being in Sean’s bed not good enough to help you sleep?” He muses, standing up and grabbing his own mug from the highest cupboard. I shake my curls, tucking a handful behind my ear. “Not really, it was better than being at the dorm but…I just want him back now.” I sigh, sipping at my coffee again and enjoying the warmth as it glides down my throat.

Suddenly Lewis’ expression changes to one of deep thought, like he’s contemplating a crazy scheme and when his eyes find mine again he says, “hey, I have an idea…”

Chapter 53

Callie

I'm on a plane, a fucking airplane and it’s only been four hours since I got out of bed. Lewis is a great guy, so fucking great and he’s an amazing friend to Sean but maybe this idea of his was a bit bananas for a random Tuesday morning. He knows I'm missing Sean, desperate to see him yada, yada, yada but I didn’t expect him to offer to pay for my plane ticket to surprise him in France today. It's no secret that I’m pretty much broke 99 percent of the time, I’ve never shied away from that fact, never hidden it from people but I certainly don’t expect handouts from anyone. The truth is Sean could have bought me a plane ticket himself, his bank account is bulging at the seams and he’s often overly generous, especially towards me. But his efforts to persuade me to travel to France for the month with him were shot down when I told him how busy I was with training and competitions. What I accidentally — or not so accidentally but don't tell him that — forgot to mention was that I didn’t have anything on during the last week of his trip. I kind of thought it would be pointless flying out there for one week and I definitely underestimated how much I’d be missing him. So here I am, half an hour from landing in Bordeaux on a Tuesday morning and my boyfriend has no idea that I'm coming. I know he has a game at midday today so I booked my ticket in the taxi that Lewis practically shoved me into at 7am this morning, insisting Sean and I both need this. He’s right, we do need this, we need to see each other and my chest is fluttering continuously when I picture the way his face is going to look when he sees me waiting outside the rink for him.

My leg won’t stop bobbing up and down when I finally find my bag and get into a taxi, taking me directly to the rink. My nail has found it’s way to my mouth as it always does when I'm nervous, my teeth taking tiny pieces out of it as I watch Bordeaux fly by the window. By the time I actually make it to the rink it’s only fifteen minutes until the game starts and my chest is thumping with anticipation, just being in the same room as Sean after almost a month away from him is giving me an anxious stomach ache. I shuffle past a few people, apologising under my breath and land in my seat with a sigh just as the guys all start sliding onto the ice, one after another. Then he comes into view, just after Nick as he glides onto the ice, looking painfully hot with a panty dropping grin plastered across his face. I know other girls will be thinking the exact same thing as I am right now, god I want him to fuck me until I can’t walk, but I don’t care who else is looking at him because he’s always only looking at me. Not right now of course, as he has no idea I'm even here watching him. He flies across the ice like a bullet through the air, zipping in and out of his teammates towards the goal, passing to Nick and flying around the back of the net — a tactic he often uses to confuse his opponents — and takes the puck back from Nick, smashing it into the goal within the first five minutes of play. The arena erupts, everyone on their feet cheering my guy on as he flashes a smile at his team, they clamber on top of him, enveloping him in a huge brawl of a hug. He takes several pats to the back and pucks to the shins for the remainder of the first period, scoring one more goal ten-seconds before the whistle sounds. I’m so fucking proud of him I could burst and as he makes his way off the ice, Kyle hangs a loose arm over his shoulder, glancing up and making brief eye contact with me, throwing me a wink and pushing Sean off the ice ahead of him.

I had to text Kyle on the way here to let him know I was coming, he’s the only one of Sean's teammates that I trust and I needed him to keep my plan in action. Kyle will bring Sean out of the rink after the game and take him towards the docks where I'll be waiting for him. There was no way I could ask Mac or Nick to pull this off, they’d be fucking useless and Kyle is Sean’s best friend, the only guy he really likes on the team aside for Lewis of course.

When the third period comes around Redwood are three nil up and absolutely dominating the ice, the tension in the air is worsening, becoming thicker and heavier the longer time goes on and the other team can’t get even one measly goal in. Kyle is catching their every attempt with his eyes closed and the rest of the guys are lapping up the electric energy in the arena. The minute the whistle blows to indicate the end of the game one of the French defensemen start on Sean, shoving him back into the boards. The two of them have been toe to toe pretty much the entire game and the smoke is now puffing out of the French guys ears, a string of unintelligible French curses flying out of his mouth as he dives on Sean. The two of them rip off their gloves and helmets as they collide with each other, fist flying, spit and blood following as it splatters to the ground, decorating the ice like paint on a blank canvas. I simply roll my eyes and reach for my phone as it begins to vibrate incessantly in my pocket. Don’t get me wrong I love when Sean fights, it turns me on and my vagina always does a little dance, excited to get some action herself later. But I know he can look after himself so I never stress when the blood starts leaping through the air, I’ve watched him fight enough times to know he has it under control.

Molly’s name flashes onto my screen and I accept the call, keeping my eyes on the fight. “My man is fighting again.”

“You sound awfully calm about that,” she muses, a popping sound telling me she has a mouth full of gum. “Getting used to the whole hockey wag life are you?”

I huff a laugh. “Yeah, I kind of like the fighting,” I look back to Sean as he’s carted off the ice, swiping a smear of blood across his face with the back of his hand. “Screw that, I fucking love it.”

Damn, he looks so sexy with sweat dripping down his face like that. “It’s hot as balls right?” Molly chirps, cackling when I audibly groan low in my throat as I watch Sean shaking out his hair and leaving the ice with blood smeared across his cheek. “Anyway, you need to start taking me to more games with you, you’re not a good friend.” She muses, popping her gum loudly again. “You’ve been depriving your best friend of watching hot, sweaty, godlike men throwing punches at each other.”

I clear my throat dramatically, standing up from my seat. “Do you want my boyfriend? Because if you do we may have a problem.” “Ha!” Molly barks, “You wish Cal, I just like watching them roll around together.”

“Horny bitch,” I mutter with a laugh as I make my way out of the stadium into the icy breeze.

“Says the one who has sex with her boyfriend three times a day, every day.” She teases and I don’t even bother to deny it. I mean we don’t have sex three times a day, that’s a bit of a stretch but it’s true that there’s nothing I love more than letting that hunky man break me in two with his dick.

I tell Mol I’ll be home at the weekend and promise to take her to at least one hockey game a week from now on to make up for apparently being a shitty best friend, depriving her of watching sexy men punch each other in the face.

When I finally get around to the docks at the back of the stadium my legs are shaking from the freezing air swirling around me. Maybe that’s part of the reason I'm shaking but I can’t deny how nervous I am to see Sean, I have no idea why but my chest is compressing so much I can barely breathe as I lean against the railing waiting for him. I’ve been so caught up with nerves since the moment I got here that I have barely had chance to look around me. The scenery is beautiful, the water below me sparkling blue and although the air is frosty, that doesn’t stop the sun from blaring down on me. I let my mind wander for a moment, dreaming of summer and letting the rays warm my face, that’s when I hear them, two very familiar voices muttering to each other as they round the corner and come into view.

Chapter 54

Sean

“What the fuck are we doing round here man? I just want to go home and shower, I smell like a fucking wet dog.” I groan as Kyle drags me towards the docks, my body aching from the fight I just won. I don’t like to brag but I fucked that guy up, it’s his own fault for starting on me, he should have known better.

The docks are beautiful, the crystal blue water sloshing under our feet as we walk across the iron railed bridge towards the other side. I still don’t know what the fuck we’re doing out here, Kyle said he had to show me something in private. At first I thought he might whip his cock out and show me how big it is or some weird shit like that but not sure why he’d choose such a public place for it.

Kyle shoves me in front of him as we reach the end of the bridge, the sun glaring in my eyes. “Just shut the fuck up and look.”

He points towards the railing on one side of the docks and I squint my eyes, desperately trying to see through the blazing sun.

And that’s when I realise exactly what I'm seeing…or more like, who I'm seeing. Her dark curls flow down her back so effortlessly, her freckled cheekbones and her bright emerald eyes staring directly into mine. That fucking smile cracks her face too, the one I live for and I'm stuck to the spot, my throat sticky, stopping any sound from breaking free. I turn to Kyle. “Did you…?” How did…?”

Kyle pats my shoulder once and nods towards Callie. “Go and get her man, she’s waiting for you.”

I look back at my girl, standing there next to the railing, her face soft and warm when mine is frozen in surprise. I force my legs to move even though they feel like jelly, wobbly and unsteady as my strides turn into a run. I bound towards her like an overexcited puppy and as her face becomes clearer I remember exactly why I fell in love with her in the first place. She’s so excruciatingly beautiful, her skin pink from the wind and her wild curls fanning her cheeks. She’s so fiery but mushy all at the same time and her heart belongs to me and me only. I feel the happy tears prickling my eyes as I crash into her, hauling her into my arms, lifting her body up to mine and inhaling every drop of her fruity smell. Her arms hook around my neck, her thighs around my torso and her whole body tightens around me, like she wants to lock us together. I don’t think I’ve ever missed anyone as much as I’ve missed her this past month so I hold her in my arms so tightly, breathing her in.

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