Page 37 of Broken Ice, Mended Hearts

“Did you want to go?”

“What?” I looked around, and Sven had pushed up on an elbow. He’d taken off his sunglasses and was looking even betterthan he had while we were swimming. “No, I didn’t. You heard me send her away.”

“She’s hot though, right?” He sat up and turned so he was facing me. “Is she your type?”

“What the fuck? I’m here with you.”

“True, but you can still think someone’s hot. Even people who are happily married have hormones.”

“Come on, Sven. Stop it.”

He glanced at a guy walking out of the surf. “He’s hot.”

I didn’t care for his tone or the accusing look on his face. “If you have any doubt about who I’m interested in today, think about how good I sucked your cock this morning. You made me choke on it, if you remember, and I loved it.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “It was awesome, and I’m glad we’re here together. But maybe you wanted her to suckyourcock?”

“What the fuck? You want me to say she’s hot? Yes, she’s hot as hell, and there was a time I’d have been over at her cottage now.”

He pulled his head back, fire flickering through his eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was hurt or jealousy, but right then, I didn’t give a good goddamn. After a moment when neither of us blinked, he nodded and rubbed a hand across his face. “Sorry, Pip. I don’t know what got into me, but… Shit, that’s a big, fucking lie. I’m scared. What we’re doing means a lot to me, but I know it has an expiration date. I guess I’m not ready yet.”

After glancing around, I trailed my fingers across the back of his hand. “I’m having such a great time with you. The sex is incredible, but you’re also one of the best friends I’ve ever had. That doesn’t have to end, does it?”

“Not if we don’t want it to, but I like things the way they are.”

Could he be falling in love with me? If so, I was hurting him already. And what about me? I’d shoved the thought aside a few minutes earlier, but when Sven said the other man was hot, I’dimmediately wanted to kick the guy’s ass. What the fuck was that about? Maybe it was time to try harder to put some distance between us.

Things settled down when we went to the room and packed our bags, and we bantered as usual on the way back to the city. Sven was driving, so I relaxed and enjoyed our good-natured digs at each other. The thought of putting distance between us had settled into its former place in the back of my mind.

“Did you really think that guy was hot this morning?” I asked. “He was so far from hot, his nickname’s probably the abominable snowman.”

Sven laughed. “That bothered you, huh? Let’s just move on.”

“Dumbass,” I said, snickering. “If you thought that, you’re safe from zombies.”

He gave me a sideways look. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Zombies eat brains, and if you thought he was hot?—”

“Pfft! Fuck off, Gagné.”

That seemed to put the matter to rest, and we moved on to more important topics like the fact that we hadn’t been to the Air and Space Museum yet, and that we should be getting information about training camp soon. It would start in September, but since we were already in August, it wouldn’t be much longer.

“I hate all the fucking paperwork,” I grumbled. “I’ve never understood why they make us spend a whole goddamn day filling out the same papers we did a year back.”

“It’s such bullshit. If I’d wanted to push papers, I’d be a lawyer or something.”

My phone rang before I could answer, and when I dug it out of my pocket, Alex’s face was on the screen. I touched the icon to answer and barely said hello before she started talking.

“I had a Zoom conference with Friedlander and Mulberry a little while ago.”

My heart nearly stopped. A meeting with the owner and GM had to be about my contract renewal.

Alex’s voice took on a teasing tone. “Gags? Are you there? There’s no need to stroke out.”

“I’m here. Sven and I are on the road, and traffic’s a mess.” That wasn’t a lie since traffic was heavy. “You were discussing my renewal with them?”

She chuckled, a low trill that always made me smile. “Yes, I spoke with them yesterday, too, but they wanted to take until this morning to reply to what we’re asking for.”

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