Page 87 of Broken Ice, Mended Hearts

He put a hand against my cheek. “Ourhouse, Sven. When you leave here, will you go home with me?”

“What made…”

He narrowed his eyes, waiting for me to go on.

Not now. He loves me, and this isn’t the time to ask what changed his mind.I nodded. “You bet I’ll go with you.”

Someone knocked on the door and said, “It’s visiting hours.” I looked around to see Nick and Jacob coming in.

Jacob reached for Nick’s hand. “The team got back to town today, as you can see. Nick wanted to come check on you.” Jacob had stayed with Pip the entire time I was unconscious, and he’d popped in for a quick hello every day since.

“Good to see you both,” I said.

Pip exchanged hugs with them, and then Nick and I talked hockey while Pip gave Jacob the latest medical news, which was finally sounding better.

“So, are you ready to jump teams and be a Barracuda when you recover?” Nick asked, squeezing my arm.

“And be on the same team with Gagné?” I did my best to sound disgusted.

Everyone laughed, and I looked at Pip and mouthed, “Love you.”

“Excuse me, is Meatballs home?”

Nick and Jacob stepped aside as Jack and Eckie came in.

“Rogue!” I called out. “Get your ugly ass out of the way so your better half can say hi.”

They walked over to the bed, and we exchanged fist bumps.

“I’m happy to see you,” I said, “but if the Cudas got back today, shouldn’t you be gone, Jack?”

“No. This is what we’ve all been waiting for, remember? Both teams in DC for two days.”

Pip bumped fists with Eckie and Jack. “Watch out. DC might have an earthquake from all the fucking.”

We all chuckled, and then I looked at Jack. “I’m glad to see you, but wouldn’t you rather be home with your man?”

He put an arm around Eckie’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head. “Don’t worry, we’re going home when we leave here and might not get out of bed until the morning the team leaves for LA.”

I flicked my eyes between them. “Things are okay, then? With you two?”

Jack nodded and pulled Eckie closer. “Never better. We had a long talk the day after your accident and agreed we were both full of shit.”

“I couldn’t live without this bastard,” Eckie said, wearing a big grin.

Jack scoffed. “Hey, hey. That was uncalled for.”

“Sorry, dude,” Eckie said. “You may have been a bastard, but I was a grade-A fucking idiot.”

Jack looked back at me. “Thanks for listening to me that day, Sven. You gave me some top-notch advice, and Eckie and I wound up learning a lot from our fight.”

Eckie nodded. “Like how to communicate with the person you love about what’s really bothering you, and not say things you don’t mean just to get their attention.”

“And how to stay focused on the important things when your other half is upset,” Jack added.

Eckie shot Jack a crooked grin. “I’ll make it up to you when we get home.”

Jack bounced his eyebrows and gave Eckie a peck on the lips. “How about a quickie in the bathroom before we leave?”

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