Page 134 of Ice Princess

I laugh.

REBEL:Do you have practice tomorrow?

ME:Bright and early. Max has no off-switch.

REBEL:You should get some rest then.

ME:I’ll be up a little longer. Text me when you get home safe.

REBEL:I will. Goodnight, Gunner.

ME:Goodnight, Rebel.

I toss the phone and flop against the mattress.

Something bright and warm hums in my veins.

It’s hard to explain…

I’ve only felt this type of rush on the ice.

And it’s usually seconds before I hit the puck straight into the net and hear the crowd roar in the stadium.

But there’s no crowd here.

It’s just me.

Alone.

In my bedroom.

Texting back and forth with my dream girl.

The girl I’ve been silently in love with for decades.

I get up to pace around my bed, too amped to go back to work on Uncle Robert’s finances. Instead, my thoughts are filled with all the ways I can make Rebel happy tomorrow, the day after that, and a million days after that.

I’ve waited my whole life for this moment.

Even with all the obstacles coming at us, I’ll throw my heart and soul into showing Rebel Hart she made the right decision to be mine.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-NINE

REBEL

“What’s got you smiling?”May asks, wiggling her eyebrows. She sings, “Is it yourboyfriend?”

“Mm-hm,” I answer frankly, pocketing my phone and taking a sip of my strawberry smoothie.

May grins from ear to ear while April looks like she’s about to fall out of her chair.

Delia stirs her straw around her drink, brown eyes drooping with boredom.

We’re sitting at the food court after April all but begged us for a break from shopping. It’s so loud that I can barely hear myself think. The crowds have thickened since we first arrived. It’s mostly young couples on dates and teenagers traveling in packs to the arcade on the second floor.

May points to Delia. “Does she know?”

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