Page 35 of Heart on Ice

“I’m sure your teammates will have questions,” I tell him.

“You’re right. I haven’t even thought about them. Shit,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “Here,” he says, handing me his phone. “Pin code is 6969.” I raise a brow at him. “Harper gave me that same look.” He smirks.

When I open his phone, the number of notifications from people is immense. I scroll down through them and a lot of his friends are checking in on him, asking if he is okay. They are sorry to hear about the emergency he’s had, and they are thinking about him. There are some horrific texts from Kitty abusing him for being a coward and leaving her to deal with the mess he created. Then texts from Bill attacking Pierre, telling him that threatening him is not what he wants to do and blah blah blah. There are also messages from journalists who want him to comment on the rumors that he called off his wedding. Shit. Yeah. I would have a panic attack if I read all this, too. It’s wanting to give me one now and it has nothing to do with me.

“Your teammates, I’ll send a message letting them know you will reach out soon, you hope they enjoy their time in Italy, and thank them for making the trek,” I say as I start to type out a message.

“Yeah, that would be great, thanks,” he says, watching me work.

“I’ve also put an out of office style message on your phone so it will tell people that you are uncontactable and if it’s urgent to call Marcus or The Alessi Agency, and if it’s PR related, they need to contact The Rose Agency. I’ve given them Harper’s office details. So, it’s all done,” I say, handing him back the phone after twenty minutes.

“You can do that? Thanks,” he says, staring at his now clear phone.

“Hope it helps. Maybe these panic attacks are something we should keep an eye on. Should I tell Marcus to maybe look at a sports psychologist? You might need to speak to someone. Things are about to get rough for you depending on which way it all falls.”

“Once I’ve got Frankston with me, all my worries will cease to exist.”

Not sure how a dog is going to save him from his problems, but I don’t say anything. “About Frankston. Do you think Kitty is going to fight you for custody of him?” I ask.

“She wouldn’t dare. He is my baby. She knows that,” he argues.

“Exactly, she knows how much Frankston means to you.”

“He’s mine. Always has been. I got him after we broke up the first time. I caught her cheating with an ex, and I got him to help heal my heart, but then a month later we got back together,” he explains.

“Kitty’s cheated on you before?” He nods. “And you took her back?” I stare at him in disbelief.

“In hindsight, maybe not the greatest idea. But she was remorseful and really made it up to me, and I know what that’s like to not get a second chance when you mess up. I thought that was my karma for what I did to you. And I knew how it felt notbeing able to apologize.” Our situations are completely different. I am not taking responsibility for this disaster. “She will have a fight on her hands if she dares try to take Frankston away from me.”

“Maybe speak to your lawyer and make sure you get all your paperwork in order in case she wants to fight.” He nods. “This could turn nasty with Kitty. Are you prepared to go public with this?”

“I will do what I have to, don’t you worry about that,” he says seriously.

10

PIERRE

That was a rollercoaster of a plane ride. The ending was unexpected, but I’ll take it. Working back to being friends, and no funny business, I’ll take. I’d rather have her in my life as something than nothing at all. It was hard to hear how much my betrayal hurt her. I knew I broke her heart, but I didn’t realize how much I changed her outlook on relationships. I feel horrible about that. My stupidity hurt the one person in the world who didn’t deserve it. Now that she’s giving me a kind of second chance at friendship, I’m going to show her that I’m not the dumbass she remembers. The fact that she was willing to fly across the country to help get my dog and sort through my messages so I wouldn’t have to see them meant a lot. I know being around me reminds her of our past, but I’m hoping we can create new memories together that will change that for her.

The car winds its way up the long driveway toward my home.

“This is huge.” Issy gasps.

“That’s what she said,” I tease, which earns me an elbow to the ribs.

“There’s so much nature, look at all the trees. I don’t know if you’ll be able to return to city life since you’ve been living here. You hardly have neighbors. I get why you were worried about Frankston now.”

“Yeah, he loves going for a run. It’s a nice home, or it was a nice home. I’m not sure how I feel, it was only last week I left it thinking my life was going one way, and now it’s taken a turn the other.”

“It’s not far to commute from Connecticut into the city or Long Island, even Jersey has nature, there are options,” Issy explains.

I called the pet sitter and said that we were missing Frankston so much that we are flying him to Italy to be with us, and that a friend was coming to collect him, and he didn’t have to wait for them to arrive. I don’t need the pet sitter asking questions.

We pull up to the main entrance and get out of the car. I’m going to pack some things that I’ll need for the next month. I don’t know what is going to happen with this house. Is Kitty going to fight me on it? I bought it, the house is in my name, but can she legally try to take it? We aren’t married, but we were engaged. This is a shit show. I type in the code, and I can hear the patter of Frankston’s feet as I swing the door open. His happy face is the first thing I see before he jumps right into my arms and licks my face. I fall to the floor and roll around with him.

“Who’s my good boy? I’ve missed you, buddy. It’s so good to see you. I’m never ever leaving you ever again. You and me, buddy,” I tell him.

Once Frankston greets me, he rushes over and launches himself at Issy, who screams as my dog accosts her.

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