Page 72 of Ice Contact

“Thanks for the heads up, Bougie, but since you guys only play with pucks, you can leave the ball-handling to me. It happens to be my specialty.”

I choke mid-sip, coughing up my lager at the audacity of what just escaped her mouth. She just gave the perfect response to shut Bougie up.Damn…I need to take some notes.His eyes go wide at her boldness, his mouth dropping open without any signs of it coming back up anytime soon. Vladi laughs harder than I’ve seen him laugh in a long time, and Johnny walks away shaking his head, probably off to find Walt and fill him in. Once I catch my breath, I pull her in close and whisper in her ear, “Olivia Larson, what the hell has come over you?”

She lets out a slight chuckle, burrowing deeper into my chest. “Someone helped me come out of my shell. Plus, you know it’s true.”

“Fuck yeah it is,” I say, desperate to feel her lips on mine once more.

“Here’s your Strongbow, Liv.” Johnny slides a glass across the bar to Olivia. “I know you’re not singing tonight, but figured you’d like one.”

It warms my heart to see the family she has with Johnny and Walt. It’s comforting to know there are people looking out for her while I’m on the road. And now they are all part of my family too.

“You’re the best, Johnny.” She takes a sip, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and making me incredibly jealous of her damn drink. “By the way, sorry I kept you all waiting. Bill called a meeting at 4:30 and it ran long. He wanted to talk about the new cloud storage we’re moving to. He doesn’t understand it. I almost told him to go outside and pick his favorite cloud and that’s where his documents would be stored,” she says rolling her eyes. “Maggie was coming too, but she has a big deadline tomorrow, and she doesn’t have time to stop by.”

“Aww, no Mags tonight? At least Bougie’s here to keep us on our toes, eh, Vladi?” Johnny looks to my stoic friend, who turns to me with a puzzled, pleading look on his face.

That’s fucking weird. I guess he really doesn’t want to hang out with Bougie.

“Mr. Larson, would you follow me outside for a moment?” Olivia asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Outside? In the dark? With you? How do I know you’re not trying to murder me like on Dateline?”

“You don’t,” she says, sauntering toward the door with a playful smirk. I nearly fall off the bar stool in a rush, weaving through tables and dodging customers as I race toward the exit after her.

Bolting into the alley where I helped her to her car what seems like yesterday, I catch up, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight. “What are we doing here, Mrs. Larson?”

“I was just thinking…” she glances around, her cheeks red from the chill. “We never got to finish what we started here. I wanted to kiss you that night. I figured we could try again.”

A guttural moan escapes me. “Oh siren, I wanted you so bad that night. But I couldn’t have you,” I say, caging her against her car. “I would have cut off my right arm to have kissed you that night, but that wasn’t how our story was meant to be written.” I press my leg between hers, placing my lips on her sensitive neck.

“It wasn’t?” she whispers, her breaths short as I kiss along her jaw.

“No. That night was just the beginning. The ending is ours. We’re living it.”

Olivia crushes her lips to mine in one quick move, both of us eager to complete this unfinished moment in the place we met. Our tongues collide as she fully wraps her arms around me, grinding her sweet cunt into my leg.I bet she’s dripping wet.I press against her, pissed at the layers of clothes separating our skin.Fuck, I need to get her home and in-

BOOM!

We jump apart, our kiss interrupted by the slam of a dumpster lid eerily similar to the first night we met. Glancing towards the sound, I see Johnny taking out the trash once more.This guy has terrible fucking timing.

“Sorry!” he yells over to us with an embarrassed wave. “It was completely unintentional…this time!” He winks as he walks away, his shoulders shaking with barely controlled glee.

Looking at Olivia, we both double over with laughter. “Okay, siren, let’s say goodbye to our friends and head home. I believe you made a promise to my teammates to get rid of my crabbiness, and I’d like to make good on that.”

46

olivia

“And now, let’s get loud for your Milwaukee Steel Riiiderrrsss!!” the announcer shouts as the players skate out onto the ice for the starting lineups to be announced. Breathing in deeply through my nose, I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I love the cool air whirling up as the players skate in a circle coming onto the ice, warming up their muscles one last time before the game. I love the shiny rink that hasn’t been sliced into. I love standing on the little Milwaukee Steel Riders carpet, placed just for me, knowing I am the last person out there who isn’t playing in the game.

But now, I have a new love on the ice, and he happens to be my husband. In the past, I’ve always seen the players standing here on the ice, but never really paid them much attention, until 22 stood across the ice and caught my eye. This is normally my chance to take a deep breath, make sure I have the pitch for my starting note, and remind myself of the lyrics one last time.The second verse is ‘whose broad stripes’ right?I have never messed up the words, but I always go over them one last time just in case. Tonight, I throw my routine out the window, listening to the starting lineup. Swaying back and forth, I wait for them to announce the players. As they say his name, I clap against themic and do a quick little ‘whooooo’ for Hayes as he skates out and gives me a quick wink. Once the players are announced, I’m up. I nervously rub my fingers along the seam of the jersey I’m wearing. The only one a guy’s ever asked me to wear. I couldn’t be prouder to have the last name Larson on my back.Now it’s my name too.I’m married to a Rider.The slight butterflies I usually get before singing seem more like a swarm of bees in my stomach. The stakes seem higher now. But as I breathe in the chilly air, I calm myself knowing everyone on this ice is cheering me on.

“Please rise and remove your hats as we honor America with the singing of our national anthem. Tonight, we are pleased to announce the return of our beloved singer with a shiny new last name! Please welcome the wife of our assistant captain, Hayes Larson - Mrs. Olivia Larson!”

Okay, I was not expecting that. It makes me smile knowing David and Hayes arranged this to make my first day back more special. The crowd goes crazy cheering, the roar nearly deafening in the arena. Normally, this would make me tear up, my eyes burning, but just like an athlete, I have my game face on. It’s virtually impossible to cry and sing at the same time. All emotions need to get shut off with a little switch in my brain until the song is over.I can cry in the WAG suite with Kara and Maggie later; first, I need to remember the words and sing my heart out for my husband…and I guess also America.

The crowd finally quiets enough for me to start the song, the first few notes ringing throughout the arena. As I hit the high note the crowd goes wild once again, goosebumps rippling across my flesh at the sound.I’ve never had a response like this.I finish the song, do my wave to the crowd, and prepare to walk back into the tunnel. But, before I can even turn, I see Hayes skating towards me, a mischievous look on his face. Spraying the carpet with ice, he dips me back and gives me a huge kiss in frontof the entire crowd. I thought the cheer after I finished singing was loud, but it doesn’t compare to the roar echoing around the rink.I don’t think he is supposed to be doing this. I smile against his lips, wrapping my arms around his neck and losing myself in his kiss.Then again, we’ve broken quite a few rules in our time together.He may get a fine for delaying the start of the game, but I know he’s willing to pay good money to show everyone I belong to him.

I still can’t quite figure out how a super-hot hockey player fell for a singer like me. But as he skates on the ice, I know this very rink brought us together. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I am excited to spend the rest of my days figuring it out with the center forward who is now the center of my whole world.

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