Page 83 of From Ice to Grace
“Dude, that’s my sister,” EJ says, his gaze sharp.
“She’s also my wife.” The words come out unexpectedly, and with much more force and meaning than I meant them to have.
Avah’s hand lands on my knee before she pinches me. Her eyes scream, ‘Tone it down, Murphy.’
“Well, there’s not much to the story really,” Avah says, leaning into my side like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “We’ve known each other for a year, you know that.”
“Yes,” Lindgren says, popping another appetizer in his mouth. “But when did it get serious?”
I toss a breadroll at Lindgren. “You sound like a girl at a sleepover, Barney.”
He catches it, grinning as he pops it in his mouth.
“She’s always had a thing for me,” I say, my hand slipping over her shoulder and pulling her tighter. “I mean she’s watched all my games, knows I’m a future Hall of Famer, how can she not want to marry me?”
Avah elbows me in the ribs hard enough to make me cough. “Of course, it was his athleticism that drew me in,” Avah says with a teasing smile. “But it was his Boston charm that sealed the deal.”
“You know you bring it out of me,” I say, meaning it. She’s got a way to pull a line from me every single time. “I’ve never had this much fun arguing with anybody.”
“Is that why you came looking for me at Lucas and Hannah’s wedding?” she asks, her voice dripping with sweetness.
The table collectively perks up.
“This started at our wedding?” Hannah asks Avah, practically squealing.
Thinking back, it was more of a fight than a conversation. I sought her out to give her some of her own medicine that evening.
“Yes,” I answer before looking down at Avah. “Your eyes were especially blue that night.” I remember spotting her on the dancefloor, her eyes spitting fire in my direction as usual.
She sucks in a breath. “Well, none of your words that night had anything to do with my eyes.”
“Everyone knows I’m not that good with words, Snowflake.” I shrug. “That’s why I hit people with sticks for a living.”
“Mm,” she hides a small smile behind her glass as she takes a sip of her water. “By the time the gala came around, we had reached a point where it was clear we had to make a decision. Face what this is, or walk away.”
“And that’s when you proposed?” Lindgren blurts. “After the chaos at the gala? Wow, you really know how to pick a moment.”
I swallow, remembering that night and the decisions I made. I shouldn’t even have been in that bar, never mind at the bottom of that bottle. My teammates don’t know what happened, and I’m grateful Avah hasn’t told them. I haven’t really thought about it too much, but now I can’t help but wonder.
Why didn’t she tell anyone? Or call one of them?
Would I have been sitting here if it hadn’t been for that night?
More importantly, would I go back and change it if I could? Knowing the outcome now?
“He showed up at my doorstep,” Avah says, bending the truth enough to protect me. “We had coffee, and when it came down to it, there were a few truths we couldn’t ignore.”
She’s not spinning some kind of story now either, Avah’s sticking to the truth of our relationship.
“I knew she was my best bet,” I add easily. “So I had to ask her to marry me.”
We look at each other, the line between truth and pretend pretty blurry.
“And when did you find out?” Nikolai deadpans. We both look at EJ who suddenly wipes the worried expression from his face before tacking on a grin.
“I’ve always known he had a thing for her,” EJ says. “Why do you think I warned him back in Florida?”
Niko nods, picking up the bottle of champagne in front of him, opening it and popping the cork loudly.
