Page 60 of From Ice to Grace
“You’re serious?” she asks.
This time there’s no humor or sarcasm in her voice. Her eyes hold mine, like she’s weighing everything I just said against something in her own mind. Her lips part, before she presses them closed again, like she can’t decide whether to laugh or agree with me.
“As serious as a suspension and a deportation,” I toss back.
“And what would this look like?” she asks. “Everyone around us would know this isn’t real. They’ve seen us together for the past year and no-one is under the illusion that we’re secretly in love.”
“Nobody said anything about love,” I say, the word tasting weird even as I spit it out. “This is an agreement.”
“Yes, I know that,” she says, grabbing the pillow from next to her on the couch and hurling it at my head. I catch it against my chest, grinning. “But it needs to be real enough so the media will buy it. And if you want the media to buy into it, then your coaches need to believe it, your GM…your teammates. Which happens to include my brother.”
She shakes her head, pacing back and forth, her hands tucked beneath her arms.
“What? So it’s a bit more complicated than I first anticipated.”
“A bit?” She lets out a sharp laugh. “It’s impossible, Declan. It won’t work.”
She bites the nail on her thumb, a small frown forming between her blue eyes.
“What makes you so sure we can’t figure this out, Snowflake?” I ask, carefully watching her. She’s not against this. It’s clear she’s trying to figure out a way for this to possibly work because as much as she might hate the idea…marrying me would mean she could stay here.
She stops and turns to me.
“I think the better question is how do you actually think we can pull this off,” she says, her hands now on her hips. It almost looks like she’s mad at me for giving her hope that’s ungrounded. “Because you’ve never been in a stable relationship and now you want the world to believe that you’ve fallen in love with your teammate’s sister.”
I shrug. “It happens.”
She shrugs mocking me and lowering her voice to mimic mine. ‘It happens.’
I can’t help but grin. “So tell me how this can work then if you’re such a genius.”
She looks at me, carefully assessing. “Alright, I’ll tell you what this would have to look like and you tell me if you’d be able to do that.”
“Fine, give it to me. I can do anything.” It might be ego, it might be pride…but I don’t back down from a challenge. Especially if it means it will benefit my hockey career. I’ll do anything to keep playing, even step into a marriage agreement.
“We’ll have to get married. Actually get married. Move in together. Share a house. Go on dates, and be together publicly. People would have to think you’ve been in love with me this whole time. Someone from the government will probably interview us at some point. We’ll have to give proof of our relationship, our families and friends will have to lie for us…”
She trails off, her eyes not leaving mine for a second as she allows me to really think through the offer I’m making.
Her words land hard. This wouldn’t be just another agreement like the ones I’ve had before. This would be me and her. Every day. Every night. Our lives will get tangled together in ways I haven’t even thought of. Because I didn’t truly think it through. I’m the guy who acts first and thinks later. And it’s exactly the thing that got me in this situation in the first place.
But imaging sharing space with Avah doesn’t feel like a mess. Not even close. Yes, she’s been a thorn in my side for most of the year, but if I’m honest…a part of me likes baiting her. She’s sharp enough to throw it back, and interesting enough that I want to see what she does next. These last few hours are the longest conversation we’ve ever had, and it’s still better than any I’ve had with the other women in my life. I don’t think it’ll be possible for me to get bored of her.
My gaze dips to her mouth, to the way her frame is outlined in that soft sweater and tights. The platinum highlights in her hair catches in the light and those glacier eyes that manage to be cold and warm at the same time.
She’s beautiful…obviously.
And yet it’s more than that. There’s steel there—layers of grit and strength. The idea of doing this with her doesn’t feel like a compromise. Rather it feels a bit dangerous…but the kind of danger I like.
I move closer to her, needing her to see I’m not bluffing. Curiosity colours her face as she eyes me carefully.
“I’ll be able to do it,” I say, bracing my hands on the counter on either side of her, caging her in. Not to corner her, but to make her see how serious I am. “Easily.”
Having her this close to me is exciting in a new way. I’ve never allowed myself to think of her as anything other than my teammate’s annoying and judgmental sister. But if we do this, I’ll be toeing that line and it would be important to remember that she’s off-limits.
“And what do we tell my brother?” she asks. “Who knows the truth of the matter and who gets the lie?”
Her words are steady, but she doesn’t move away. She knows this will be a lie and yet she’s still standing here. The counter is warm beneath my grip and for a beat neither of us says anything.
