Page 74 of From Ice to Grace
“Before you know it birds will flutter through the window and sew a wedding dress for Avah,” he continues, obviously not caring about my mood right now. “Although I can’t help but wonder if EJ would shoot them.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll shoot them first,” I deadpan. ”Don’t you have to get to practice?”
He erupts into laughter before slapping me on the back, causing coffee beans to spill over the counter. Suddenly I don’t feel as rested as I did a few minutes ago.
“I don’t envy you one bit,” he says, walking to the door. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you. I’ve seen you with a million women, but you and Avah…” he whistles. “That look is new.”
At least we fooled Lindgren.
“I’m pretty sure a million women is a physical impossibility,” I mumble, scraping together the coffee beans before putting them in the machine. No caffeine wasted.
Lindgren opens the door and stops. “How are you going to handle EJ?” he asks. “I remember conversations about sisters being off-limits.”
I turn on the machine, crushing the beans while looking at Lindgren who’s patiently waiting for me to answer.
“Don’t worry about it, Barney, I’ve got it handled.”
I hope. Avah spoke to EJ and explained everything, but he’s still not happy about it. Which I get, I suppose. Groaning inwardly, I realize I need to talk to him too—it’s the least I can do.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Lindgren says, leaving for practice.
A pang of jealousy runs through me. Ask any hockey player worth his salt—if you miss a day on the ice, you risk going insane. We need icetime like we need air…and my body can feel that it’s been too long. Lindgren gets to exert all his energy on the ice, put in a rough couple of hours of practice, while I have to…probably get a ring.
I groan. I don’t know anything about rings.
I know hockey.
Grabbing a cup, I slam the cupboard door, hating the situation I’m in. Why I have to buy an engagement ring to stay on this team is beyond me. Because ultimately, that’s what this is boiling down to.
It’s insane.
It’s ridiculous.
It should be a damn crime.
If a man wants to play hockey, he should be able to do just that without people making him jump through PR hoops for their entertainment.
Granted, last night didn’t feel like much of a hoop. I ended up enjoying myself more than I thought I would. If I’m being honest…it may even have been the best date I’ve ever been on.
And it was…fake? Acting?
The amount of things messing with my mind right now isn’t even funny. Before we left Cinzano’s, Brady texted me the links to the social media posts and already written article about the new romance between me and Avah.
We decided to skip the ice-cream and further showing of…romance. Which is better, because I left that restaurant feeling a bit unstable.
Pulling up the picture Brady sent me again, I lean against the counter and really look at the two of us. It’s hard to reconcile who we’ve been to the two people in the picture, staring at each other.
As much as I hate it, Maddie is right. I am looking at Avah in a way I’ve never looked at another woman before—and I didn’t even know I was doing it.
16
AVAH
I’m getting married today.
Staring down at my phone, I try to keep it together after re-reading the text I got from Declan.
Today is wedding day, Snowflake. 2PM at city hall. Wear something white. See you later ;)
