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Story: As You Ice It

“Hey, yeah?”

I lean close, my lips against his ear. “If I ever pull away, promise you’ll run after me?”

“Promise. And you’ll do the same for me?”

“Promise.”

With one more kiss, he sets me down on my feet. And after quickly hugging his family, he practically sprints from the room. Parker shoos him out, but then pauses outside the suite frowning down at her phone.

I’m distracted by all the hugs and congratulations. Someone presses a glass of champagne in my hand and I take a quick swallow, the fizzy bubbles matching my current energy. My hand feels different with the ring on it, and I can’t stop staring.

“He made a good choice,” Benedict says, giving me a side hug. “Congrats.”

“Thank you. I can’t believe you’re all here. Did you drive?”

Ben smiles. “Absolutely not. I chartered a private jet.”

“Of course you did.”

Down on the ice, the game has started up again. I’m about to grab Liam and see if he wants to go back down from our seats when Parker comes in. She looks, in a word, devastated.

“What is it?” I ask. “What happened?”

“I …” She looks up at me, and her eyes are wild. “I don’t want to ruin the mood.”

“Don’t worry about the mood. What is it?”

“I think the Appies are in trouble. The league is forcing our owner out, which means … I don’t even know what it means.”

Below us, the horn sounds as the Appies score a goal, and I wonder if Camden made it back on the ice.

Now, I’m also wondering if he’ll still have a job.

“What can we do?” I ask, feeling my elation from the day’s events starting to come back down to earth from wherever they’ve been hovering.

Parker forces a laugh. “Nothing. I mean, not unless you happen to know a billionaire who wants to buy a hockey team.”

I almost laugh.

But before I can, Benedict steps forward and holds out a hand to Parker. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Benedict King, and I just so happen to be a billionaire who might be interested in buying a hockey team.”

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