Page 46 of Breaking the Ice (Denver Stampede #6)

“I could have a beautiful voice.” She snorted. “And if you were so against it, you should’ve picked a different scene from the movie. Maybe the prom or paintball.”

“Or a different couple,” she muttered. She took a bite of her cookie, shifting away from me when I tried to snag a piece.

She fit Kat Stratford to a T.

The last few days had been perfect—well, aside from our loss against LA two nights ago.

At least we’d beaten St. Louis last night.

And Dani had been in the arena both times.

I loved seeing her in the stands cheering for me.

And I was also glad that maybe I was the reason she was enjoying hockey again.

Yes, I’d been slightly nervous about how our secret would play out now that everyone knew—I didn’t want Dani to feel uncomfortable around my teammates and their partners—but no one had given her anything to be wary about.

They’d had questions when the videos had hit social media, but I’d filled my teammates in and they’d been fully supportive. Jenzy was currently getting the brunt of the hockey gossip, thank fuck. As he should, asshole. At least he’d left Dani alone. Fucking good riddance.

“Hey, guys. Ooh, wait, don’t tell me,” Cora said, tapping her chin. She was currently wearing some weird black hat with tiny sunglasses perched on her nose. I had no clue who she was supposed to be. Tally had his floppy hair parted down the middle but looked relatively normal.

I pulled out a microphone from the inside of my coat, a microphone that I’d managed to hide from Dani for this exact moment. And then I did a sideways slide.

“Oh my god, you can’t be serious,” Dani said, shaking her head.

“ Ten Things I Hate About You ! I love that movie. Heath was so charming and hot.” Cora sighed and smiled.

“I’m hotter,” Tally chimed in.

She turned and patted his chest. “Of course you are, sweetie.”

“Don’t start,” Dani admonished when I wiggled my brows at her.

“I haven’t watched that movie in ages. I totally need to rewatch,” Cora said. “And based on Shakespeare, even. Double points for you both.”

“I’m guessing Notting Hill for you two?” Dani said. “Another classic.”

“I figured I couldn’t get away with convincing Nate to dress in Regency attire three years in a row, but it’s back to breeches next year. He has the calves for them.”

Tally laughed at his girlfriend, and I knew exactly how he felt. I’d wear whatever Dani wanted me to every year.

“So I don’t want to sour the night by mentioning the asshole, but I heard that someone’s found himself on his agent’s shit list.” Cora looked gleeful with her announcement.

“Please tell me it’s Jenzy.” We hadn’t talked about him that much in the last few days. Out of sight, out of mind was a beautiful thing.

“Yes, thanks to those videos of him being a complete dick to Dani and then acting like both a bully and petulant child when y’all put him in his place, he’s lost at least one sponsorship deal.

Well, it was put on hold from what I’ve heard.

I think they’re waiting to see if the noise dies down, but people keep posting about what a creep he is. ”

“And we’ll keep posting,” Josie interjected, popping up next to us.

“What?” Dani said to her.

“What did you do?” Cora asked.

“Yes, tell them, Hurricane.” Smirking at his girlfriend, Micah pushed up a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.

“Doesn’t he look dashing? Totally Cary Grant, if I do say so myself. We’re from Bringing up Baby . I make a stellar madcap heiress, right?” She shook out her tight purple curls.

“Stellar,” Dani said. “Now, please fill us in. What did you do?”

“Well, maybe me and my partner in crime.”

Micah held out his hands. “That would not be me.”

“Obviously not. I mean Harper. We created new IG handles, totally generic, don’t even worry.

And maybe have been sharing the videos and adding comments everywhere we can.

We wouldn’t want dear Jenzy to keep his true colors from everyone, obviously.

” She smirked. “Sure there’ll be women who like that desperate look, especially since he has money, but hopefully they’ll be harder for him to find.

You don’t mess with our family, dammit.” She huffed at the end, and I wrapped my arm around Dani, tugging her close.

I felt her sigh of relief and glanced down to see her beaming.

“Thank you. But how can you be sure that no one will tie it to you?” Dani asked.

“We were extremely generic. Hockeyfan96 and Hockeyfan4life could be anyone. We’ve made sure to comment on other posts about players so it doesn’t look like we’re targeting Jenzy. Don’t worry, Dani. We got you.” Josie beamed, so proud of herself, which made me chuckle.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Dani said. “But I appreciate it. Everything. You guys have been so supportive and kind to me the entire time.”

“You’re part of this family, so even if you ditch Tucks, we’re keeping you,” Josie said.

“Thanks. You guys are pretty awesome, too.”

“I know, right?”

“Okay, now that you’ve given Dani the good news, how about we mingle a bit?” Micah said.

“Fine, fine. Just let me know if we need to ramp up our efforts, Dani,” Josie said as Micah steered her away.

“I can’t believe they did that,” Dani said.

Cora snorted. “I can. It’s brilliant, really. I hope no one wants to touch him, professionally or personally. Asshole. And if he comes sniffing around or something comes up, just let me know. Oh, and if I decide to add fake dating as a trope in my next book, I might hit you up for some research.”

Dani laughed softly. “Not sure how much help I’ll be since we didn’t stay fake for very long.”

“Do they ever?” Cora teased.

I was grateful Dani saw the humor in our situation, that she wasn’t embarrassed about our ruse being exposed. When it came down to it, I’d known my friends wouldn’t care how our relationship started.

“Oh, did you get everything you needed from us for the Halloween costume contest and party at the Center?” Cora asked.

“Yes, thank you. The kids are super-excited,” Dani said. We were headed to the Center in two days for some spooky fun and I couldn’t wait. We’d done our hospital visit earlier today, and Pucks and I had rocked our Bumblebee costumes.

“Fantastic. Can’t wait to see everyone decked out,” Cora said. “But now, there’s a salted caramel brownie bat with my name on it.”

She said her goodbyes and headed for the dessert bar, Tally following behind her. I turned Dani in my arms, who was beaming up at me.

“Could this night get any better? Can you believe Josie?” She chuckled, and I could feel the relief coming off of her.

“Yes, I can, and yes, it can,” I said.

“What?”

“I can totally see Josie and Harper trolling Jenzy, and if we ditch this party, the night can definitely get better.” I wiggled my brows at her for good measure and she giggled.

Fuck, I loved making her laugh, seeing the gorgeous smile on her face that made her light up. I never wanted to stop making her smile at me like she was right now.

“I love you so damn much,” I said.

She linked her arms around my neck and tugged me down for a kiss. “I love you, too. And maybe we can sneak off somewhere without anyone noticing.”

“It is a big house,” I said, spotting a hallway that had promise.

She glanced around me and grinned. And then she started tugging me from the room.