Page 38 of On Thin Ice (Calgary Mounties #1)
Chapter Thirty-Six
AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS
Adele
After a fairly sleepless night with Lincoln tossing and turning beside me, I’m not feeling particularly chipper when I take my seat in the family box the next afternoon.
My least favourite WAG, Bethany, has invited a few of her annoying puck bunny friends to join her, and I’ve been trying to block out their comments on the players while they stretch on the ice.
As an avid hockey fan my entire life, the “professional husband chasers”, as Lincoln calls them, annoy the absolute crap out of me.
“My god, that ass. I could just bite it,” one of the near identical blondes says, pointing at Lincoln as he lowers himself into a groin stretch.
“Watch what you say. Given that this is the family box, the people in here don’t appreciate their loved ones being treated like pieces of meat, and if you make another comment like that, I’ll have security toss your ass out,” I snap.
Bethany shoots me a glare. “Don’t talk to my friends like that.”
“Some friends you’ve got there, Bethany.
Adele is right - the guys don’t need to be dealing with this crap.
And I have no problem pulling rank here.
So, keep it appropriate, or we’re going to have a problem,” Sarah pipes up from the other side of Kylie, who sits between us both with an angry scowl on her face.
Sarah is kind of the Queen Bee of the WAGS and takes her unofficial job as seriously as her official one.
She pours so much of herself into her job and loves the players fiercely.
Seth might be the captain, but her husband, Ollie, has been on the team longer, and they are basically considered to be royalty amongst the Mounties fans.
So, when she lays down the law, Bethany has no choice but to listen.
The blonde woman’s face twists into an ugly scowl but doesn’t reply, and not for the first time, I wonder what Anders sees in her. He isn’t arrogant by any means and is generally a pretty laid-back guy, so it’s truly a mystery to the majority of us how he managed to get snared in her web.
The group of women eventually get up and walk out, giving us dirty looks on the way out, and the atmosphere becomes much more relaxed.
“Thank god,” Kylie mutters under her breath.
She’s gone toe to toe with Bethany a few times but tends to try and keep her head down when it comes to team politics.
She’s done a good job at ignoring the opinions of others when it comes to her and Seth’s relationship, but she also doesn’t like to draw too much attention to herself around the more vocal haters.
And Bethany’s little group is full of some of the loudest.
“I’m going to have a word with Alistair tomorrow,” Sarah says, and I try not to bristle at the mention of his name. “I’ve had enough of Bethany bringing those women around the players. It’s bad enough she managed to get her claws into one of the nicest ones. ”
“Yeah. Hopefully Anders comes to his senses eventually,” I reply. “But at least we don’t have to deal with them now that they’ve all left. I bet they’ll be writing themselves off at the bar instead. Thanks for saying something.”
Sarah shrugs. “No problem. If you hadn't said something first, I would have stepped in anyway.” She runs her gaze over my face. “Are you okay? You look exhausted.”
I stifle a yawn. “We didn’t sleep well last night.
Linc had a run in with -” I cut myself off, realizing I shouldn’t say too much, in case it affects things even more for Lincoln.
Frantically searching for a way to cover my mistake, I mumble, “someone,” and Kylie snorts.
I sigh, shaking my head. “They said some stuff to get into Linc’s head. ”
Sarah raises an eyebrow, concern written all over her face. “What happened?”
“Just more about the sex tape stuff. Most of the management people have gotten over it, but one of them is giving him a really hard time, and he’s starting to think there really isn’t any point in trying to win them over.
I know Mikayla is still negotiating for his contract renewal, but if this person doesn’t let up… ”
Kylie looks gutted. Lincoln is like a brother to her, and the idea of him having to leave Calgary would be super hard on her and Seth. I don’t even want to think about what that would mean for Lincoln and me. Would he ask me to go with him? Can I give up my life here for him?
Sarah sighs, shaking her head. “Poor Lincoln. That whole incident was so badly handled. You know, between us, I’m pretty sure it was actually someone on our side that leaked that video?
It just seems too convenient that most of the footage that was leaked was of Lincoln’s face.
You could barely tell who was in the video with him, it was only at the very end that you saw Declan’s face, and it was a split second.
If Declan was the target, why’d they choose to release that part of the footage? ”
I feel both my eyebrows fly up as I turn to face her fully. “You’ve seen the video?”
She nods. “Yeah, I was the one who found it. They’d posted it and tagged the team.
I just happened to be online and got the lawyers onto it immediately.
But why’d they tag us, if it was meant to hurt Declan’s position?
It just doesn’t make any sense. And within minutes, I had Colin on the phone, asking for an exclusive interview with Lincoln to discuss it.
How the hell did he know about it so fast?
The man can barely follow the team stats coherently, so I doubt he’s savvy enough to follow every single item the team is tagged in.
There’s something off about him, and this whole situation. ”
Despite the concern that her words have stirred up within me, I smile and pat her hand. “The team are lucky to have you on their side.”
“I know they are.” She grins back. “I keep those idiots in line, but they are my idiots, and no one is getting access to the team without my express permission from now on. Hell, I’ll be the damn reporter if I have to.”
Kylie laughs. “You’re busy enough, lady.”
The guys have left the ice, and I excuse myself to head to the bathroom before the game starts. Sarah’s words ring in my ears, and I wonder just how likely it was that someone from the Mounties released that video. And what that means for Lincoln.
The game starts, and we cheer with enthusiasm, but it’s clear that something is up with the team. They seem tired, and it’s no surprise when Chicago scores twice within the first ten minutes, while we haven’t even made a shot.
“God, Stevens is going to blow a gasket,” Sarah mutters when the buzzer sounds, announcing the end of the first period.
“They definitely need to get a bit more energy going,” I say, wondering if Lincoln’s mood has somehow brought the team down.
When he’d left a few hours before the game, he’d still been a little flat, and I’d wished I could help him feel better. Whilst simultaneously imagining myself wringing Alistair’s neck.
The second period doesn’t see things getting much better, although Riley does manage to score a goal, so that’s something. But when Chicago scores a third time, it’s starting to feel a little bleak.
On the ice, it’s obvious that tension is growing amongst the players.
While the Chicago players celebrate their goal, Dean starts yelling at Volkov, obviously blaming the defencemen for not stopping James from getting the puck.
The tall Russian glares at Dean while Seth runs interference, pulling the goalie aside to talk him down.
I would not want to be on the receiving end of that look.
Pieter Volkov is not much of a talker, and I’ve always found him a little intimidating to be around, but Lincoln says he’s actually got a wicked sense of humour, he’s just incredibly shy.
I’ll have to take his word for it, though, cause right now he doesn’t look shy.
He looks like a Russian mafia boss about to take out one of his underlings.
“I don’t know what’s been going on with Dean lately, but he’s going to have to get that temper of his under control,” Sarah says once play resumes.
“Yeah, Linc said he’s been pretty moody lately. Wonder what’s going on?”
Kylie smiles at me. “I love that you call him Linc, now.” I blush, and she giggles. “God, you are so far gone for him, aren’t you? ”
I shrug. “Maybe. I don’t know. It seems too soon to be talking like that.”
Sarah raises an eyebrow. “Haven’t you guys been together for months now? By that point, Ollie and I were already living together. I don’t think there’s a time limit on when it’s acceptable to tell him you love him, if you’re both on the same page.”
I don’t want to admit that it’s actually only really been about five weeks. We’d agreed to keep the truth of our previous agreement to ourselves, so to the rest of the team, it’s been about four months.
I look at Kylie, but she just shrugs. “I agree with Sarah. Look what Seth and I went through when we were both too stubborn to admit how we were feeling. If you love him, tell him. I know for a fact that he’s just as far gone as you are.”
I open my mouth to ask her how she knows that, but Sarah gasps, her eyes fixed on the ice. I turn quickly to see Lincoln throw his gloves off and grab the jersey of Robertson, one of Chicago’s defencemen, throwing a punch while the refs surround them.
It takes a lot to provoke Lincoln on the ice and seeing him fight like this is almost unheard of.
I wince when Robertson manages to land a hit on Lincoln, causing his head to snap back as his grip on the other player’s jersey slips.
Seth uses this as a chance to pull Lincoln away as the refs step in, eventually calling a five minutes for fighting penalty on them both.
“What is going on with them all today?” Sarah leans against the back of her chair, shaking her head.
Once the buzzer sounds at the end of the period, all I can do is curse the rules around the players not having access to their phones during a game. I can’t do anything but hope that his teammates are able to talk some sense into my brooding boyfriend.
When the game ends, Chicago celebrates their four to one victory while our players file off the ice with their heads bowed low.
“It’s going to be a quiet team dinner tonight, I think. Or else they are going to end up at each other’s throats,” Kylie muses, standing up to stretch.
I nod, letting out a long breath. This is going to be a long night.