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Astrid’s nose twitched in her sleep, her senses becoming aware of the glorious scent of caffeine before her brain had kicked in.

The glorious scent of coffee and… Blake!

Her eyes shot open as her body shot up.

‘Morning, sleepyhead.’

She tugged the blanket up her naked chest and raked her mop out of her face, blinking wildly at his mostly naked, exceptionally hot, freshly showered, and towel-wrapped bod stood at the end of the bed.

‘I think it’s a little late for modesty, don’t you?’

She swallowed and yup, there was her trademark squeak. Followed by his trademark smirk… he knew exactly what he did to her.

‘Is that coffee I can smell?’

Because if she was drinking coffee, she couldn’t be drinking him in again so soon. How could she still want him so bad?

‘Sure is.’ He gestured to the bedside table behind her.

‘You brought me coffee!’ She dived for it, addiction overriding modesty now as she sat back up and took a soul-satisfying sip. ‘You’re an angel, thank you!’

He chuckled. ‘Now that I haven’t heard before… but I’ll take it. You might want to check your phone too. It’s been flashing like a strobe.’

‘It has?’ She glanced its way.

‘Good job too else I would’ve slept in.’

She wrestled one-handed with the tangled sheets to get to it, and he came to her aid, lifting it off the charging station and slotting it into her hand. ‘Your friend Sissi seems desperate to talk to you.’

She almost dropped both it and the coffee. ‘ Sissi ?’

Heart in mouth, she checked the screen. Three missed calls and a text.

‘She’s an early riser, ringing you at that time,’ he said, towelling off his hair, his rippling biceps threatening to disengage her panic from her brain as she gawped at him.

‘She’ll be on her way to work.’

‘Which is where I should be, though I hate to eat and run.’

He strode across the room, losing the towel as he went. No worries over modesty there. Though with an arse like that, she couldn’t blame him. Tight as?—

Eat and run, wait!

‘Have you eaten? Have I slept through all of that?’

He tugged his jeans on, zipped and buttoned them as he came back to the bed. Planting his fists into the mattress either side of her, he grinned into her eyes, their devilish glint and his proximity stealing her breath.

‘I was talking about feasting on you.’

‘Oh!’

‘Yes, oh…’ And then he caught her lips in his for the softest, sweetest, most tantalising of kisses. ‘But now I have to go before Aiden and Coach send out a search party.’

He straightened up and her body instantly protested the loss of his.

‘See you later, pre-game?’

‘I… I’m not sure. I have stuff to do, calls to make, packing to sort.’

An article to write, friends to call, a conscience to revive … or batter into submission.

‘Okay, Twinkle Toes, do what you need to do and call me if you change your mind. Else I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow.’ She nodded as her phone started to ring again.

‘Say hi to Sissi from me…’

He gave her a wink and walked out, his parting words making her gut writhe and her cheeks bloom. Guilty as…

‘Shit!’

‘Woah, that’s some greeting…’

Oops. Butterfingers had answered the call and now Sissi was looking right at her, naked boobs an’ all.

‘…I almost crashed the car.’

Sissi’s blue eyes narrowed as they flicked from Astrid to the road and back again.

‘Honey, are you?—’

‘Yes!’ She tilted the phone, her cheeks burning deeper. ‘I slept in.’

‘God, I’m so jelly. I can’t remember the last time I had a lie-in.’ She looked over her shoulder as she shifted the indicator stick – tick tock tick tock . ‘Oh yes, it was probably Christmas Day and even then, it took a dive when I got called into work.’

‘Sorry Sissi, not trying to rub it in.’

‘I know, ignore me, I’m just tired. I pulled a night shift and now I’m on early too.’

‘And yet you look amazing on it.’ Astrid smiled at her friend who truly did look incredible. Tired, always. But incredible, nonetheless. Sienna just had this quality about her that made one think of Hallmark movies and happy lives… even if the truth was far from it.

‘Yeah, right!’ She snorted. ‘So, come on, spill! Why do I need to watch the game tonight, and what do you mean you’re coming to town?’

‘The former you’ll have to wait and see…’ Though Astrid couldn’t suppress her grin.

‘That smile tells me you’ve done something.’

‘Just watch out for your heartbreaker on the ice.’

She screwed her face up. ‘If I must. And the latter?’

‘You busy Wednesday?’

Sissi cocked a brow. ‘You’re asking me that?’

‘Sorry, stupid question, what I should have said is, can you spare a couple of hours if a bouncy brunette happened to rock up on your doorstep?’

‘Are you for real? You’re coming here?’

‘Yup. The twins are playing the Penguins, and they’ve invited me along for the ride, all expenses paid. We fly in tomorrow.’

‘Oh, honey!’ Her eyes lit up, her grin taking the edge off the shadows under her eyes. ‘That would be amazing; you can fill me in properly, we can talk, eat cake, drink that wine you sent me – thank you by the way!’

‘You’re welcome.’ She’d forgotten she’d sent it, but the timing was perfect!

‘So, when are you thinking?’

‘Wednesday afternoon, while the team are busy with pre-game prep?’

‘Amazing! I have a seminar, but I can skip it. It’ll be so good to see you in person. I only wish it could be for longer. And even more that it could be all of us together.’

‘Yeah, I know, I miss having us—’ Her phone buzzed as a message dropped onto the screen, momentarily blotting Sienna’s face. Paige?

‘Hang on, babe… did you just get a WhatsApp from Paige?’

‘Yeah.’

She clicked the message to open:

Paige created group ‘SOS!!!’

Paige added you.

Paige added Sissi.

Paige

I fucked up! Are you guys free for a call??

‘Shit,’ they both said in unison.

‘I’m just gonna grab some clothes and I’ll be right on it…’ Because there was no way Astrid could go into an SOS call butt naked. Especially when the cause of her nakedness was something she couldn’t talk about just yet. ‘You?’

‘I’ll pull over and do the same.’

Astrid cut the call and smacked her coffee down on the side.

Flying off the bed, she threw the quilt up as she sought out her clothing.

She found her tee wedged between the bed and the table, plucked it out and pulled it on, all the while hunting out her shorts.

Where were the damn things? They couldn’t just vanish!

Sissi

I can jump on a call.

‘I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming!’ she muttered in desperation.

Not like you were last night… or this morning.

Not helping! She looked to the heavens with an eye roll and that was when she saw them – her shorts, hanging on the corner of the TV. She snatched them down and thrust them on, dropping onto her bed with a flustered ‘oof!’

Astrid

Me too!

Almost immediately the video call came in from Paige and she swiped to accept it, her friend’s avatar being replaced by her IRL. She looked pale, her hazel eyes like panicked fish bowls.

‘What’s happened?’ she blurted. ‘Are you okay?’

Paige shook her head, her red curls dancing with the move. ‘I did a bad, bad thing.’

Oh God…

* * *

‘Where have you been?’ Coach asked as Blake launched himself onto the ice.

‘Sorry, Coach, slept in!’

With a swoosh he joined the line of players already in the full swing of drills, his grin impossible to dampen.

‘Ooh, somebody got some last night,’ V goaded as he swept past.

‘Shut up, V!’

But it was too late, jeers rippled through the team like a Mexican wave.

Aiden came up beside him in a spray of ice. ‘He’s not wrong though, is he?’

‘A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, bro.’

‘Since when have you been a gentleman?’

‘Since I met a pretty lady who inspired me to become one.’

* * *

Astrid hung up the video call, Paige’s news rolling through her, as surprising as it was nerve provoking. Paige had caught feelings for Olly. The man who had jilted Bella and broken her heart…

It was a mess. A great big mess. But they’d tried to reassure her, encouraging her to come clean to Bella, too… But all the while Astrid had felt sick, because there she was telling Paige to be honest, when she herself had been far from it.

Though she could hardly come out with her own messy situation when Paige was in tears divulging hers… and tonight, Bella would learn of it too. So much for all these men getting their just desserts. It seemed the only ones paying the price were her girls. Bella for Chase and now Paige with Olly.

Meanwhile, in Astrid-land, she had her cake and was eating too. Four orgasms and counting. She was bad, bad, bad. Not Paige .

And as the day came to an end, her guilt and her worry increased tenfold. Because Bella was now incommunicado. Paige had told her the news and Bella wasn’t speaking to any of them.

Astrid had called her, but she hadn’t picked up. She’d messaged and no reply.

And now she was fighting the urge to hightail it to her place with a mountain of red velvet cupcakes, threatening to set up camp until her friend let her in. But Chase lived right across the hall so that wouldn’t do.

If the guy saw her, Bella would have more than just Paige’s feelings for Olly to worry over, she’d have to explain away Astrid’s presence too.

So here she was, throwing random shit at her suitcase and praying her friend was okay – Friends plural! – when her phone buzzed.

Sissi

OMG! You did it! I can’t believe you broke the Ice King!

Huh …? Astrid stared at the text. Broke him? How?

Oh, God , the game! Grabbing the TV remote, she launched the streaming service playing the Titans game.

‘Not even the glare of the ice can tone that down,’ came the commentator’s voice over the noise within the arena. ‘Do you think it’s a new strategy from the Ice King?’

‘Ice King?’ the fellow commentator replied. ‘Lion King more like, just look at that orange glow and the attitude, he’s taking some serious stick for it tonight.’

Astrid covered her mouth. ‘Oh, God.’

Sissi

Did you hear what the commentator just said? Lion King!! Priceless

She glanced back up at the TV, her face scrunching over the sight of Aiden slamming the opposition into the boards, taking out another on the rebound too. The ref blew his whistle, ordering him into the box and Blake skated up behind, shook his head at his brother.

‘We can all take a guess at what Fury is saying to his brother now…’

‘To be fair, I’m surprised Ice hasn’t gone into the box sooner.’

‘I don’t know, Bob, seems the twins have had something of a personality swap. Blake without his Fury. Aiden losing his cool…’

Sissi

You are a genius! Karma Queen!

Karma Queen? Astrid felt a little sick. But this was what she’d come for, or thereabouts, and Sissi was getting what she’d been promised… a slice of payback.

Astrid

I try

Sissi

How did you come up with this?

Astrid

I figured it was time for Prince Charming to turn into the pumpkin…

Though she’d never anticipated feeling this conflicted over it.

Sissi

Haha! Brilliant God, I love you

Astrid

Love you too, babe xx

She only hoped her friend still felt that way when she told her everything come Wednesday…

* * *

As she climbed into bed that night, having watched the Titans win their game and packed her case to leave, she checked her phone for news from Bella. Still nothing. She was about to set it aside when?—

Blake

Missed you today x

Her smile rose up from deep within her, impossible to suppress.

Astrid

Don’t worry, I’ll grill you twice over tomorrow to make up for it

Blake

Is ‘grill’ a euphemism?

She laughed out loud.

Astrid

Congrats on the win!

Blake

Winning feels so much better when you’re in the seats with your Titans jersey. Don’t forget to pack it. There are things I want to do to you wearing that, and only that, Twinkle Toes

Her heart lurched as her clit pulsed. What was it about this guy that he could lift her spirits with barely a word said? Dire straits over Bella to the female equivalent of a horndog in a few texts. What was that? A horn cat ?

Astrid

Consider it packed. Night night xx

Blake

Night xx