Page 55 of Ice Queen

I give her a soft nod. “Yeah.”

“The asshole burned his legs out. I don’t know how he’s going to play tomorrow.” Reed grumbles before taking a swig of his strawberry lemonade.

“He got an ice bath, and I massaged them plenty,” Abby says, and to my absolute surprise, Kaitlyn lets out the most adorable growl.

I don’t think anyone else heard it, but I did. I toss her a wink, making her turn the prettiest shade of pink. She’s beautiful on a normal day, but absolutely stunning when she’s unguarded like this. Guard lowered to the point that her reactions are genuine, not tempered to fit what someone else wants or needs.

“I’ll take some Ibuprofen, sleep on the plane tomorrow, and I’ll be right as rain. Don’t worry about me, Daddy Reed.” The room breaks out into laughter, oblivious to Kait as she puts her plate in the trash and quietly makes her way back to her room.

It doesn’t make sense to me that they aren’t tuned into her every move the way I am. That their eyes don’t immediately find her the second she walks into the room. They don’t seem to crave her light the way I do, even if it’s the very thing I need to stay away from.

She pauses when she gets to her door, turning to look at me over her shoulder. She gives me a soft smile before she steps through and doesn’t come out for the rest of the night.

I can’t help but think about how it might sound to her the entire time, though. The laughter, the talking, the family that we are, yet she’s hiding in her room like an outsider. It pulls at every instinct to go in and sit with her, to let her tell me all about this Wyatt guy. To let go of everything she’s held on to over the years. But I don’t. This is how it needs to be.

My espresso machine is going to have to do today, I don’t have time to go to Beautiful Pour, but I need my liquid kick in the dick to get the day started. The liquid sputters out into the cup, filling the room with that beautiful coffee aroma.

I lean against the counter, watching as my cup fills little by little. This is the first time I’m going out of town since Kait moved in, and I hate that she hasn’t come out of her room yet. I’d like to see her before I go, make sure she’s okay, and we’re still good after our little chat. The last thing I need is to leave, and she feels unwelcome the entire time.

I checked the security cameras, charged the batteries for any that had less than half a charge, and wrote down the alarm code and stuck it to the front door next to her keys. I’m hoping her being here will let me focus a bit more on the game. Lord knows I can’t afford to be distracted right now.

I scribble out a note and then hang it on the fridge, taking one last parting glance at the fresh bouquet of peonies I left on the counter. I picked them up from the little farmers’ market when I walked Maggie this morning. She deserves to smile every chance she gets.

Kait,

Thank you for watching Maggie while I’m gone. I know you aren’t comfortable driving my cars, so I had yours brought here. Here’s my number if you need anything. I got yours from Hannah. Don’t kill me.

I’ll check in on you in a bit. Have a great weekend.

-Casanova.

Patting Maggie on the head a few times, I realize my time is up. I take a deep breath, holding it for a second before letting it out.

Focus, Samuels, you’ve got a spot to keep.

“Board games or should we break out Mario Kart?” Monroe asks as he sits beside me at the back of the plane.

Truth be told, I’m not in the mood for any of it. But if I tell him that, he’ll start asking questions, and I don’t have the answers to those questions myself. So, “Mario Kart. Let’s cause some chaos. Andrews is still salty that he didn’t win a single race last time.”

The girls bought the six of us Nintendo Switches for Christmas last year, and it’s now one of our favorite pieces of in-flight entertainment. We play the Washington Cascades, Wilder’s old team, this weekend. And while he’s gotten better when it comes to playing them, playing them in Washington is a trip he doesn’t take without Hannah. Luckily, Coach Stevens and Mr. Collins are on this flight, so when Sterling tried to tell her she couldn’t fly with us, he quickly got shut down.

I may have laughed all the way to my seat while he stuttered, trying to find a comeback to Hannah’s, “I don’t take orders from a Temu version of Coach Michaels.”

I love her so damn much. She went through the wringer a few years back, and once she found her voice, Lord Almighty. Hell hath no fury like an angry woman from the south. “Han, you want to race with us?” I ask, pulling my switch out of my bag.

She gives me a soft smile before shaking her head. “No, I’m working on something for Kait. I think she’ll enjoy it.”

My ears perk up at the name, but I try to act disinterested. “Oh yeah?” I power on the device, watching the bar as the game loads. “What’s that?”

Her fingers fly across her iPad for a second before she looks up at me. “She texted me yesterday, asking if there was somewhere she could go thrifting.” She shrugs, picking up her tablet and turning it around for me. “I’m putting together a map. Remember when we took Lily to all the thrift stores, and she found all those vintage Disney toys?”

I nod. That was a fun day. “She wants to do a tour like that for old books and then donate to Domestic Violence shelters around town.”

Domestic Violence? Did that asshole hit her? I didn’t even think to ask when she was talking about him yesterday. What an idiot you are, Samuels. My teeth grind together as the thought rolls around in my head.

I quickly pull out my phone, opening a text to her before I turn murderous on my teammates.

Hey, quick question. Did your ex hit you? Because I need to know before I lose my mind.