Page 84 of Icebound

“Bro, your girlfriend’s hot as fuck!” some guy shouts on the line.

What the hell? Is she at a party? I clutch my phone hard enough to snap it in half. “What’s going on? Where are you, Nina?”

“Sorry, you’re on speaker,” she says, a hell of a lot calmer than I feel. “Thanks for picking up because, as I’m sure you can hear from all the screaming, I’m driving some very drunk children,” she spits out like she’s chastising them, “home tonight.”

“We’re not drunk,” the guy slurs.

Yeah, he’s wasted.

“Yeah, you’re wasted,” she says, and pride fills me that we had the same thought. “Your friend literally peed himself before he got in the car. I’m charging you extra for that.”

“Assholes,” we both say.

The golden elevator door slides open, and I jam my finger on the twenty-fourth button, trying to hold onto my self-control. If any of those guys touch her… I don’t know what I’ll do, but it won’t be pretty.

“Are you alright?” I rub my temples. “Please tell me before I lose it.”

“Thanks. I’m okay. Don’t freak out or anything. I tried calling Gwen and Micah, but they didn’t answer, and I just wanted someone to talk to right now.”

Of course she tried calling Cruz. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does.

“You know what I want to do with you?” one of the assholes shouts.

I loosen my tie, lowering my voice. “Listen up. You better not—”

“If you finish that sentence, I’m throwing you out of my car,” Nina interjects, cutting me off. “Not you, Rhode, obviously. These boys.”

She’s got this handled, but I’ll always back her up. “If any of you so much as blow one hair out of place on that girl’s head, I’m calling the cops,” I say, stepping out of the elevator and into the hallway.

“Whoa, dude, where’d that voice come from?” one of them says.

I shove my key card into my room, slamming the door behind me hard enough that a hanger falls in the closet. No one’s in here since we never share rooms. We’re seasoned players, not rookies crammed in a dorm at training camp.

I stride inside the marble bathroom, shoving off my pink tie with lemons all over it while imagining Nina out partying with these degenerates. I can’t let myself go there, or I’ll want to do something insane like fly back to Nashville and drag her away with me.

I’m acting jealous, greedy, and possessive over a girl who’s not even mine, but these emotions make me feel like I’m hers.

“Okay, boys, get out of my car. We’re here,” Nina says through the phone. “Go straight to bed. Don’t talk to any people, oh, and make sure to take some painkillers, but nothing with acetaminophen, and don’t be assholes. Now get out.”

On the line, they shuffle out of the car. “You alright? Are they gone?”

She sighs, sounding exhausted, and I imagine wrapping her up in my arms. “Yeah, they’re out. Thanks for answering. I know we’re not really talking, but I didn’t want to be completely alone with those guys. I think they were harmless assholes, but still, you can’t be too careful.”

“I don’t care if they’re harmless, I just care if they’re assholes,” I grit out.

“True.” She pauses. “You sound mad. Are you mad?”

I take five breaths before answering. My jealousy isn’t her problem, so I sink onto the edge of the bathtub, gripping the rim. “I’m fine.”

“Well, thanks for backing me up.”

“It’s nice to know I’m good for something other than blocking pucks all day,” I mutter, more to myself because that’s all I feel good for lately. “And I’ll always back you up.”

I wait for her to say more, but when she doesn’t, I turn on the cold water and fill up the hotel bathtub because I’m more wound up than before a playoff game. “What are you up to now?” I ask, wanting to keep her talking.

“Just pulling up to my apartment. You?”

I wedge my phone between my cheek and shoulder, undoing the buttons on my shirt. “Taking a cold bath to reduce some of my inflammation, but I doubt it’ll work all that well. It’s a watered-down version of an ice bath.”