I couldn’t hold back my grin. “No plans. Absolutely none at all.”
“Would you like to meet us after practice again?” I could hear the hope in Flurry’s voice.
“I’d love to.” I’d have a few hours to get myself cleaned up, ice my lady bits, and maybe, just maybe, there would be a round two in my future.
From out of the corner of my eye, I saw Klaus flash Flurry a satisfied grin before hiding his smile behind his coffee cup.
Those two were going to be my undoing, and I wasn’t mad about it one bit.
After finishing breakfast, we piled into Flurry’s truck and made our way back to the stadium. Marco was correct in his aerial assessment. The roads were clear, not that Flurry’s monster SUV would have had an issue, anyway. And I had a lingering suspicion that as a yeti, he didn’t have any problems navigating through the snow.
“Here we are,” Flurry said as he pulled the truck to a stop next to my beat up Honda.
Klaus gave my car a disapproving look. “Are you sure you’ll be able to make it home alright? We don’t mind dropping you off at your—”
I cut him off. “No, it’s fine. Really.”
They had already done so much for me in the last twenty-four hours. I could handle driving myself home.
The two of them hopped out of the truck and Klaus held out his hand to help me down from the cab.
“Thank you,” I said, loving how warm his hand felt in mine.
For being a krampus with a reputation of harshness, he was actually really sweet. I never would have pegged him for being the involved father type. And quitting hockey to do it?
Flurry had looked just as shocked as I felt.
As a reporter, I knew there was tension between the two of them on the rink, but as mates, they were perfectly in sync. It was adorable to see.
Klaus placed a soft kiss on the back of my hand, drawing me out of my thoughts.
“We’ll meet you after practice. Unfortunately, I don’t think keeping you in our lockers will work out,” Flurry teased.
I laughed. “Probably not.”
“Same time?” Klaus asked. His deep, rumbling voice made my toes curl.
I nodded. “Yes, same time.”
When Klaus finally released my hand, Flurry wrapped me in his arms, bringing his mouth to mine for a chaste kiss.
“Show off,” Klaus mumbled under his breath.
Flurry pulled away and, using one of his massive hands, he gently tucked a windblown strand of hair behind my ear. “Take care, snow angel. Text us when you get home.”
Not to be outdone, Klaus swept me away from Flurry and cradled me in his arms. He dipped me low, his tongue teasing along my lips in a not-so chaste kiss. I parted them with a soft moan, letting his tongue slip inside my mouth to swirl against mine. The stiff length of his cock wiggled against me, making my core clench.
“Fuuuck,” Flurry groaned, obviously enjoying the show and the scent of my arousal.
Klaus pulled back and ran the pad of his thumb over my swollen lower lip. “Until we meet again, princess.”
He sat me upright again, and for a moment, I stood there dazed and breathless, wishing I didn’t have to go. Wishing that they could take me in the locker room right then and there.
But that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. Not yet, at least. I’d spent so much time establishing myself in a male dominated career, and there was a strict ‘no dating the hockey players’ rule.
A scandal like that would jeopardize everything.
I took a deep breath, waved goodbye to Klaus and Flurry, and slipped inside my freezing car. Thick frost coated the windshield. If I hadn’t been so distracted by goodbye kisses, I would have used the autostart the moment we got close enough to my car.
While I waited for the windows to defrost, I decided to catch up on my work emails. One from a strange email address caught my eye—and there was an attachment.
I hesitated before opening the message, remembering the tech guys talk about phishing scams, but tapped it anyway.
I saw you with them, you fucking slut. One hockey player just wasn’t enough for that sloppy pussy, was it? It would be a real shame if the NMHL found out about this. Do you think it’s worth it? Risking your career for some dick? I could be persuaded to keep these pictures under wraps.
For the right price, I can make all of this go away.
Leave me $150,000 under the statue of Growly Growler the night before the next game. If I don’t get that money, the entire stadium will get a nice little surprise during the game. You don’t want to be subjected to that type of humiliation, do you?
Get me the money, Holly.
I clicked the attachments, and a strangled noise worked its way up my throat. Pictures. Tons of pictures taken with a zoom lens. Me getting in the car with Klaus and Flurry. Me crossing the doorway of their home. Me with Klaus’ tongue snaking its way into my mouth. Me on all fours between them.
There were pictures of all of it.
Fear and shock rolled through me at the same time, tears blurring my vision. I was horrified and embarrassed.
None of us had known someone was watching us. I felt like throwing up at the thought of being stalked. Whoever had taken these photos must have used a telephoto lens, the pictures were grainy but you could still see everything.
I looked at them again, forcing myself to think like a journalist. I was used to asking questions. I could look past things and try to dig into small details.
My hands trembled. One more look through, and the only information I had gathered was that the stalker had been in the woods. Some of the photos had blurred evergreen edges, and the snow had disrupted many of the shots.
Whoever had done this had it out for us, truly. With the storm last night, it must have been difficult to get these.
Their determination to ruin our lives only made me feel worse.
I wrapped my arms around myself, hugging my coat tight to my chest. I felt scared. Exposed. Those were private moments. Wonderful, beautiful moments that some creep infringed on just to make a quick buck.
What was I going to do?
Not just me, but us.
Klaus and Flurry were involved in this too, and those pictures being released would ruin everyone’s careers. Everything we had spent our lives working for would be ruined.
I sat my forehead against the cool leather of the steering wheel and took a deep breath. I wiped away my tears, my mind racing.
I had to tell Flurry and Klaus. There was a part of me that wanted to make it all go away, but it would be wrong to not tell them. It wasn’t just photos of me, it was photos of all of us.
When I saw them later, I’d tell them, and we could work out our next step from there—together.
CHAPTER 8
FLURRY
After last night’s activities and with the promise of another date with Holly, practice seemed to drag along. I was happy to see Ehrokk behind the goal again, looking stiff but no worse for wear after Klaus’ little outburst yesterday.
There was no animosity or tension between Klaus and me during practice. Apparently, feral sex with the woman we suspected to be our mate served as a soothing balm to the tension we’d been experiencing on the ice lately.
Holly seemed to balance things out between us, like the puzzle piece our relationship had been missing. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but I wanted her to be ours. I wanted her nestled between us each night after all of us came more times than we could count. Waking up to her this morning, seeing her peaceful expression and how the sunlight caught her hair, I wanted to live in that moment forever.