Page 39 of Ice Cold Heart

With a budding warmth filling my throat, I hooked my finger through his and let him pull me down onto the bed.

16

I’ve never been so pissed in my life as I was with Avery curled up on her side next to me reading aloud. We were taking turns, and by some miracle, I was keeping up. But I hadn’t forgotten the way she hunched into herself when she told me about her ex and her mom.

From my experience with her dad, I knew he cared about her. His threat to end Reece’s career if he fucked with her lived in my mind rent free. I’d bet she didn’t know though. Coach wasn’t the sit down and talk it out type. He mostly got by with grunts and hand gestures. To someone like Avery who had words swimming in her blood, he’d probably seem distant.

Was their relationship my problem to fix? No. Was I going to try anyway? Hard yes. Avery deserved better than to think both her parents sucked. As for Scott, he’d already paid the worst price for his fuck-up—losing Avery. But he’d better stay the hell away from her or I’d gladly light my reputation on fire and beat the shit out of him.

Instead of fixating on the past, I concentrated on the movement of Avery’s lips, the quirks and half-smiles as she read the last part of the assignment. We’d gotten through the work faster than I’d expected, and while I hadn’t paid much attention to the last page or so, I was confident I could write the paper with what I knew.

Avery glanced up at me, and her reading slowed to a stop when she realized I was staring at her rather than the book.

“Keep going,” I encouraged.

She raised a brow. “What did I just read?”

“No idea, but I liked the way you read it.”

She snapped the book closed and sat up from her slump. “You, sir, are treading dangerous waters.”

“Believe me, I know,” I murmured, hoping she’d finish the last page so I could fulfill my part of our deal.

She opened her mouth to respond, but a crash from somewhere downstairs interrupted her.

I groaned and glared at the door. “Sorry, that’s Henry’s sign she wants attention. I should go deal with it.”

“Take your time,” she answered with a feline grin.

I left the warm cocoon of my bed, complete with my dream girl relaxed and yawning, to chase down our errant duck. She wasn’t hiding. Like I’d told Avery, Henry knocked stuff off counters when we closed her out of a room she wanted into. I’d shut my door without thinking because I was so focused on finally having Avery in my space.

Henry stood in a pile of sugar packets scattered over the kitchen floor. The metal container Eva used to hold them was still rolling back and forth near the back door. This was exactly why we’d stopped leaving glass stuff out.

For her part, Henry didn’t look sorry in the least. She gave me a sharp quack and waddled past me toward the stairs. I shook my head and scooped her up before she got very far.

“You can join us, but don’t make it weird,” I told her on the way up the stairs.

Avery sat up when I came back into the room carrying my final troublemaking roommate. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine.” I closed the door again and set Henry on the floor, where she promptly disappeared under the bed. “Doesn’t like being left alone.”

I crawled onto the bed and grinned when Avery immediately curled up next to me instead of putting distance between us. We seemed to have broken past the touch barrier, and I had no intention of ever going back.

Rather than finish the last page, Avery set the book aside and tilted her head at me. “How much longer are you playing duck daddy?”

“Gavin called me this morning. They’re planning to be back by the day after tomorrow.”

“Are you relieved?”

“Nah, Henry and I are besties. Despite her need to be the center of attention, she’s way easier than the ducks on grandpa’s farm. Those birds are assholes.”

Her lips twisted like she didn’t believe me. “Even with the diaper?”

“It’s not hard to change once you get used to it, and Henry likes it.”

Avery licked her bottom lip, and heat shot straight to my dick. “Have you considered getting her a tiny hockey jersey?”

I laughed. “No, but now I am. Where would I go about getting a jersey for a duck?”