Ice Cold Hearts: A Single Mom, Hockey, Reverse Harem Romance (Forbidden Fantasies)

22. Alexei

Ihad no idea how much went into getting a toddler ready for a night away from home. Emily makes it look so easy. She just shows up here toting a magic bag containing everything Audrey can think to ask for. I now know the reality is far more brutal.

Not even in my wildest dreams would I have believed that Mrs. Hayes could be anything like Coach, but when we were putting Audrey’s things together, I don’t know that I could have told them apart. All Emily’s mom needed was a whistle and they’d be completely identical. She was frighteningly efficient. She managed to walk me through the entire process of packing the bag while simultaneously dropping hints about ideal proposal times. If Emily had been there, she would have been furious, but I found it rather amusing.

It’s all made worth it when Audrey comes bursting into the living room like she’d been shot out of a cannon. She immediately starts rummaging through the bag and pulls out a doll.

“Princess Fettuccini! I knew they wouldn’t forget you!” She squeezes the doll to her chest.

“Audrey, did you even say hello to Mr. Alexei and Mr. Ian?” Emily scolds.

She rolls her eyes spectacularly. “Hi.”

Audrey continues her rummaging.

Emily crouches down next to her daughter and softly says, “We’re going to have a grown up chat, so you’re going to have some tablet time with your headphones. Before we do that, though, Mr. Alexei helped Grandma pack your bag. What do you need to say to him?”

“Thank you, Uncle Alexei. You did a really good job,” she says, hugging my legs.

“You’re welcome, Little Pea.” I ruffle her hair

She turns back to Emily. “Can you set up my tablet now, please, Mama?”

She smiles. “Absolutely.”

Uncle Alexei.

The title warms my heart, and I’m determined to be worthy of it. No matter what happens, I’m going to make sure I’m there for that little girl as much as Emily allows me to be.

Uncle is a great title,mutters the little voice in the back of my head, but Papa Alexei has a much nicer ring to it.

I stuff the thought back down into the farthest corner of my brain. Things are going well now. There’s no need to indulge a foolish pipe dream, especially with what I plan to ask her today.

Emily joins us on the couch. Now that she’s not putting on a brave face for Audrey, I can see how much paler and worn out she looks. My hands clench.

I fucking hate the media.

I know I should start our house meeting off with the serious business of the article and revisit the plans we made at our last meeting, but something more self-serving is on my mind.

“Did you ask her to call me that?” I ask Emily.

“What? Uncle Alexei?” She smiles as she says it. “Nope, that’s all her. Honestly, most of my effort has been focused on her not calling you all ‘Mr. Giant.’ She jumped from Mr. to Uncle all on her own. Although…” her eyes narrow. “I wouldn’t put it past my mother.”

After a few moments of quiet, she asks, “Does that bother you? I can ask her to stop.”

“No.” I say too quickly. “It’s nice.”

“Okay.” She smiles shyly.

“Anything else before we get to business?” I ask.

“Actually, yeah,” Oliver says, turning to Emily. “Why on earth did you let her name her doll after a noodle?”

My favorite thing about Emily is that she laughs with her whole body. Her shoulders shake, her cheeks glow, and when she finds something especially funny, her body practically folds in half and she snorts.

Oliver’s comment was apparently especially funny to her. When she’s done, she sits up straight and quickly swipes the tears from her eyes.

“First off, those are her toys so she gets to name them whatever she wants. As long as it’s not inappropriate, there’s no need for me to intervene,” she says primly. “Second, Audrey thinks, and I’m quoting here, ‘Fettuccini is the bestest most beauteous name in the whole wild world.’ Are you really prepared to tell her it’s a ridiculous name?”

“I… well, here’s the thing. I mean, it’s…”Oliver sputters.

“We can put a pause on the meeting so you can tell her,” I taunt.

He sinks further into the couch as if he’s intending to slip between the cushions and hide.

“No,” he grumbles. “Princess Fettuccini it is.”

Ian pats his shoulder patronizingly. “Good man.”

I feel Emily’s eyes on me. When I glance at her, she’s staring so intensely at me she’s either having serious intestinal distress or she wants me to get a move on with our conversation. I’m assuming it’s the latter.

I clear my throat. “So, we all know that a salacious piece of trash is circulating about us and speculating about our relationship. The only reason it’s worth mentioning at all is because the guys and I know this is the beginning of hell. I know you’ve been trying to hold onto the bright side, Kitten, but it’s only going to get worse. There are going to be more articles, more sneaky photos, and more prying into our lives. We’ve been talking in a separate text thread, and we all agreed to give you an out.”

The look in her eyes breaks my heart.

“An out?” She looks between us. “But you just said you wanted me to be your girlfriend. I… I even told my parents. I don’t understand.”

I thought I’d be able to do this. I was so sure I could be the cool head in the room, but when I open my mouth to try and explain, nothing comes out. My throat feels like it’s closing up and my mouth is full of sand. Helpless, I look over at Ian.

He gives me a reassuring smile and nod.

This has never happened to me before. I’m glad he’s here to back me up.

“It’s not like that, Kitten,” he says, moving to sit next to her. “When we agreed to make things a little more official between us, there was only some vague interest in the media. Nothing more than trashy tabloids and rumors.”

She snorts. “And Gossip Gretchen is reliable news?”

“She’s got the largest blog following in the Tri-State area. The second she publishes something, it becomes an overnight obsession. Whoever is behind Gossip Gretchen is scary accurate. It’s like they get their hands on information almost right as it happens. Like last year, she knew our team was trading Hunt to the Slapsticks before we did. It’s definitely someone in one of our industries or very close to someone who is.”

“Like Liza,” Emily mutters.

I find myself nodding in agreement. I’ve never liked how that woman keeps trying to sink her claws further and further into Oliver. I wouldn’t put something like this past her.

“Hey, look, I know she can be a lot to handle, but at the end of the day, Liza’s professional. She wouldn’t do something like that,” Oliver protests.

Emily rolls her eyes but lets it go.

“Where Gretchen goes, the media follows,” I say, finally finding my voice. “She either did it herself or bribed one of our shittier neighbors to do it.”

Like Weiss, maybe. If I ever get proof…

“The point is, you’ve gotten a glimpse of what’s to come in a way that you didn’t when you agreed to be our girlfriend,” Ian says, refocusing us. “It’s only going to get worse from here, so if this is too much for you, as much as we all care about you, it would be best to part ways.” He takes a shaky breath. “So, Emily, what do you want to do?”

Please don’t go.

The desperation I feel should surprise me, but it doesn’t. I was determined to keep at least one barrier between her and my heart, but she managed to sneak in anyway. I should have known she would.

“I want to know what you three want,” she says after an awkward amount of silence.

“We asked you first,” Oliver tries to tease.

“Please?” Her voice is soft.

Ian speaks first. “I’m not going to lie, I’m still learning how to not be bothered by the media and jerks on the internet, but when you’re with me, all that fades into white noise. As long as it’s together, every step of the way is going to be more than manageable.”

“I’m not ready for you to propose to me yet.” Oliver laughs insecurely. “But unless you tell me to go, the only way they’ll be able to separate us is to pry us apart with a crowbar.”

Her soft brown eyes fix on me. “And you? What do you want?”

“I don’t want to sway your opinion,” I say, glaring at Ian and Oliver. “I want to stay unbiased and do whatever it is you want.”

If I say that enough times, that might be true.

Emily shakes her head at me. “Alexei, this is when you should be the most biased.”

I stare hard at her, unwilling to budge.

She must sense it because she sighs and says, “We have some more serious things to talk about.” Emily starts picking at her cuticles. “Like Audrey’s father and other long-term things, but I don’t want to start all that mess with someone who’s not going to be all in with me. I don’t want an out.”

If I could do a cartwheel, I would. I’m ready to scream from the rooftops that she belongs with us or shoot off fireworks.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” I say instead, “but I think there’s something we need to handle first before we get into any of the other stuff you were talking about.”

“Which is?” she asks.

“Your professional reputation,” I answer. “The media isn’t going to stop digging, and I want you to be above reproach. If I keep going to Grace Harbor every so often for tune-ups and if Ian ever wants to come back for some more preventive care, we can’t see you any more for it.”

Emily nods. “We kept things professional during treatment, but we probably should have done that a while ago. I’ll call Jenna.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I think we need to explain in person. Besides, I still have a few appointments coming up, and I don’t really think you should handle that.”

“Okay, we can do that.” She scrunches her nose as she thinks. “It’s actually Jenna’s late day in the office. We could go now, if you want. I just have to make sure Audrey hits the bathroom before we leave so she doesn’t have an accident.”

“We can watch her,” Oliver volunteers.

Emily hesitates, picking at her cuticles again. “I don’t know, are you sure you’ll be okay with her?”

“It’s okay, Emily, we can take her. It really won’t bother me.”

“There’s no reason to disturb her,” Oliver says.

“I…” she starts.

“Why don’t we ask her and see what she’s comfortable with?” Ian suggests. “No sense in keeping her with us if she’d be unhappy with it.”

My heart fills with pride as Emily smiles at him. These really are good men I’ve managed to surround myself with.

“Audrey.” Emily crouches down and taps her on the shoulder.

She slips her headphones off. “What, Mama? Ooh, can we play dolls now?”

“Actually, Pumpkin, Uncle Alexei and I need to run to Mama’s work really fast. Do you want to come with us?”

She sighs heavily. “Do I gotta? Can I just stay and play dolls with Uncle Oliver and Auntie Ian?”

Oliver explodes with laughter, but Emily is holding it in like a champion. The only thing giving her away is the mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

“What’s so funny?” Audrey demands.

“Nothing.” I step in. “Uncle Oliver is just so excited to have a tea party with you and Princess Fettuccini.”

Her eyes light up. “A real life tea party?”

“You betcha, Little Pea.” Oliver grins. “And if you ask nicely, Auntie Ian might even wear dress up clothes.”

Audrey claps her hands and squeals in delight while Ian shoots a murderous glare at Oliver behind her back.

“You’re dead,” he mouths.

“You kids have fun,” I say, whisking Emily out the door.