Love on Ice (Manhattan Mavericks #1)

7. Felix

7

FELIX

M y crush on this woman has grown after this morning. Walking in on her and her host, Dom, this morning was a surprise that turned into something so much more. It’s wild seeing fantasies come to life, and watching Harper come undone right in front of me will live rent-free in my mind. I help Harper out of the shower, hand her a towel, grab one for myself, and once we are dried, we both slip into some bathrobes and head out to the pool area, where Dom has set up a table for breakfast.

“Wow, Dom went all out,” Harper says, staring at the smorgasbord in front of us.

“I’m a growing boy, don’t you worry, I’ll finish it,” I tell her.

She turns, looks me up and down, and grins. “Yes, you are.” I slap her ass which makes her squeal as we both take a seat. There’s fresh fruit, juices, bacon, eggs, waffles, oatmeal, you name it, Dom provided it. This is great. Best holiday I’ve ever had so far.

“You look so happy.” Harper giggles as she watches me dig in.

“Food and sex, that’s all I need to survive, oh, and hockey.” I grin as I pile the food high on my plate. Harper daintily nibbles her fruit as she watches me.

“Did you always want to be a hockey player?” she asks.

“Didn’t have a choice. My brother was one, so I became one,” I explain to her. “Also, where I lived, there were no other options, it was hockey or hockey.” I chuckle. “I idolized my brother. Always have. When I was younger, I wanted to be just like him.”

“At least you grew out of being an asshole.” Harper huffs.

“You really don’t like my brother.” This is so surprising because everyone likes him, but I kind of like it that she, of all people, isn’t his biggest fan.

Harper pops a strawberry in her mouth. “Like I said, he messed over Issy. I’m loyal to my girls. You mess with them you mess with me,” she tells me.

“He must have done something bad if you still hate him after all these years. I mean, even Issy doesn’t.”

Harper rolls her eyes. “Probably because she’s still in love with him.” Her hand shoots out and covers her mouth. “Shit. Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“I’ll forget it if you tell me what happened. See, I always saw them as friends. I knew they drifted apart when she moved overseas but I thought that was because his career took off,” I ask her.

Harper nibbles her bottom lip, and I can see she is contemplating whether or not to fill me in. “The two of them started off as friends, but those damn teenage hormones kicked in, and one night at a party, your brother kissed her and confessed he had a crush, and that was it, the two of them started dating. They dated all through high school, they were crowned king and queen at prom. Everyone knew the two of them were dating and they were so in love with each other. I’m still so surprised her father never found out about them when it was all happening under his roof. It was college that broke them. Your brother became a big man on campus as the rising hockey star. He joined a fraternity and started to party heaps with his new friends. Girls started hanging around, even back then, puck bunnies were alive and well. Issy wasn’t a big party girl, but I was and would drag her out with our sorority house, mainly because I didn’t trust your brother,” she says, giving me a pointed look. Guess she was right. It’s funny hearing about this side of him because I never saw it, but I was looking at him through rose-colored glasses. “We arrived at a party late because it took me hours to convince her to go, and when we got to the frat house it was utter chaos. I knew then that something bad was about to go down. I dragged Issy up to Pierre’s room and pushed right in and that’s where we found him getting a blow job from some random girl. Issy was devastated, she couldn’t believe it. I always felt bad about that night because I knew your brother was cheating but never had concrete proof. A week later, Issy transferred to London,” she explains. Fuck. What a dick. “She refused to speak to him for years. Even when he became a big star and her father’s crown jewel, she never interacted with him. Not until her father’s funeral.” I had no idea. “Please, this must stay between us. Don’t tell your brother and never tell Issy.”

“I won’t say anything. Honestly, it puts things into perspective. I moved in with Mr. Alessi while Issy was in London. When Pierre came home for the holidays, I noticed Violetta and Evelina were cold toward him, but I thought they were just being bitches,” I tell her.

Harper bursts out laughing. “They probably were being bitches, but I think mostly they were sticking up for their sister.”

I shake my head. “Wow. I just … never thought my brother would do that.”

Harper rolls her eyes. “Why would you when he portrays this shiny, gorgeous, perfect life on social media?”

“You don’t think it’s real? He seems very happy with his fiancée. I’ve only met her a couple of times, but she always seems pleasant.”

“It’s my job to make people believe what they see on social media.” She says, giving me a wink. “Look, I’m not trying to be a bitch. He's your brother.”

“No. I get it. You’ve had a different experience with him than most other people.”

“And now I’m corrupting his little brother,” she teases.

“Very true.” I grin, giving her a wink as I dig back into my breakfast.

A comfortable silence falls between us as we sit and enjoy this beautiful morning. The sun is shining, I can hear the waves crashing as well as see the blue through the palms.

“I can’t remember the last time I sat at the beach and did nothing.” I shove some fruit into my mouth.

“You’ve hardly been doing nothing.” She grins. True. “Did you never go on any holidays with your ex?”

“She hated the beach unless we went somewhere like the Maldives or Bora Bora. But if we did go anywhere, she spent the entire time getting content.”

“Hard for me to get upset over an influencer creating content but I get it from your side. Maybe she used the content creation as an excuse not to be with you because she was screwing your friend,” Harper states.

“We never stopped having sex,” I tell her.

“Oh,” Harper nods, “I mean, to be fair, if you were in my bed every night, I’d probably screw you, too,” she says, bursting out laughing.

“That can be arranged.”

Harper’s jaw drops for a moment. “Anyway,” she says, trying to move on from that conversation. “Did you not take a lot of time out then if you never traveled much?”

“We do so much travel during the season, honestly, I like coming home and chilling. But if I do travel, I don’t want to be stuck in a pool all day.”

“You’re one of those travelers,” she teases as she sips her mimosa.

“I like to stay active.”

“You certainly do.” She grins, her eyes looking me up and down, letting the innuendo fall between us.

“Guess this place is starting to change my mind about spending the day lazing around.”

“It will do that to you. Honestly, it’s why I come here. It forces me to stop and unwind compared to a normal vacation,” Harper explains.

“Sex is a great distraction.”

“It most certainly is. It’s this island. Must be all the pheromones or something in the air. I don’t have this much sex when I’m back in New York.”

“Really? You’re not some sexual goddess at home? I don’t believe it.” I grin.

“Sexual goddess most of the time but I can be boring as shit back in the city.”

“I don’t believe that for a second. You could never be boring.”

Harper giggles. “Well, sometimes I can be. I’m a workaholic.”

“I feel ya. I’ve been accused of that over the years,” I tell her.

“You’re an athlete, you have to keep working as your years are so short,” she states.

“Don’t put me out to pasture just yet.” I chuckle.

“You’re nowhere near ready for retirement, you’re still so young.”

“I’m not that young,” I remind her.

“A hell of a lot younger than me.” She smiles, shaking her head.

“Age is but a number,” I tell her.

“Unless you’re a woman.”

“You would never date a younger guy?”

“Is this a hypothetical or are you asking if I would date you?” she asks. Little of both? I’m not about to tell her that. “To answer your question, I would consider dating someone younger, but they would have to want the same things I do.”

“What’s that?” Just a curious mind, nothing else.

“A long-term relationship. Marriage, family, those kinds of things. And from my disastrous love life, most New York men are not ready for any of those commitments no matter what age they are.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t date a man from New York,” I state.

“A little hard when I live there. Guess I could move to my LA office, but ew, the sun,” she says, rolling her eyes, “or maybe London. I have an office there, too. Food for thought I guess.” She shrugs. “Are you looking forward to being back in New York?”

“It’s the closest to feeling at home other than Quebec.”

“I’ve never been there. I’ve heard it’s gorgeous,” she says.

“Ever need a tour guide of Quebec City, especially in winter when it looks magical, I’m your man.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She grins, taking another sip of her mimosa. “We usually end up in Aspen for winter, my brother and I have a cabin out there.”

“You really are rich,” I tease.

“And like you’re not. Mr. Hockey Star,” she bites back with a glare.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.” I quickly try to redeem myself. “It’s nice meeting someone who isn’t after my money.” Her face softens a little. “I can let my guard down.”

“Guess you would meet a lot of gold diggers then?” she asks.

I nod. “I’m sure you have, too.”

“Yep, it can happen in reverse, too,” she says with a shrug.

“Didn’t think my ex would be, but I got an email from her lawyer last night,” I confess to her.

“What did it say?”

“That she’s asking for the house in the breakup. If I give her the house, she will not talk about our relationship in public and will sign an NDA.”

“She did what?” Harper seems shocked.

“My lawyer thinks it’s better to give her what she wants, get her to sign an NDA, and leave her to her new life.”

“That’s messed up, Felix,” Harper says, reaching out and placing her hand over mine. “She was the one cheating on you with your best friend and teammate. Do you think she’s going to do something if you say no?” she asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know. But I’m guessing she might if I don’t sign. Do you think she would? I mean, it’s in the press already that they had an affair. Do you think they can twist that to make me out to be the bad guy, not them?”

Harper is silent for a moment. “Yes, I do. Especially if she has already sought legal counsel. You don’t do that unless you mean business. People will do and say anything for money. What I don’t understand is what your ex-friend thinks about this. Can’t imagine he would be too thrilled to hear about what she is doing. Because if she is going to do it to you, she will eventually do it to him,” she explains. This was my thought initially when I read it. “What I never understood was why she went for him over you. You seemed to have more star quality and the limelight more than her new man.”

“They were high school sweethearts, which I never knew. They broke up when he got a scholarship halfway across the country.”

“Oh,” Harper states.

“He is also the new captain next year.”

Harper nods. “Look, you don’t have to listen to me, but I wouldn’t give into her demands. Why the hell should she profit off your hard work, especially when she has a new man who can finance her life? Issy isn’t going to allow her to derail your career. Plus, now you’ve met me, and I’m the best PR person in the world. So, she can try to paint you as the bad guy, but I won’t let her do it.” Wow. Wasn’t expecting that. “I’ve seen this happen a million times. Depending on her moral levels, she might try to make out that you were emotionally abusive, that she sought comfort in the arms of your best friend and teammate because he was her protector, or some bullshit like that.”

Panic slides over my body. “You think she would do that? I’ve never emotionally or physically abused her. I would never do that.”

Harper’s hand reaches out again. “Of course you wouldn’t, I’m just giving you the worst-case scenario. She might imply you cheated while away, have her new man back her up in her claims.”

“I’m not a cheat. I hate cheaters. My dad was a cheater, and he destroyed my mom over it. I would never want to do that to anyone.”

“Cheaters are assholes. But the media doesn’t care about the truth, they care about the salacious gossip.”

“I don’t want to fight. Maybe it’s easier to give her the house. I’m already on thin ice with the bosses at The Mavericks, if this turns into a scandal, they will cancel my contract.”

“I get it. I’m no lawyer, but you have to do what is right for you. When do you have to get back to your ex with an answer?”

“Her lawyer said I have a week.”

“A week? Gee, okay. Leave it with me,” she says as she gets up from her chair and walks inside to grab her phone. I watch as she walks out furiously typing on it.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you. Look, it’s good to have a little insurance policy of your own up your sleeve during negotiations. I bet your teammate isn’t the only person she has slept with since you have been together. Yeah, there’s the whole we were small-town high school sweethearts, but I call bullshit,” she says. “I know someone who can do a little digging on your ex and friend, help level the playing field,” she explains before placing her phone back down on the table.

“Is that legal?”

“Totally. Issy even uses them,” she adds, reassuring me.

“You think she cheated on me with more people?” I ask.

“Who knows. Maybe the bullshit they are telling everyone is true, that they still loved each other or maybe she’s a gold digger. I’m leaning toward the latter because if it was true love, wouldn’t she just want to move on with him and leave everything between the two of you behind?” Harper is making valid points.

“I honestly don’t know anymore. I never thought either of them would do what they did.”

“Betrayal sucks,” she says, giving me a sad smile. “I’ve dated a lot of cheaters over the years, unfortunately.”

“I don’t understand how anyone could cheat on you.”

“Same back at you. I’ve heard a myriad of reasons from I’m too independent. That I’m too rich and that emasculates them.” My eyes bug out at that. “You know the whole, ‘you work too much’ to ‘you have a public profile’ and they don’t want to make it onto Page Six. Then there’s the ‘I know too many people’ and I’m too social. It’s my fricken job,” she says through gritted teeth. “Also heard ‘I’ve dated too many high-profile men.’ ” I shake my head as she keeps listing off their ridiculous excuses. “That they didn’t think I’m wife material because they didn’t think I would give up my independent life to get married and have a family. I’m pretty sure I can still be me and be a mom.”

“Men have actually said all that to you?” She nods. “That’s insane.”

“I can’t believe I dumped all that on you, sorry,” she says seemingly embarrassed.

I reach out and cup her face. “Those men never deserved you.” I lean in and kiss her cheek tenderly. “It speaks more about them than you.” I kiss her other cheek. “I haven’t known you long, but I think you’re awesome and that’s not me trying to get into your pants,” I tell her as my hands drop from her face. “I hope there will be another chance …” Harper bites her lip contemplating my thought. “… but if it was a one-time thing then that’s cool. Doesn’t change the fact that I still want to hang out with you.”

Harper seems genuinely surprised by my comment. “You’d still want to hang out with me if there was no sex?”

“Sure. We’re friends. I won’t deny that I’d still jerk off over you.” I grin. This makes her smile too. “I hope we stay in touch after this week.”

“As friends?”

I nod. “Yeah. You can show me around New York, it’s been a while since I’ve lived there.”

“You want me to be your guide again?” she asks.

“You’re pretty good at playing tour guide.”

“Am I now?” she questions me.

“I haven’t seen everything yet, so I can’t tell if you’re the best or not,” I tease, which makes her playfully slap me.

“Here, put your number into my phone,” she says, handing it over. I take it and start typing in my number. “I can show you around town as friends. I don’t need the lecture from Issy,” she says, rolling her eyes.

“I’d probably get one from my brother, too,” I add as I hand back the phone.

“Oh, for sure. He is not my biggest fan.” She grins.

“It wouldn’t work out for us then. My brother’s opinion is important to me,” I tell her.

“Seriously?”

I burst out laughing. “No. I couldn’t give a shit what he has to say. Even though I’m sure he would have an opinion.”

Harper looks relieved. “Phew, I was second-guessing us being friends.”