Chapter Nine
Carlos
“Mi Reina, you look like the most delectable of pastries in that jacket.” I licked my lips as the five of us waited for the ski lift. Dusty’s party was at another resort, and this was the fastest way to get there.
“Do I?” Fiona’s tongue traced her lower lip as she gave me a coy smile.
She wore a cream puffer jacket with a light green hat, scarf, and jacket, reminding me of a matcha cream puff.
“Ohhh, I want to lick you,” I murmured in her ear.
“Get in line,” she laughed. “I told Saoirse that she could sleep in my room tonight.”
I flashed her a cheeky grin. “She can watch. I don’t mind.”
Fiona pondered that, tapping her lips with her finger, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Hmmm.”
Usually, Saoirse was elsewhere when we got together.
Though she had walked in on us more than once.
When I’d hooked up with Fiona at my teammate’s wedding, Saoirse had tried to run me out of their room, naked, with a lamp.
Of course she thought I’d been one of the mafia boys from the wedding that they were there for.
Mafia boys were on the list of things they didn’t let in their vaginas. Fortunately, athletes seemed to not be on it.
I glanced at Dusty and Saoirse, who were looking at a map on her phone and arguing about something. Apparently rockstars didn’t make the list either.
“Please, share your room with Saoirse, so she doesn’t strangle Dusty in his sleep before he does his set,” I joked.
“After his set?” Fiona laughed.
“Maybe.” I kissed her on the nose.
Hale was on his phone, talking to his little siblings who lived in London. I wasn’t sure if they were going to Rockland with the others.
Oh shit. I texted Grif, my teammate. He was an omega forward, and part of my line. Grif was also Hale’s brother-in-law, mated to Hale’s sister Verity.
Me
Did you bring Lucky with you to Rockland? I can’t remember if you needed me to cat-sit over Christmas.
“Everything okay?” Fiona frowned.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to cat-sit Lucky.” Worry shot through me. Shit. I never forgot Lucky. Lucky, please forgive me?
A startled look crossed her face as we got closer to the front of the line. “There’s a poor cat somewhere alone? Could you phone a friend to check on him?”
“Love you, too.” Hale ended his call and looked at me. “Wow, you look serious.”
“Do you know if Grif brought Lucky with him to Rockland? Or should I be watching him? I can’t remember.” I glanced at my phone. No answer yet. How could I have been so careless?
“Hey.” Hale tipped his forehead to mine. A knitted hat replaced his cowboy hat. “Relax. I’m sure Lucky’s fine. Grif usually brings him when the littles, my three little siblings, are going to be there. My baby sister Hope is low-key obsessed with Lucky.”
Dusty and Saoirse went to get on the lift. She looked back at Fiona, clearly asking if she was okay with us.
“See you on the other side.” Fiona blew her a kiss. “Okay, so no cat is alone? Good. Cats are vicious overlords and you’d probably return to a completely ruined apartment as your punishment for daring to leave.”
“True. Though Lucky is an imaginary cat. He’s the team’s unofficial mascot. When Grif joined the Knights from the Hurricanes, Lucky was already with him,” I told her. “He brings us luck when we play.”
Her big green eyes blinked at me. “Imaginary cat? As in pretend? Like a bunch of grown-ass hockey players worry about the whereabouts of a cat that isn’t real?”
“Yeah. But he does all the things with us,” I replied as the three of us got on the lift. “Look. Here’s Lucky in the championship cup. Here’s him riding a mechanical bull. And here’s my favorite, him getting a lap dance at a strip club in Glitter City.” I handed her my phone.
“Oh. I see.” Fiona looked through the photos.
“Hockey players are weird. Wait, you don’t know that Verity invented Lucky?” Hale asked.
“Really?” Oh, right. Grif met Verity before he became a Knight, he just didn't find her again until he moved to New York.
“Yeah. There was some airplane seat thing where he wanted both seats and she was like, What, you need it for your imaginary cat? He let her sit in the other seat and ran with it, starting off with, Don’t sit on Lucky, naming him. And thus Lucky-the-imaginary-cat was born,” Hale said.
“I didn’t know that. Verity came up with Lucky. Huh.”
“I think she got the idea from our baby sister, Hope. Every time we went to Grace’s, Hope insisted there was a cat.
Grace doesn’t have a cat. Chickens. A hedgehog.
Rabbits. No cat. It was at Grace’s wedding that Grace sort of put together that Hope had a cat as an imaginary friend and the cat lived at Grace’s.
“After the wedding, Hope brought her imaginary cat friend home with us. When Verity moved, Hope insisted that the cat went with her. We’ve mushed Lucky and Hopes’ imaginary friend together since Hope insists that her imaginary cat now lives in New York with Verity.
” Hale took a selfie as we went up the mountain, the sun starting to set.
Oh. I pondered that for a moment.
“Did Hope ever describe him?” I asked, curious.
“Yeah. Black cat, blue eyes, collar.”
Just as I thought. Small children could see things adults couldn’t.
“I… I think Lucky might be real. I’m guessing that he’s a duende, a mischievous spirit, and we just can’t see him,” I confessed.
Hale thought for a minute. “Maybe? I swear I’ve seen Hope playing with an actual cat.”
“At Verity’s wedding? Because I saw a black cat with blue eyes at Verity’s wedding.
Okay, I was drunk off my ass and high on the drugs you brought, but I saw him.
He was sad. That’s why I brought him back to New York with me while they went on their honeymoon and shit.
” While I could have been seeing things, I’d like to believe Lucky was a duende who preferred hanging out with a hockey team instead of whatever he should be doing.
“Some other times, too. But I wasn’t sober. Still…” Hale’s look went pensive.
“Um, perhaps we should leave the fae alone?” Fiona shook her head. “I don’t know what a duende is, but Cat-Sith–fae cats–are black cats that steal souls and aren’t anyone to mess with.”
“Mmmm…” Hale’s head lolled to one side. “I feel like maybe he’s more of an interdimensional being, one that’s not corporeal in this world.
Given he originated at Grace’s, and Compass BioTek does crazy-ass shit, I’d absolutely believe they opened a portal somewhere using a supercollider or some shit straight from a book.
They do weird things when bored at work.
But…” He looked at Fiona. “If the fae realm is really another dimension, sort of like where the gods live, and they came to our world through a portal or something, then maybe he is fae or a god, or something.”
I sucked in a breath. “That makes so much sense. Lucky is absolutely a trickster spirit.”
“Yeah, we’re going to leave Lucky alone. We don’t make deals with the fae or invite them in.” Fiona shook her head.
“Too late. Also, he’s harmless,” I told her.
“Until you stick to him and get dragged into a lake.” She rubbed her forehead.
My phone buzzed with a video of chickens.
Grif
Lucky got loose and is chasing the chickens. Don’t worry, Jonas will catch him.
Me
Oh good, I wouldn’t want him to be waiting for me to get him.
I looked around at the sun setting. Lots of people were on the lifts, both going places on the mountain and skiing–they had night runs. “This is so pretty. Let’s get a photo.”
Fiona took a selfie of the three of us.
Holding out my phone as far as I could, I snapped a photo, too. My phone buzzed with a text from Gwen. It slipped from my hand, dropping to the snow far, far below.
“Oh fuck. My phone.” Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I’m sure it happens all the time,” Fiona assured. “We’ll tell the attendant when we get off. I’ll share all my photos with you.”
“Okay.” What else could I do? My phone.
Dusty and Saoirse were almost at the end of the lift. Dusty scooted closer to her. Saoirse pushed him off into the snow.
“That looks fun,” Hale said, having caught it on his phone.
Dusty started making snow angels as Saoirse got off the lift.
“He shouldn’t test her or he’ll pay the price.” Fiona laughed.
“I’m going to do it. Film me?” Hale handed me his phone. I barely had time to start a video before he jumped off, falling into the snow near Dusty and making angels.
The attendant yelled some angry things in German. Yeah, you probably weren’t supposed to do that.
I stopped the video. We got off and joined Saoirse. Hale and Dusty trudged over to us, covered in snow, laughing.
“That was wild. Thanks.” Hale took his phone from me. “Dusty, I caught you, I’ll send it over.”
“Oh, Carlos dropped his phone, we should tell someone,” Fiona said to Saoirse.
“Sure.” Saoirse went over to an attendant and spoke to them in German. She wrote something down and returned to us. “They have our info. They’ll let us know when they find it.”
“Oh, good. Still, should I order another?” I frowned.
Dusty thought for a moment, as he brushed snow off his pants. “Maybe we should wait and see if they find it? We can share photos, and you can use my phone to call your mom on Christmas if you want.”
“Thanks. They probably won’t have reception though. But yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” My friends would be okay, and I’d be just fine without a phone for a few days. Hopefully someone would find it.
We got on another ski lift, as darkness fell. When we got off, Dusty led us to a different ski lodge.
“We don’t have to stay that long,” Dusty told us. “I have a meeting after this. Saoirse, you’re going to do some night skiing, right?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Check out some trails for me? We should race tomorrow and film it,” Hale suggested.
“I can livestream it for you if the trail is not insane,” I offered. I was decent on a snowboard, but not amazing.
“If it is insane, I could do it–or you can borrow Bailey. She’d probably love it,” Dusty suggested. “Maybe I’ll even join in.”
Saoirse frowned. “Should you really be doing things like that before a show?”
“Why not? A little exercise gets the blood flowing.” He shrugged.
“He’ll be okay,” I said softly to Saoirse. “It’s a Dusty thing.”
We went to the party, which was on an outdoor patio full of lights and heat lamps.
Saoirse was frowning hard. She got out her phone and texted someone.
“Have fun, I need to go let them know I’m here.” Dusty took off.
“Oooh, is everything here free?” Hale went to find the food, Fiona with him.
Saoirse put her hand on my shoulder. “Keep her safe?”
“Always. Is something wrong?” I asked her.
“Nothing more than usual. She’s an unmated omega and looks like a tasty little cream puff in that outfit. I trust you with her, Carlos.” She squeezed my hand then went right to the bar.
Saoirse trusted me? Wow.
Hale bounded over to me, holding a piece of bread wrapped in paper. “Carlos, they have fondue they put in a baguette, and you can eat it while you walk around.”
“Oooh.” I should watch the cheese, but I had my lactose intolerance pills in my suitcase. I’d be fine. Yeah, I’d get me some fondue and some of that hot wine we’d had earlier. It was time to get this party started.
Fiona laughed as Hale regaled her with his misadventures. The three of us sat around a fire pit drinking hot wine. We had a lot of it.
I glared at someone who looked at Fiona too long. Mine.
Dusty worked the crowd, networking with other musicians, industry execs, corporate sponsors, and influencers. Saoirse had already left to hit the slopes.
Something caught my eye on the ground below. I watched as a horse-drawn sleigh, straight out of a Christmas movie, pulled up to the lodge. A woman helped her omega in and tucked a blanket around them both. The sleigh, decorated with twinkling lights, took off.
“I’ll be right back.” Kissing Fiona, I went down to the concierge and started speaking in French. Back in high school, one of my theatre teachers ran everything en francais.
“Can I book a sleigh ride? Do you have one tonight?” Oh, Fiona would love it so much. “If not, are they in the day? Maybe I could book one after breakfast.”
She studied her screen. “I can get you in on the next one tonight. How many?”
“At least two, maybe three.” I wouldn’t bother Dusty. This was a big night for connections and he had a meeting. Hale might want to come. I went to text them but realized that I didn’t have a phone.
“Thank you.” I paid with my wristband, got the details, then went to find them.
“You don’t want to hit the slopes with me?” Hale pouted.
Fiona shook her head. “Tomorrow? Skiing at night isn’t really my thing.”
“I have a surprise for us. You have enough time to use the bathroom and get a snack.” I kissed her again. “Hale, you’re welcome to come, too.”
“Oooh, really? Thanks. I need some more cheese bread.” Hale got up and went to find some food.
Fiona tugged my hand, pulling me down to her. I curled around her. “Hi.”
“Hi. A surprise?” Her face lit up.
“Yes.” I kissed her nose.
We stayed snuggled by the fire for a few moments, then she went to use the bathroom and find a snack. We did some more shots, then, slightly tipsy, we found the stand outside where you caught the sleighs.
“Rodriguez, party of three,” I told her.
A moment later a sleigh pulled up, with bells, lights, and white horses.
Fiona bounced with delight. “We’re going on a sleigh ride?”
“Yes, we are.” I helped her into the sleigh and tucked a blanket around her. I got in on one side, Hale got in on the other.
Hale spread a blanket across all three of us and snapped a picture.
The sleigh bells jingled as we went on a ride through the majestic snow-covered landscape. Fiona curled into me.
“Oooh, you’re so nice and warm.” I put my head on her chest, relishing in the warmth.
“My jacket has a heater in it.” She wrapped her arms around me.
“That’s brilliant,” Hale told her.
Yes, it was.
The sky was clear and the moon was bright. Snow started to fall lightly, making the moment even more magical.
“This is beautiful.” Fiona kissed my temple.
“It is.” Hale put his arm around the both of us, squeezing my shoulder.
This was nice, and it didn’t feel weird with Hale being here at all. No. It felt natural.
Hale’s blue eyes met mine as his hand brushed my face. “There’s snowflakes on your eyelashes.”
Shivers shot through me. Or maybe it was the alcohol.
Fiona tipped her head back and tried to catch snowflakes in her mouth.
“Oh, that looks fun.” Hale did the same.
Finally, the sleigh pulled up to the lodge and we got out.
“What now?” I asked, pulling Fiona close. This was nice.
“Can we go back to the villa?” Fiona said softly. “I’m cold.”
“Sure.” I gave Hale a look. “Are you coming with us?”
I wouldn’t mind if he came. Even if we just watched a movie or something.
Hale thought for a moment. “I’m going to check out the snowboard parks first.”
“Okay,” I replied.
That seemed like a perfectly normal request. After all, he came to snowboard and party. While I came to spend time with Fiona and support Dusty.
So why did part of me feel sad?