“The fuck is this?” muttered Kardok under his breath, and I snickered at his irreverence.
“Kardok,honey, this is Matthew Albright from the OHL.” I kept my tone falsely light, the way it always was when I was forced to be polite to someone I didn’t care for. “Mr. Albright, this is Kardok, who plays for the Teal Terrors.”
“I know who he is.” Albright eyed the way we were tucked up against each other. “What I want to know is whatthatwas.” He thrust his finger toward the now dark rink. “I thought it was an amusing display of comparing figure skating and hockey, right up until the end.”
“The end?” Maddie asked in an innocent voice, her hand in my father’s.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Albright sneered, his nose wrinkled in a sneer. “You were told to conclude this—this—” His hand flapped toward Kardok and me, taking in our embrace. “This. Tonight you made a mockery of propriety and the expectations of?—”
“A mockery?” Kardok’s growl sounded fierce and primal as he stepped in front of me, as if protecting me. “Youwant to talk aboutmockery? Asking me to choose between my Mate and my team is the real travesty here.”
The older man drew himself up, showing surprising bravery by glaring into the face of an angry orc. “The rules are very clear here, Mr. Kardok.”
“The rules have been changed, slightly,” my father interrupted smoothly, wearing a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “As of today, I am no longer the owner of the Bramblebluff Ice Complex.”
Wellthatsurprised him. All of us could see the way Mr. Albright reared back as if slapped. “What? Who did you sell it to?”
I stepped up to Kardok’s side, trying to look as professional as possible in a cocktail gown and skates. “I’m the new owner,” I announced proudly. “My father bought this place for me years ago, and it’s always been my second home. It’s fitting that I own it now.”
Behind Albright, my father smiled proudly at me, and this one was genuine. I felt the warmth of his approval, the same way I had in my office before the performance, and I realized I’dalwaysfelt that way.
At no point—during the years of private deportment lessons or the etiquette classes—had my father ever given me the impression that he wasn’t proud of meexactly as I was.
It wasn’t my job to make my fatherorFairbanks Enterprises look good; Daddy could do that all on his own. He just needed me to love him. And myself. And—I smiled up at Kardok—my Mate.
Mr. Albright was sputtering, and now managed, “This doesn’t fix anything! It’s still a case of the owner of the facility having a personal relationship with a player on the team, which will lead to accusations of preferential treatment the league cannot?—”
“Not if they’re married,” Maddie interrupted.
Mr. Albright swung around to gape at her. The petite woman beamed as if revealing a big secret, which I guess she was, as she explained, “If Lila and Kardok are legally married, and he became half owner, then the League’s rules will be satisfied, right? It will be a case of a member of the franchised team owning the practice facility, which is allowed.”
My father patted her hand without dropping the smug look he was sending Albright. “That’s right, darling. Our lawyers wereveryclear.”
Maddie had begun to blush at thatdarling, but I was too busy to tease her. Because—marriage. Daddy had mentioned it before the performance, and I wasn’t sure if it would work.
But that was before I realized we were Mated.
Now, as if drawn by a magnet, Kardok and I turned to each other. The green glow in his eyes had turnedknowing, and I realized I was smirking.
“Well, Mate?” he finally asked. “What do you think? It has to be your decision.”
“To marry you?” I scoffed. “We’reMated, Kardok. That meansforever.”
He squeezed my hands, and his voice was raspy when he choked out, “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”
Like every other spoiled little girl, I’d spent my childhood dreaming of my wedding; a huge princess gown, a million white and pink roses, and a faceless, nameless groom. But in that moment, Iknewthat none of it mattered. And the groom wasn’t nameless—his name wasmine.
Kardok was mine, and I was his. He knew my body, he brought me joy, he genuinely cared aboutme, not my position or how the rest of the world thought about me. He didn’t care about my father’s influence or how good I’d look on his arm. He loved me for me.
And I loved him.
“So if we’re already Mated, then a little thing like a marriage license doesn’t seem that big a deal,” I told him gently. “But if it’ll allow you to stay on the team, and satisfy all the League’s rules, then…”
I backed up and turned my foot to brace my weight, lowering myself to one knee?—
But Kardok grabbed my arms to stop me. “What are youdoing?”
“I’m going to propose to you.” I couldn’t help my goofy grin. “It’s traditional to do it from one knee.”
