Page 68 of Ice King

Bad decisions had obviously been my forte the last few years.

Why not make another?

The team had taken the brutal loss hard, our moods in the toilet. While the group of guys had converged on the hotel’s bar, one player had been missing.

Ford.

The posts on social media were terrible, more so than what I’d seen on the ice. The team had played well but so had LA. And in every picture highlighting Ford’s face, I’d seen pain.

Something continued to nag at me and would until I had a heart to heart with the man. The agony in his eyes wasn’t solely based on his ribs. There was something else going on.

But if he had no interest in talking to me then there was no chance I could help.

I’d hoped he would stay for a massage or at least so I could talk to him. He’d suffered the press conference and the annoying questions asked, including about whether his shifter abilities had been the reason for the loss. He’d managed to handle the question with some modicum of grace, but I’d witnessed a different level of despair than I’d seen in him or any other player before.

He’d tried to defend himself and his ‘beastly species’ as one horrible reporter had called it, but the questions had come fast and furious.

In the throng of people trying to gain some access to him, he’d managed to escape. One of the players had seen him catching an Uber, but no one was certain if he’d returned to the hotel or had gone somewhere else.

I wished one of his brothers or Samantha had come on the trip, so I had someone to help me understand what he’d been talking about on the plane. Was it possible sex meant more to shifters in some crazy way? I honestly didn’t know and would laugh off the suggestion if I hadn’t seen Ford’s eyes when he’d made the claim.

Funny enough, I’d brought more than one sexy pair of panties with me on the trip. Not because I’d anticipated spending the night with Ford, but because owning a few sexy things made me feel better as a woman.

Oddly enough, the trench coat had been a purchase made while driving to Seattle, believing all the hype about days of rain even though it hadn’t rained once since I’d arrived in Washington State.

I’d also brought the coat with me on the trip because of the weather forecast for Los Angeles. Maybe karma had played a hand in what I’d packed. Either way, what I didn’t have were the heels.

I certainly hadn’t expected to need them on the trip. I’d had to be a little clandestine in asking the front desk if there was a shoe shop close. Thankfully, there’d been one within walking distance of the hotel.

While I had no doubt if anyone caught me going to Ford’s room dressed the way I was, my reputation would take a ding, at this point, I was willing to push the envelope.

Even if the hair on the back of my neck was damp and my heartrate was twice what it should be.

Something that bothered me, although luckily I knew he wasn’t sharing a room with anyone. Was that by design or by request?

And by whom?

Wha the hell was the big deal with shifters anyway? It wasn’t like they finished their day by turning furry. Or maybe they did. Right now, I couldn’t care about that. What I did know was that the assholes making comments had never spent even ten minutes with a shifter or their family as I had.

They were completely normal people.

Period.

The fury continued to increase as I stepped off the elevator, carefully glancing down both sides of the corridor before smoothing down my coat and heading toward Ford’s room. This was a long shot, but one I was willing to explore.

Why was it that lying to myself felt so dirty? I was excited to be with the man. After the night we’d shared, my mind had been anything but on work, even though I’d been busy.

When I was standing in front of the door, I took several deep breaths before lifting my arm to knock. A laugh bubbled to the surface just before I cracked my knuckles against the door.

Hearing nothing, I dropped my head, second guessing my decision. Maybe I was nuts after all. One more time. I knocked again, disappointment coiling into my stomach. Before I had a chance to walk away with my tail tucked between my legs, the door opened.

Ford stood in the doorway with one arm over his head, his hand on the edge of the door. Shirtless, his only item of clothing was a pair of sweatpants hugging low on his hips. As much as I tried to disguise my delight in seeing him, when I slowly dropped my gaze as he’d done with me, there was no doubt what I was thinking.

His nostrils flared as his eyes concentrated on drinking in what I was wearing.

There was an intense physical hum between us, a shattering of resolve in only a few seconds.

I wasn’t certain how to play this game, but I’d picked up a little implement I’d found at a dollar store nearby when I’d purchased the shoes. I slipped my hand into an inner pocket of the jacket, pulling out a cheap but effective plastic ruler. When I cracked it against my hand, I almost broke into laughter because of the sting.