Icebound (Boundless Players, #1)

by Meredith Trapp

I reach into my purse, pull out a condom I shoved in there, and flick it between my fingers. “You better be screaming my name too.”

As cringey as it is, she's so real and iconic for that.

He strips off the condom and, with a flick of his wrist, flings it past the trash can. It soars through the air, landing with a heavy thud on Micah’s jersey—streams of his release splatter over the navy fabric, painting it white. My mouth drops. “Nice to see chivalry is alive and well. You ruined my jersey.” “I might act like a gentleman, but I won’t fuck you like one.” His lips curl into a smirk that’s all roguish mischief. “And I think that’s only fair now that you’ve ruined me.”

Meredith Trapp: that is the weirdest thing I have EVER read from a MMC.

I pull out a clean jersey for her—my jersey. “Here. You can wear this.”

Such a simple solution...

Maybe I’m the only one overthinking the age difference.

DUH

I’m the spitting image of Morgan Tremblay—just nineteen years younger.

Okay but the way Meredith Trapp kept mentioning Morgan before we meet him made me think it was Rhode’s ex or something-

“My dad’s a sports broadcaster, and he left my mom for a younger woman a while back. That’s why this age thing is such a big deal to me. He just packed a bag and walked out on us. My sister doesn’t remember it because she was so young, but I never forgot hearing my mom begging him to stay when she caught him leaving in the middle of the night. Never even said goodbye.”

I see… your commitment issues derive from abandonment. Fair.

“Maybe you’re just too young to understand.” Fuck. I shouldn’t have said that.

You are the absolute WORST.

“That’s because I worked hard to be better, and it’s not fair to hold someone accountable to a past version of themselves when they’re trying, but you’re right.” She mimics my scoff, getting out of the car. “Maybe I’m just ‘too young to understand.’” She slams the car door hard enough to rattle the glass.

GOOD.

“No.” He chews on his bottom lip until there’s a sharp indent on his skin. “I’ve uh, never done that at all.”

WHAT?!

“Never. It’s our thing. He calls me kid, and I call him old man. Anyway, he told me to ignore it, but now I feel like I’m lying to everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I fuck around and do other things, but not as much as people think. I just talk a good game to keep up the image.”

Oh, Micah Cruz: how wrongly I judged you.

“Don’t,” I blurt without thinking, or maybe I’m finally thinking clearly. She drove all the way here, and I don’t want to wake up alone in an empty hotel bed like I’ve been doing for the past decade.

FINALLY

I don’t want to have to be strong—I just want to be strong.

“Because I’m proving to you that I’m not just the man who gives you orgasms. I’m the man you stay up until midnight talking to, so if you want one, you have to admit that.”

Wait he kinda ate that up...

Every kiss from him is charting a pathway to my heart, and it’s scaring me how attached I’m growing.

Love is made with little moments, and we have enough to build a castle.

“If I tell you something, will you promise not to get mad?”

HOLY SHIT ITS HAPPENING

Nina Alstyne’s climbing higher and higher on the list of most important people in my life. I should make this girl a bucket of cross-stitches, but that still wouldn’t be enough.

The best thing about dreams is that no one can control them, and I want hers to run wild.

“Goodbye, Rhode,” she whispers against my lips. “In another life, I think you would’ve been my forever.” Yeah, but I want her in this life. And fuck, maybe it’s on me to figure out how to make that happen.

GO AFTER HER!

I’ve spent so much time focusing on all the ways we’re wrong for each other, I didn’t realize how right we are together, but none of that matters because Nina doesn’t want me, or this life, and I’m not going to ask her to change.

Omg Rhodeeee use your brainnn

Wyn waves a hand. “Please, not at all. Stop that. You’re the only one worried about the age difference. She made you smile all the time, and you were lighter around her. Less hockey, more Rhode, if that makes sense. I don’t care who you end up with as long as they make you happy.”

Realest sister award.

Wyn and Cruz are nose to nose, shouting in each other’s faces. Well, Wyn’s yelling. Cruz is staring her down with a tight jaw. At the sound of my footsteps, they jump back.

Some tension going on...

“No. Sit back down. I said stay,” she commands. “Talk. Be together. Enjoy.”

Love Rowyn

He practically came in his pants when Coach told him he’d be taking over the net.

A bit much, but k

“Without a doubt. I didn’t realize what I had until I lost it, and I’m so grateful your mother gave me another chance. If I have to spend the rest of my life proving that I’m sticking around, I’ll do it. I know our relationship is tough, but you’re my son, and I love you no matter what.”

Maybe Nina’s right. I would never want someone to hold my past version of myself over my head now, and that’s what I’ve been doing to my father. Holding grudges takes a lot of energy, and I don’t have much left.

As we drive, I gaze out at the blurring skyline. A mesmerizing palette of roses, corals, and aquamarines streak across nature’s largest canvas.

I glance at his tie. Clovers. His tie has little four-leaf clovers all over the fabric, and I wonder if he chose it because of my tattoo.

No anxiety. No panic attack. Everything turned out fine.

YAS

Anxiety might be unpredictable, but it doesn’t rule over me anymore. I used to think of it as this thing that lived inside me, but it always passes, never stays. Maybe it was never really a part of me at all.

I thought love would be this big moment, but it stacked up from all these little things.

I’m starting to think I don’t care what my future looks like as long as it includes Nina.

FINALLY

I’d rather jump into love than never fall at all.

The weight of my decision to retire from the NHL finally sinks in, but it’s not dragging me down anymore. The memories of all those years on the ice flood my mind.

He sniffs against my shoulder. “I love you, too, Tremblay. Goddammit, I’m crying now. The last time I cried was at my dad’s funeral. I hate you.” “Don’t worry, Patty’s sobbing by the campfire.” “Look at us.” Cruz thumps his chest, pulling back. “Men being men.” I lower my voice, making it overly deep. “We’re the manliest of men.” “The definition of masculinity.” He hugs me again as his laughter fades. “I’m really gonna miss you, Tremblay. It won’t be the same without you.”

We make our way back to the campfire with our arms around each other, laughter binding us together. The hours slip away like our bottle of whiskey as we reminisce over stories. By the time the moon’s high in the sky, my cheeks ache from grinning, and I’ve got a side stitch from laughing.

We’re laughing at each other the way only sisters do—ugly and loud and a little mean because it’s at each other—but it’s okay because underneath all that is an unshakeable love.

‘What you’ve built here is something that can’t be broken. We’ll take care of your legacy.’

They better cry when I give them the Puck Buddy cross-stitches I made.

She smiles. “I guess you’re not icebound anymore. You’re free.” I’m free. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way.

From here on out, I’ll help you catch whatever dream you’re chasing. It doesn’t matter if you’re climbing a mountain or dragging yourself out of a ditch, because I belong with every version of you. So, go chase those dreams of yours.

I’m not going to tell her that I already have a ring picked out for her, but she’ll know one day when I get down on one knee. Whenever she’s ready. That’s the last secret I’ll keep.

OMG