ON THIN ICE

Chapter 1.

Darcy 

“You’re prettier than the pictures. Your father didn’t mention the body.” Adam smirked, the buffoon I'm currently on a date with— a date my father set me on.

His eyes kept roaming my chest and I felt so disgusted that I couldn't bring myself to thank him. I flashed a tight smile while suppressing the urge to flip him off and get the hell out of there.

Adam could only talk about three things; himself, his father and my chest. Goddess forbids he asks me any questions about myself.

Normally I would have actually flipped him off and left but I couldn’t. My father had a heart attack about 12 months ago. And ever since he’s been obsessed with finding a mate for me. This was my fifth blind date with another cookie cutter rich boy hoping to elevate his status by dating Alpha Grayson’s daughter, and Adam was the most presumptuous. He had cancelled and rescheduled three times before today.

“Hey! Are you listening?” Adam snapped his fingers in my face across the table. 

Rude. 

“I’m sorry,” I smiled politely. “Something was on my mind.”

“You’re a woman.” He scoffed. “What could you possibly be thinking about that’s more important than me?”

That’s it!

“We’re done here.” I got up. 

“What?" He gaped at me with a stupid look on his face. 

“Are you deaf or just stupid?” I rolled my eyes then picked up my purse. 

I took one last look at him on my way out. At least this one didn’t follow me. 

I hopped into my black Mercedes and made a beeline for Easton University. On my way there, my phone buzzed incessantly with calls from my Dad. I know it’s not his fault that Adam is a prick but he could have at least done a bit more research on who he was setting me up with. 

Once I pulled up in front of Adler Hall I picked up my phone and answered the call. 

“Yes?” 

“Adam says you were rude and left early.” Dad’s smooth voice came through the phone.  He was already furious. 

“He was unpleasant.”

“You’ve said that about every single boy.”

“Well they’re all unpleasant.” I huffed.  “Adam spent the entire date looking at my chest.”

Dad sighed resignedly and said, “I’m sorry about that. I’ll find someone else.”

“Please don’t.” I groaned. 

“You know this is necessary.  Your mother—”

I stiffened right as he caught himself. “I’m sorry.” He sighed. “ I just want you to have your own person when I’m gone.”

“Dad...” 

“Just see the dates with an open mind.”  He spoke softly. “You can go on another one this Friday.” 

But that was the problem. I couldn’t. I had less than zero interest in finding a chosen mate. Regionals were coming up soon and I had to practice twice as hard. I just didn’t have any time for boys. 

“I can’t. I won’t go on any more blind dates either.” I spoke firmly and hung up right as he was about to speak.

Once I got inside my room, it was empty. I checked my phone and found a text from Sunny, my best friend and roommate, and another from my Dad trying to convince me to go on a blind date in a week. I ignored it and opened Sunny’s text:

“GOT CAUGHT UP AT THE STUDIO. WILL BE HOME LATE. XOXO.”

As I slipped out of my black gown, one of my skates caught my eye. 6pm wasn’t that late. I could still get an hour or two of practice in before Sunny came back.  Besides, I was forming a habit of skating after those bad blind dates as a way to unwind.

I sped to the school’s ice rink with a small smile on my lips. Nothing could bother me on the ice. I had loved ice skating ever since the Christmas my mother took me ice skating when I was 3. Mom was an Olympic figure skater whose praise is still sung more than a decade since her passing.

The smile slowly dropped from my face when I saw a few cars outside the rink. That was strange. No one ever went there, unless there was a hockey game, but the season hadn’t started. I moved to the spot closest to the entrance and it was already taken by a black Hellcat. 

Oh no. Fuck no. Please don’t be his car. Please don’t be his car. 

Unfortunately, it was. Day ruined at 6:34pm.

 Killian Callahan, who has decided to make himself a thorn in my flesh, stood near the boards with his back to me, talking to a few of his teammates. He was taller and broader than the others. He turned to the side and I saw that his light brown hair was damp and stuck to his forehead. He smiled a bit as he talked, showcasing his dimples. He looked exactly like the kind of asshole who would drive a Hellcat .

Then his green eyes met me and his face soured.  He crossed the short distance between us and glared down at me like I was a bug stuck to the underside of his shoe.

“What are you doing here?” he sneered. 

“None of your business.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. 

“It is my business, Grayson.” Killian retorted. “We have a game tomorrow and you’re interrupting by trespassing.”

“Trespassing?” I raised a brow. “Last time I checked, the rink belongs to the school and not the hockey team.”

“Tell that to the schedule.”

“I don’t give a shit about your schedule.” I snapped.

“Clearly.”

“What are you doing here, Miss Grayson?” Coach Swanson’s gravelly voice interrupted us. “Wednesdays are for the hockey team and not the figure skaters.”

“Wednesday...” I trailed off in a small voice. Well that explained a lot. I blame Adam for postponing the date instead of agreeing to meet up on Tuesday. “I...I got confused about the schedule.” I said, pointedly avoiding Killian’s stupid smug face.

“We all make mistakes.” Coach Swanson said slowly. “You can leave now, we have our first game of the season tomorrow.”

“Yes Mr. Swanson.”  I nodded stiffly and walked back to my car.

Unfortunately my annoyance didn’t end with my encounter with Killian. I had left my phone in my car so I came back to 7 missed calls from Dad and 5 new messages.

DAD: YOU HAVE ANOTHER BLIND DATE TOMORROW AFTERNOON. YOU'D BETTER SHOW UP.

DAD: I’M BEING SERIOUS DARCY. THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL.

DAD: SKIP IT AND I’M FREEZING YOUR CARDS.