All Chapters of On Thin Ice With You: Chapter 121 - Chapter 130

Mia rubs her gritty, exhausted eyes and lets out a long, ragged sigh. "I'm afraid not. My apartment...a pipe burst. The walls are already damp and starting to swell. I tried to clean it up, but the floors are still a swamp. The whole place is a wreck, it's completely unlivable."A sudden, sharp wave of vulnerability crashes over her, and her composure finally cracks.Her voice hitches, trailing off into a frustrated, emotional whine she can't seem to suppress. "It's all because of these damn games! Between the fans and the press, I can't even find a hotel room within fifty miles. I'm literally about to be homeless, Elias."Her breath hitches as she leans her head against the cool glass of the window. "I was already running on empty when I landed, and I haven't had a single second to breathe since I got back."Silence stretches across the line for a heartbeat. Then, the sudden, sharp rustle of fabric and the jingle of keys echo through the speaker. His voice, when it finally comes, is

Elias maneuvers through Mia's small apartment—now her apartment, courtesy of his real estate portfolio.As he slides her skincare bottles onto the bathroom shelf, a thought strikes him.This place had felt sprawling and empty when he bought it as an investment. Now, with Mia's scent beginning to cling to the walls and her lace-trimmed things claiming the drawers, the space feels suddenly, dangerously intimate.It feels like a home. It feels like their home."Do you have any idea what time it is?" Mia's voice breaks through his reverie. "It's late, Elias. You have practice at the crack of dawn. You should get going."Elias doesn't even look up from the stack of books he's organizing. "No."Mia blinks, her heart performing a small, traitorous flip. "No?"Is he planning on staying? The thought sends a jolt of liquid heat straight to her core.They haven't officially crossed that line yet, and the prospect of sharing these sheets with him makes her skin feel two sizes too small.Elias sto

The Raiders' home ice looks the same as it always does and feels, tonight, slightly colder than she remembers.Mia settles into the seat Elias had specified and tucks both hands into her coat pockets.The arena has its usual pre-game energy, that specific restlessness of twelve thousand people arriving at an agreement about where to direct their attention.She watches number 36 cut across the ice during warm-up and feels the familiar tension move through her chest, the same one that arrives every single time regardless of how many matches she's watched, regardless of the fact that she has by now spent more time in professional proximity to this man than anyone else on the medical staff.She will, apparently, never get used to watching him.The match opens with a Raiders team that looks like a different outfit from the one that's been grinding through a compressed fixture run.The passes are clean and decisive, the positioning sharp, the communication between players reduced to a short

Fragments of locker room banter and viral dating hacks flicker through Elias's mind—the kind of 'foolproof' maneuvers the guys always joked about during downtime.Once the idea of a horror movie takes root, it spreads through his mind like wildfire, impossible to shake.It is the oldest play in the book—the horror film strategy, the ambient darkness, the way proximity becomes the natural solution to fear. He'd filed it away without much investment at the time. Now, with Mia's shoulder warm against his side and the remote in his hand, it surfaces with remarkable urgency.He scrolls to a thriller that's been generating significant online discussion and tilts the screen toward her."This one?""The rating's good." She studies the cover. "Crime thriller?""Suspense," he says, which is technically accurate and omits several relevant details. "Supposed to be well-constructed.""Sure." She nods. "Sounds fine."He queues it up before she can reconsider.Elias dims the lights with his phone an

"See? You're already so much softer for me," Elias whispers against her ear.He isn't wrong. Under the guise of "relaxing" her, Elias has effectively stripped away all her tension.Mia rests her cheek over his heart, her breathing syncing with the heavy, frantic thudding in his chest. They are completely insulated in their own private bubble, the gruesome horrors on the screen completely failing to break their romantic spell."Do you want me to rewind it?" Elias asks eventually, though he doesn't loosen his grip on her by a millimeter, fully anticipating her answer."No," she murmurs, her voice thick with sleepiness and contentment. "It's late. Time for sleep."She shifts slightly. "What's your plan tonight? Are you taking the couch?"It doesn't look like he has any intention of heading back to his usual apartment."Mhm," Elias hums a low, noncommittal note.He nuzzles her hair, his eyes tracing the flushed pink of her cheeks and her kiss-swollen lips in the dim light. A tender, resol