His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 96: Olive's Pov

The phone kept ringing.

Zane's name flashing on the screen, demanding an answer, and Paloma was sitting right across from me with that warm smile on her face like we were old friends catching up over coffee.

"Pick it up," she said again, taking another sip of her latte. "It's your star hockey player. I haven't heard his voice in person in such a long time."

Something about the way she said it made my stomach twist, but I pushed the feeling aside and answered.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound normal even though my heart was hammering.

"Muffin," Zane's voice came through, low and warm and so familiar it made my chest ache. "How are you? Did you miss me last night?"

Last night. The club. The bathroom. Everything.

"I'm fine," I managed, too aware of Paloma watching me with those grey eyes. "Just at lunch."

"Lunch?" he asked. "I thought you'd be at the office."

"I went out for a little break," I said quickly. "Needed some air."

"Everything okay?" His voice shifted slightly, concern creeping in.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just needed to clear my head, you know?"

There was a pause, and I could almost feel him thinking through the phone.

"Do you want me to come over tonight?" he asked. "Your place? We could talk. Or not talk. Whatever you need."

My stomach flipped and I glanced at Paloma who was pretending to look at her phone but was definitely listening.

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe. Can I let you know later?"

"Sure," he said, but I could hear the disappointment. "You sure you're okay? You sound weird."

"I'm not weird, I'm just—I'm with someone right now. Can't really talk."

"Who are you with?" he asked, and there was that edge in his voice. That possessive thing that should annoy me but somehow didn't.

"A friend," I said. "A new friend I just met today, actually."

"A new friend," he repeated slowly. "You know you're terrible at picking friends, right?"

I bristled at that. "Excuse me?"

"Brenda's fine," he clarified quickly. "But you have a habit of trusting people too fast. Letting them in before you know who they really are."

How the fuck did he know that? How did he always know things about me I hadn't told him?

"I can handle myself," I said defensively.

"I know you can," he said, his voice softening. "I just worry about you. That's all."

Paloma was definitely listening now, her eyes flickering up to meet mine with curiosity.

"I have to go," I said. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed reluctantly. "Be careful, Muffin. Please."

"I will."

I ended the call and set my phone down, feeling Paloma's eyes on me.

"He seems protective," she observed.

"He's possessive," I corrected, then immediately felt guilty for saying it. "But in a good way. Mostly."

"Mostly," she repeated with a small smile. "That's an interesting qualifier."

We talked for another twenty minutes about nothing important—art, coffee, the weather—before Paloma glanced at her watch.

"I should go," she said, standing. "But this was lovely. We should do it again sometime."

"Definitely," I agreed, surprising myself with how much I meant it.

She pulled out her phone. "Can I get your number? So we can plan another coffee date?"

I gave it to her, watching as she typed it in with perfectly manicured nails.

"Perfect," she said, smiling. "I'll text you. It was so nice meeting you, Olive."

"You too, Paloma."

She left with a wave, and I sat there for another minute staring at my half-empty coffee cup and wondering why I felt like I'd just made a terrible mistake.

*******

By the time I got home that evening, I was exhausted.

Emotionally drained from the day, from my new friend Paloma, from thinking about Zane and my overbearing father’s family who kept posting more Gram pictures and everything that was slowly falling apart around me.

I kicked off my heels, poured myself a glass of wine, and collapsed on the couch.

My phone buzzed.

Paloma: Had such a great time today! Let's do it again soon 😊

I smiled despite myself and typed back a quick response before setting my phone down.

Then there was a knock on my door.

I frowned, checking the time. Almost 8pm. Who the hell would be—

Another knock, more insistent.

I got up, padded to the door in my bare feet, and looked through the peephole.

Zane.

Of course it was Zane.

I opened the door and he was standing there with flowers—not pink peonies this time, but red roses—and that look on his face that said he'd missed me.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," I replied, stepping aside to let him in.

He walked in like he owned the place, setting the flowers on my counter before turning to look at me.

"You look tired," he observed.

"I am tired," I admitted. "It's been a long day."

"Tell me about it," he said, moving closer. "Tell me about your new friend."

So I did. Told him about the art studio, about bumping into Paloma, about coffee and how easy it had been to talk to her. But omitting what had brought me to the art studio in the first place.

I wasn’t going to take that risk of telling Zane, which will instantly turn him to an investigator and maybe have his men following after me like I was a creep.

He listened without interrupting, his expression unreadable.

"She sounds nice," he said finally.

"She is," I confirmed. "She's really nice. Easy to talk to. Made me feel comfortable, you know?"

"Good," he said. "You deserve friends who make you feel comfortable."

His phone rang before I could respond.

He pulled it out, and glanced at the screen, and his jaw tightened.

"I need to take this," he said.

"Okay."

He answered, putting it on speaker without thinking—or maybe not caring.

"What now Kid sis?" he said flatly.

"How DARE you?" a voice came through, it sounded shrill and furious, and familiar.

"How fucking dare you, Zane?"

SOPHIA

I froze.

"Sophia—"

"Don't you Sophia me!" she screamed. "Cole just found out he lost the Nike endorsement! The one he's been working toward for MONTHS! And you know what he heard? He heard that YOU made calls. That YOU used your connections to sabotage him!"

Zane's expression didn't change. "And?"

"AND? That's all you have to say? You ruined his career because of what? Because he used to date that BITCH you're fucking now or because you are trying to be an overprotective brother?"

My blood ran cold.