Kiss My Ice

2|7

27.

It was not a crime to be caught with a boy – there was nothing in the rink's rules that said no dating –, but in that moment, I couldn't help but feel like I had been caught doing some highly illegal activity.

Being back in Mark's office waiting in an agonizing silence brought back a sense of déjà vu. It was the same picture as the day that Aiden and I were assigned our punishment. Aiden sat at ease in the chair to my left, Mark stood in front of his desk. It all felt sickeningly similar.

I chewed the inside of my lip in nervous anticipation for Mark to say something. Anything!

Finally, he clapped his hands together. A large smile settled on his face. "It is so great to see that you two are finally getting along."

A wave of relief washed over me knowing that Mark was not mad at the two of us. I relaxed into the chair, letting my muscles fall comfortably.

"Is it safe for me to assume that this means your punishment has actually worked?" Mark asked, to which I titled my head to see what Aiden thought. He licked his lips before offering a toothless smile. Mark let out a soft chuckle. "Well I'll be damned. Wasn't it you, Aiden, that said that putting the two of you together on the ice wouldn't fix anything?"

Aiden sat up in his chair, his lips parted. "I may have said that."

"And yet you two are getting along?"

Aiden's eyes flickered over to me, eyeing me questioningly. "Are we?"

A few days ago that question would have been a lot harder to answer. After talking with Lucy and Riley, combined with the events of this evening and Aiden's explanation, I was confident that I knew my answer.

"Yes." I smiled seeing the corners of Aiden's lips twitch up. "We are."

Mark let out an exciter holler, pumping his fist down in front of his thigh. "I wasn't sure I was going to ever seen you two become friends. I'm proud of you two for overcoming your differences."

Friends. Mark must not have seen us kissing or he would have used a stronger word.

"That makes three of us," I grinned, turning to Aiden to see him roll his eyes.

Mark was quick to dismiss us, saying that it was late it we should both get home to our families. As Aiden pulled the door open to leave Mark left us with one finally remark. "You two are off the hook for your punishment. Your regular routines can start on Monday."

My eyes lit up. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yes. You two have earned it."

I looked at Aiden in disbelief. We were off the hook just like that. So easy. Aiden offered me a lazy smile with a slight shrug of the shoulders. I looked back to Mark and grinned. "Thank you."

_-_-_

"Aiden," I called out as I jogged across the parking lot to catch up to him on his way to his car. It was almost midnight, and I knew that we both needed to get home, but I had one question that I needed answered.

There were a lot of things said tonight; a lot of feelings shared. Then we kissed. I needed to know where exactly we stood because quite frankly, I wasn't sure what any of this meant.

Aiden stopped upon hearing my voice, spun around on his heel.

"What are we?"

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"What are we?" I repeated, slowing to walk as I approached him. It shouldn't have been a confusing question, but our relationship was a bit dysfunctional. I didn't think either of us knew what to really think.

Aiden's eyes scanned over my face like a book that he was trying to figure out. He let out a soft sigh, closed in the gap between us with two large steps in my direction. "I like you Lodge, if that's what you are asking."

My feet slowed to a stop just a foot away from him. There was nothing in expression that looked like the brooding, arrogant persona that I'd grown to know over the past month. Instead his features were soft, genuine. He was telling the truth.

I couldn't deny that I shared the same feeling. Somehow I'd gone from truly despising him to finding him kind of sweet and charming. And insanely attractive.

"I like you too."

Aiden smirked, let his hockey bag fall to the ground. He moved another step closer, leaned down by my ear. "Then you have your answer."

"We are friends."

Aiden leaned back, not afraid to roll his eyes at how oblivious I was. "Yes," he confirmed. "As far as I am concerned, we are friends."

I grinned, feeling a newfound sense of boldness. It as though my mouth and body had just gone into auto pilot and refused to ask my brain for permission on what to do next. "Friends that kiss?" I asked, leaning up onto my tip toes to put myself closer to Aiden's lips.

His eyes fell to my lips, and he let out a soft chuckle. "Subtle."

It didn't take him any time to close the distance between us as he leaned down. "Next time," he smiled. "Don't ask."

My heart fluttered as his crashed into mine for the second time tonight.

So many good things had happened over the span of an hour. I landed my first ever triple axel, Aiden apologized, we kissed, Mark lifted our punishment, and I was ending the night with one last kiss from the boy who I was supposed to hate.

I wasn't sure how, or why, but the stars seemed to have aligned in the sky tonight. I knew that there was something special in the air. Right now, I was the happiest I had ever been.