Love in Secret

Ace

My phone has not stopped ringing for the past couple of hours and I've done nothing but watch the notifications stream in while nursing a beer. It's only been a day since my biggest secret was leaked and it's everywhere. Including on all of my teammate's feeds. And most of them are not happy that I didn't share the fact that they were sharing a locker room with a girl all season. Aaron is the one defending me the most but I hate that he is. There's a big chance it will ruin his career. 

A loud knock shakes me from my trance," Ace, open up. We need to get ready for this wedding."

Aaron. As if my thoughts had summoned him," I'm coming, you ass," I set my drink down before flinging the door open," Do you have all your stuff with you."

"No, I don't. Cause I was definitely going to leave my house just to pick you up without my stuff and then drive back to waste our time," He says sarcastically with a blank face but it quickly morphs into a smile," I see you're pregaming. Don't get too drunk before the ceremony; Emery would not want her man of honor drunk during her big moment."

"Haha," I roll my eyes but a smile pulls onto my face despite my earlier bad mood. He just seems to have that effect on me. My phone rings from across the room and my smile falls again as I grab it. My parents. I quickly hit ignore and turned to Aaron," Just give me a minute to get my stuff."

He's staring at the phone in my hand but doesn't say anything when he meets my eyes again. His eyes have a little less of a spark," Well, go get it. We can't be late to our best friend's wedding."

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"Ace," Emery wraps me in a tight hug when I enter her bridal sweet," Thank god you're finally here. I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest."

I grip her arms and chuckle at my frazzled friend," You have nothing to worry about Em. Literally nothing. This is going to be the best night of your life."

"I know but my nerves are just everywhere," She laughs," What if I trip going down the aisle or I don't even know."

"You are the most graceful person on the ice that I know. If you can pull out the biggest jumps and turns on the ice, I think you can walk down an aisle without tripping," I reassure her with a kiss on her cheek," Besides, I can trip before you get out there to level out the embarrassment."

She cups my cheeks and smiles but it soon turns serious," I saw what was leaked this morning. It's so terrible that someone would leak something that private to the public. I'm so sorry this has happened to you but we're all standing behind you."

I can feel the tears form in my eyes again like they did last night but I take a deep breath and push the feelings down," I don't deserve any of you. Now, let's get you out there for your wedding."

A knock on her door takes our attention and we watch as her dad steps in with the biggest smile on his face. His eyes tear up as he looks at his daughter," You look so beautiful. I'm so happy for you and Jason."

I step out of the door easily as they hug and smile when I see Aaron outside the door. My eyes trail over him and damn he looks good in a suit. My body heats at the sight of him and I meet his eyes after a moment of admiring him. He has a smirk on his face when I look again and his eyes are about ten times darker than they normally are. Butterflies pull in my stomach from the way he's looking at me. 

He steps forward slowly," You look very good tonight," I swallow deeply as he steps closer again. He follows the movement with his eyes. 

"So do you," I almost stumble over my words when he steps into my space and puts his hand against the wall above my head," What," I clear my throat," are you doing?"

"Getting a closer look," He smirks at me and I swear my legs are about to give out on me. He leans in next to me and I shiver when his breath hits my ear," You look devourable."

I try to move my head to look at him but it just makes our faces incredibly close and no words want to leave my mouth. I swallow deeply as I glance between his lips and eyes. He's so close, that it would only take a small move to get our lips to connect. And I so want to connect them but I don't know if he wants me to. 

"Ace are you-," Emery walks out of her room and Aaron flies to the other side of the hall," Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting. Continue whatever it was you were doing," She says as she disappears back into her room.

I look back at Aaron and open my mouth to say something but he rushes out," I'll see you out there," Before he practically runs from the hall. 

I don't know what just happened but I know it helped me forget all the problems I have right now. I head out to where the rest of the bridesmaids are and they all greet me with small waves and smiles. They are primarily made up of girls that Emery skates with. They are all very nice from what I know and if they know about me being trans they don't say anything. The music takes our attention away from each other and we start our ceremony. As I walk out my eyes lock onto Aaron but he doesn't meet them. I try to ignore the sinking feeling because it's not my day but it's in the back of my mind. I finally turn my attention to Jason and we each give each other a huge smile. It's finally happening. 

My smile only seems to grow when Emery walks out with her father. She has a bright smile on her face and the nervousness from earlier has seemed to have left. She hands me her flowers and she squeezes my hands with excitement before turning to her fiance and one of my best friends. It's finally happening and I've never been happier for my friends. My eyes trail to the side though and I see Aaron staring at me. He gives me a small smile that I return. My eyes went over him again. God, why does he have to look so good in a suit? It makes being friends with him so hard when I just want more. It's not like he feels the same, even with what happened in the hallway only moments ago. It just won't happen.