Love, Hate and Hockey Skates

Twelve

When I woke up the next morning, Ace was gone but the aftermath of last night was still evident. I gasped when I remembered what went down and looked under the covers to confirm that I was in fact, butt naked.

"I had sex with Ace Huxley...holy shit!" I tossed the covers over my head and screamed into my hands. "I can't believe I did that. Wow, what the hell came over me?"

I had no idea how we were going to react around each other now, but the fact that I was still there and no note or text message told me to get out once I woke up, I assumed I was still welcome to stay.

Living here was going to be a whole lot different now after the night we shared. I wondered how he was feeling and remembered he had practice in the morning. A part of me wanted to go and see him, but the other part felt like that would be desperate and would definitely give off the wrong idea.

'What did last night make us now? We aren't dating, but are we still just friends?'

The only person who would have the answer to that would be Ace. I had no choice but to confront him about it.

I walked over to the arena and waited until the practice was over, but once everyone else trickled out, Ace still hadn't come out and his car was still in the lot. I waited a little bit longer before I went inside to see what was keeping him.

My mind thought the worst as I walked into the rink, thinking he was with another girl, even though I had no place to be jealous. Instead, he was on the phone and judging by his face, he wasn't happy with whoever it was.

"I left 2 minutes after the final horn, what's the big deal?" I briefly overheard him say.

I didn't want to get caught eavesdropping. I turned to walk away but instantly kicked a stick lying on the ground and the sound clattered and echoed.

Ace whipped around and hung up his phone call when he saw me.

"How long have you been waiting here?" he asked.

"Not long, I just got here and saw you on the phone, so I was going to wait outside. Is everything alright?"

He shook his head. "My Dad somehow found out I left my game early the other day and he wasn't happy, he thought I was slacking off."

I knew he was referring to the night he left to see my dance competition and instantly felt guilty. I no longer wanted to confront him in this moment, it seemed like there were other more pressing matters on his mind.

"That was my fault, I'm sorry."

He shook his head and hooked an arm around my neck to keep walking.

"I knew the consequences and I was more than happy to suffer them to see you dance that night," he said with a grin that made my toes tingle.

Ugh, that was a bad sign.

"Either way, maybe you shouldn't do that in the future."

"Am I going to do everything my Dad tells me to do? I have to live my life sometimes."

He had a point. I wanted to tell him to just break away from his Dad, that he was a grown man and had control over his own life. But with a parent who has complete control over your life, I knew what that was like. Just because I had escaped, it didn't make it easier for others.

"I just don't want you to get in trouble because of me," I frowned.

He laughed and pulled me in closer. "I'll gladly get into any kind of trouble with you."

"Well, now that you mention that. Should we talk about last night?"

When his face fell I knew it was a mistake and I was about to hear something I wasn't going to like.

"If you're going to ask if I regret it, I don't at all, and I'll gladly do it again. But...I can't offer you anything more than that. At least not until I can get my Dad off my back, but I also can't ask you to wait until then."

I knew it. We weren't going to be anything more than fuck buddies because he wouldn't stand up to his father. I was stuck in a dilemma at this point; tell him to man up or be sensitive and understanding. The latter wasn't my specialty.

"How long do you expect that to take?" I asked.

He looked unsure, which made me even more sure that I was getting myself into something that was just going to destroy me in the end – again.

"All my Dad wants is to relive his shattered life through me. He wanted to become a player in the big leagues but suffered a leg injury while still in the junior leagues and barely out of University. It ended his career right then and there, and he's blamed everyone but himself for it ever since. When I came along, he did everything he could to push me into hockey and down the same path as him."

Since the day he was born, he has suffered under his father. I at least had a few years of memories with my mother before it was taken over by the oppression of my abusive father.

"Did your mother leave right after giving birth to you?"

He nodded.

"Wow...I'm sorry."

"Why? Your life was way worse than mine, I can't believe you never told anyone and just suffered in silence."

I chuckled. "Well, it's hard to believe anything a kid would say, and I got discouraged that anyone would believe me with the way my Dad was always one step ahead of me, so I stopped saying anything and just endured."

"I'm sorry, I didn't make your life any better." He frowned.

I shrugged and bumped him with my hip. "You're making up for it now, aren't you?"

"In many ways, right?" He wiggled his brows.

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. "That reminds me. What if your Dad discovers I'm living with you? Won't he be pissed?"

"Oh, probably, but he has never come to the apartment before, he is back in Detroit."

We reached his car, and he opened the passenger door for me.

"Wow, what a gentleman."

"Hey, I got my tricks. We have a game tomorrow, you're going to come, right?"

I nodded. "If you let me get my assignments done tonight, I should be free tomorrow."

"You have all weekend to get them done, why are you rushing?" he asked with a frown.

I shrugged. "There was a reason I was top in my class; I just like being on top of everything. How else do you think I could afford to get a scholarship here? No other school accepted me."

"Amen to that, it just means you were meant to be here."

"Why is that a good thing? There are much better places to be than here."

He nodded. "Yeah, sure. But I'm not there." He gave me a cocky grin.

"Oh, God forbid I went through life without ever seeing you again," I said with a roll of my eyes but flashed him a teasing smirk.

"You definitely wouldn't have experienced the best sex of your life if you didn't."

I gawked at him. I knew he was cocky, but I didn't think he would be that blunt about it.

"You wish it was the best sex of my life."

"Mhmm, I really do. If it wasn't, I'm more than happy to give it another try when we get home." He wrapped an arm around the headrest, but I swatted it away.

"Yeah, you aren't getting rewarded that easily this time."

He smirked. "That still means there is a chance.