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She shrugs. “Freshman year was fine, I guess. We were dating. I had some suspicions he was cheating on me, but he always blew them off. Told me I was being ridiculous. I learned he had a temper and didn’t like other guys hitting on me,” she shares.
“If you tell me he laid hands on you, I may go find him and kill him,” I say.
“Relax.” She pats my stomach. “And don’t ever talk like that. No, he didn’t hit me, but he did like to get into fights. He beat the shit out of some frat boy at school. He almost got himself kicked off the hockey team, but he got lucky the kid he beat up was a scholarship kid with nowhere to turn. Carter had people sweep the problem under the rug. Pretty sure someone paid off the guy he beat up.”
“Shit, Sky.” I pull her into me and kiss her forehead. “What happened after that?” I ask. I need to know every sordid detail because my stomach is in knots and my guilt is overwhelming me.
“Nothing. I continued to date him. My self-esteem hit an all-time low. I told myself I just needed to focus on getting good grades and being with him was better than being alone. I know it sounds pathetic.” She frowns.
“It doesn’t sound pathetic at all,” I assure her. “I’m just hating myself for putting you through all that. If I had somehow known you weren’t happy with him, then I would’ve come to find you. He made me think he was the better man. Every time we played Brown, he took jabs at me and made all kinds of asshole comments that made me want to rip him to shreds.”But nothing as bad as the last time I saw Carter on the ice.
“I’m not telling you this so you can blame yourself. I’m telling you because I think you had the wrong idea about me and him,” she explains.That seems to be very true.
“What happened then?” I ask, needing to know more.
“We continued dating. I was stupid to stay with him. I got drunk at a party one night, and we hooked up after. I don’t know if he didn’t put the condom on right or what, but a few weeks later, I took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. I have never been so scared in my life. I went to Carter and told him, but he broke up with me. He even accused me of cheating on him, and he told me he didn’t even think the baby was his. I actually begged him to take a paternity test, but he walked away from me, and when I went to grab his arm to pull him back to me, he shrugged me off him and knocked me to the ground. He didn’t even turn around to help me up. He just walked off like I disgusted him.”
“Dammit,” I hiss. “Hearing about this guy makes my blood boil. I feel so stupid for not trying to find you sooner. I let him get in my head. He was gloating about dating you, and I figured you moved on, so I should too. Only I never really could. I may have been with my share of girls in college, but none of them was my girlfriend. Not one of them held my heart.”
“Liam, I’m not telling you my story because I want things to go back the way they were or because I want you to feel bad about prom. I know you were hurting. You were in a dark place that I couldn’t help you out of.”
“No one could help me out,” I clarify. “Only time healed me. Time and my share of making mistakes. The accident is probably the best thing that happened to me, which is seriously messed up because I was so close to dying that day.”
She kisses me on the lips. “This feels good but having Crew changed me. While I was pregnant, I did a lot of introspection. I read a lot of books. I told myself my son deserves a strong, independent woman for a mother. I realized how broken I had been, and I wanted to learn to be my own support system. I had to be strong for my son. I finished sophomore year, and then I had Crew. I couldn’t afford to go back to school. I met Patty the same day Carter pushed me away. The day I found out I was pregnant. Patty came up to me and asked if I was okay. She offered to buy me a drink. I was a mess, but we became instant friends. She was graduating from her program and moving to Brooklyn. She invited me to live with her, and the rent had been reasonable. She even agreed to let me go rent free in my ninth month of pregnancy, but I paid her back once I was on my feet and working again,” she explains, and my gut twists.
I feel bile climb up my throat.
“You’re tensing up on me,” she observes. “I know you play against Carter’s team,” she says, and she sits up in bed and uses the sheet to cover her chest. “You can’t ever tell him we’re together. He didn’t want to have anything to do with Crew, and I would like to keep it that way. He isn’t a good person. He’s mean and cruel, and he has a temper. I wouldn’t trust him to be alone with my son.”
“I would never let anything happen to you or Crew,” I assure, feeling an overwhelming need to protect them both.
“You don’t know Carter, though. He’s a jealous man, and he has some weird obsession with you. Just by being you, it pisses him off. If he somehow got wind we were together, he would want to come back in my life. I know it, and I can’t risk my son,” she says. “That’s why we can’t be seen in public together. I can’t bring Crew to your games, no matter how badly he wants to go.”
“Shit, Sky. I knew Lewis was unhinged, but this is just crazy. And you can’t be scared to live. To be free to come and go as you please.” My voice is pleading.
“Liam, I don’t need your protection. I just want your understanding. The past five years of my life have been drama free. Well, as much as you can call raising a five-year-old drama free.” She snickers. “I work hard and send Crew to a good school. He’s a good boy. I don’t want him exposed to the likes of Carter.”
“Okay,” I concede. “I would never want to do anything to hurt you again.” Although, I wonder how we can really live if she never wants to be seen with me in public. I don’t push the issue though, because I just got her back in my bed, and I don’t ever want her to leave again.
I flip her on her back, and we make love. It’s slow and lazy. It’s filled with sweet kisses and hot moans as I slide in and out of her. Our bodies move to a rhythm that makes me feel something I’ve never felt before. By the time I take her back to Brooklyn, I know I was right to look for her because she is the only girl for me. I just need to get her to see that.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Skylar
I’m rushing out of the apartment to get to my appointment to remove my cast when there is a knock on the door.
Getting around with crutches and a leg that weighs too much from the cast is definitely not ideal.
I open the door, and Liam stands in front of me with tousled hair and dark eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“We just got back two hours ago,” he huffs. “I thought I hadn’t made it on time.” He palms his chest. “I went to the arena then to pick up my car.”
“You didn’t have to come. You look exhausted,” I state. Even though he looks deliciously exhausted in a Rangers hoodie and black sweatpants.
“I wanted to take you,” he says, stepping into the apartment. He leans in and pecks my lips. “I missed you.” Just like that, I melt like butter.
