AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Your coach was just saying not to—”
“We’ll promise not to have sex in the arena, explain that we got overly excited about our new fiancée.”
His words steal the air from my lungs. “I’m…not…”
“It makes what we did a lot more redeemable,” Ballz offers leadingly. “And I think we’re all hoping you will be.”
Fiancée? Married? The reality of their world comes crashing down on me. The visibility, the travel, and the loneliness I’ll be stuck with when they’re on the road. My routines will constantly be in flux.
Sex is an amazing thing. But as they wait anxiously for my response, I get cold feet, and not just because we’re in an ice arena “I don’t think I can live in the public eye. Eventually we’d have to go public with our relationship. I can’t do it. I can’t be with all of you. I need my routines. I need predictability in my life.”
“We can give you that.” Jeff offers a reassurance.
“No, you can’t. Thank you for teaching me how to date. I need to go home now.” I grab my purse.
“Get in my office, all three of you,” Coach demands over the speaker.
I’m grateful he didn’t say four.
“Repair that relationship before worrying about ours.”
I push past the guys. They object and follow me, but I point the direction I think the coach’s office is.
They relent, but Jeff says, “The roads will be getting bad. Go straight home.”
He’s right. I barely make it to our parents’ house. They have a thing tonight, but their car is still in the garage. I park next to it, hoping they’ll be occupied with getting ready for their date.
They aren’t in the living room, and I make as little noise as possible putting the chain lock on the back door. It’s a small deterrent in case my brothers come.
“Hey, Kiddo. We’ll be leaving soon. Need anything?”
I help settle my nerves with a deep breath. A few more minutes, then I can break down.
“I’m fine.” But I’m not. Dad still calls me Kiddo. I still live at home. It all seemed familiar and frugal, but I need to spread my wings.
I rush up to my room, hang my keys on their hook, sit on my bed, and stare out the window at the softly falling snow. It can be silent and beautiful, and yet the very same snow can turn into a deadly blizzard. Is it weird to think of that as a metaphor for me? I usually do my own thing quietly, careful not to disrupt anyone, but a few wrong moves and I can ruin my brothers’ careers.
I pull up SmorgasSmut on my phone. If the Zamboni video is going to show up, it will be there. I’m in luck, but Aurora may not be. There are videos from her brothers’ concert and I’m pretty sure Aurora is having sex with her brother in the background, too far away and blurry to tell much more than her blond hair, though. I send her a message in case they need to get in front of it.
Being in the public eye isn’t a life I can handle.
There are too many emotions jumbled inside of me to be able to cry. I squeeze a pillow to my face and let out a half-hearted scream.
Hugging the pillow to my chest, I watch the snow again, but Jeff’s car pulls into the driveway. Crap. I toss the pillow aside and rush onto the second-floor landing.
They’re already banging on the door.
“Kiddo, can you get that?”
“It’s the boys and they’re mad at me. Please don’t let them in.”
“Don’t be silly. If you guys had an argument, you need to work it out. You’re not children anymore.”
Fine time for Dad to come to that realization.
Seventeen
Cindy
