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Aidan’s not a relationship guy.
Walker seemed like one. We started out as friends. Got drinks, then drinks turned into dinner. We were officially dating for a month before we had sex for the first time.
In some ways, Aidan Phillips is an ideal candidate for a fling. The perfect way to regain my confidence and to try new things. To justhave fun.
Him playing hockey and failing Stats complicated it.
But he had toruinit by walking me home. Paying for my drink. Bringing me dinner.
You’re not supposed to have feelings for a fling.
And I have feelings for Aidan.
Another cold gust of wind convinces me to head inside rather than continue standing here.
Stepping in through the double doors is a relief. It’s not warm inside the building, but it’swarmer.
I walk through the lobby and toward the ice, gazing around in awe. It’s bigger than I remember, maybe because it’s the first time in years I’ve seen the rink when it’s completely empty.
The ice is flawless, gleaming beneath the bright lights. And it’s church silent, so quiet I can hear my footsteps as the bottoms of my boots hit the rubber mats.
It’s very different staring out at the rink when there’s no one on it. It’s just an endless expanse of white. Smooth and pristine, such a sharp contrast to the clashes that were taking place on its surface the last time I was looking at it.
I haven’t skated in years.
And I miss it, I realize suddenly. It’s one of those things I worked to outgrow simply because that seemed like what growing up was at the time.
The weightless glide. The proud way my dad would watch me. The constant fear of falling.
“Hey, honey.”
I turn. My dad is walking this way with a couple of binders tucked under one arm.
“Hey, Dad.”
He reaches me, squeezing me against his side the same way he did when I was little. “You’re feeling better? Your mom said you came down with a cold.”
“Yeah, I’m much better. Just needed a few good nights’ sleep.”
“Good. Have you been waiting long? You should have come back to my office.”
“I just got here,” I assure him. “I haven’t been waiting at all.”
“Oh, all right. Are you ready to go?”
I nod, then blurt, “Were you upset when I stopped playing hockey?”
Wondering that has stuck with me, ever since Aidan brought it up. I thought not choosing Holt was the first time I let down my dad, but maybe that happened a lot earlier. He just nodded when I told him I wanted to do gymnastics with my friends instead, and that was that.
Both of his eyebrows rise. “Upset? No.”
“Disappointed, then?”
“Of course not. I only wanted you to play if you loved it, Rylan.”
“I mean, I liked it.”
He chuckles. “Where is this coming from? You haven’t talked about hockey in years. Youplayinghockey, in a decade.”
