Meet Me at the Rink

Chapter 13

~ Allison ~

Oh my god... What's happening right now? I silently freak out as I feel Austin's arm sneak around my waist as he catches me so I don't hit the ice. He pulls me up close to him quickly and carefully as our eyes meet and my panicked look softens. "You okay?" He asks. My eyes stay locked on his as I manage to respond. "Yeah." I whisper. I watch as his eyes land on my lips and he begins to lean in. I stay frozen for just a moment before I find myself closing the gap between us as our lips connect and begin to move in sync for a couple of brief seconds before he pulls away.

"I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have-" He begins to say before I quickly interrupt him. "Austin, it's okay you don't need to apologize." I reply. "But I-" He begins to say. "It's okay, we were both caught up in the moment. It's fine." I say as I give him a reassuring smile as he places his hand back down to his side before skating toward the snowbank where he had tossed his stick. "You know we're still tied." I say breaking the silence. "Then why are we still standing around? Let's end this game!" Austin says stick handling the puck. "You're going down!" I grin.

** At Home **

Austin dropped me off at home just after midnight and when I walked through the front door, lights were on but the house was quiet. I walked down the hall to the family room where the tv was on. Mom and Lucy had passed out on the couch and dad had fallen asleep reading the newspaper. I took my hockey equipment down to the basement and hung my gear up to dry in our home gym room where we also happen to keep all of our hockey stuff.

When I had found my way back upstairs, I stopped at Jack's room and knocked on the door. "Come in." He says as I open the door. "Hey." I say leaning against the wall. "Hey, that was a long bite to eat. Where else did you go?" He asks. Jack and I have a strong brother, sister relationship so we're always very open to each other about pretty much everything for the most part. He may be my little brother but he looks out for me all the time just like I always do for him. "After we ate, he took me for a drive to a lake and we went for a skate." I reply leaving out the part about the kiss. "Everything went okay? He didn't try anything on you?" Jack asks. "Everything was fine Jack! Nothing was tried." I reply.

"Good, glad you had a good time." Jack says. "Thanks, Jackie!" I reply with a small smile. "You going to bed now?" He asks. "I'm gonna shower then go to bed yeah. Mom, dad and Luce are already asleep in the family room." I reply. "That's why it's hella quiet in the house. Luce hasn't come up to say goodnight yet!" Jack exclaims. "Goodnight Jackie! Love you little brooks!" I laugh. "Goodnight Als! Love ya, big sis!" He says before I turn and walk out into the hall, closing his bedroom door behind me.

When I get to my room, I grab a pair of pj bottoms and one of my old hockey tees from my dresser drawer before going into my bathroom and setting the clean set of clothes down on the counter. I shut the bathroom door and walk over to the shower to turn it on. I then unlock my phone and open the Spotify app before pressing play on my playlist.

After I've stripped down to nothing, I step into the shower under the steaming hot water and let it fall on me. I stand there silently with my eyes closed for a couple of minutes before I grab the shampoo. I gently massage the shampoo into my hair as one of my favourite songs comes on and I begin to quietly sing along. "I wonder what it's like to be loved by you." I sing as the song comes to an end and I turn the shower off.

Once I had finished my shower and got changed, I was now laying in bed watching tv as my phone buzzed on the night table, displaying a text notification from Austin. Goodnight :). It read. I unlock my phone and open our conversation to reply. Goodnight, thanks for coming out to my game and treating me to Mcdonald's. I had fun hanging out with you. I type before hitting send and going back to watch tv.