Skate Orr Die

Chapter 11

"You've been off this whole tournament." My dad says to me at breakfast.

"Yeah, I'm quite aware, thanks for pointing got out." I snap. I throw my fork down on my plate, no longer hungry anymore.

"We are just worried, it's not like you to be this distracted, Tessa." My mom reaches out and touches my arm. She was always the calmer voice of the two.

"Is it Patrice? I swear to god if he's being an asshole to you then I'll-"

"You'll what dad? You'll threaten him?" I cut him off.

"I don't know, but this boy has caused you more hurt over the past few months than his whole career in Boston. I don't like it." My dad says.

"Yeah well this time he's not the one being an asshole." I mumble as I push around my half eaten eggs.

"You guys talked?" My mom asks slowly.

"He cornered me at the opening ceremonies so I kind of had no choice." I shrug my shoulders.

"What did he say?" My moms grip on my arm gets tighter.

"He said he broke up with that dumb bitch for me and I just went off." I lean back in my chair and rub my face.

"What did you say?" My dads eyebrows are furrowed.

"I just told him that I wasn't mad that he had a girlfriend, I was mad at the fact that he got a girlfriend, stopped talking to me, and how she was such a bitch she made me go away for months just so I didn't have to deal with her. I tried to tell him she wasn't nice to me and he wouldn't listen and took her side. And I just told him I was done." I give them the quick recap.

"Did you tell him you love him?" My mom asks after a pause.

"What? No, I'm not in love with him." I get defensive.

"And that's what someone would say if they were denying that they love someone. Start listening to your heart Tessa, you'll be surprised at what it has to say." My mom stands up and places a kiss on the top of my head. "I don't want to add more on your mind right now since you have the gold medal game this afternoon, but just shut your brain off and listen to what your heart has to say."

I sit there staring at my plate l, feeling about twenty more pounds unload on my shoulders. I look over to my dad and see that he's already watching me.

"I knew form the first time we met him that I wasn't going to be able to keep you guys away from each other for long." My dad starts.

"Don't you get all lovey and sappy on me right now." I try to cut him off.

"I'm going to because I think you need a swift kick in the ass and a slap upside the head, but I don't think people would take too kindly to seeing me do that to my daughter so I want you to listen and listen well because I'm only saying this once." He waits to make sure I am actually listening before he moves on. "I knew you guys were not going to be able to stay away from each other. And I was right. That bond that you guys formed that night up in Montreal was something out of the books. I've never seen or experienced that in my life, not even with your mother. There is some invisible string that's attached to you both that just keeps pulling you two back together. Once you left, he was a walking shell of a man. I tried to make him do sprints after practice to try to wake him up, but he was just so uninterested in anything. As much as you say he took a piece of you, you took a piece of him. You know how much I hate hockey players and how they are all the same pugs that just want the money, sex, and alcohol. He is the only hockey player I'd ever let you be with. Patrice Bergeron is the only hockey player I will ever give my blessing to." With that my dad stands up from the table. "Just think about it Tessa."