Page 86 of Melt His Heart

“I might.” I tease.

He sits down in the seat next to me before pushing a fallen strand away from my face and tucking it behind my ear. The gesture so soft, my body can’t help but lean into his touch.

“Let’s eat, shall we?” He says.

“Thanks for making breakfast.” I smile.

“Of course, love.”

After we finish eating and cleaning the kitchen, we both shower again, and Carson gestures for me to sit down at his vanity. My lips part as he starts brushing my hair, “Your hair is so pretty.”

I’ve been a bit obsessed with caring for my hair since I was a teenager. I think it’s always been my favorite feature about myself. I’m sure it has something to do with my mom being a retired hairdresser. I would watch her in the salon all the time.

“Yours is way nicer,” I mumble.

“Nah, it’s just long. I might cut it, actually.”

“No!” I squeak, pulling my head away.

“Well, alright, I guess you fucking hate that idea.”

“I do. I love your hair the way it is.”

“Ok, I won’t cut it, promise.” He chuckles, kissing me on the cheek.

“Good.” I hum.

“For now.” He grins. “Carson, please…” I pout.

“Alright, alright, put your weapon away.” He laughs, “How are you feeling about skating again?”

I haven’t been able to do a real skate in a while, just light rounds here and there because of my wrist, which is healing great. Thank god. I can’t afford anything else going wrong this close to the competition.

“I’m ready. It’s driving me crazy to not be able to do any jumps.” I sigh.

“I understand, I get it, but just take your time, ok, love?”

I know he’s worried about me pushing myself a bit too far; he wasn’t the happiest to hear I was doing even light practices, but I can’t afford to fall behind on my training. I didn’t come here to not train well. But I understand why he’s worried. If anyone would know it would be him; hockey players pray every day they leave the ice unscathed.

“I am. I just really want to be as prepared as I can for the championships.”

“You will be. Don’t worry. Let your body heal properly so you can come back even stronger.” He says, gently tilting my chin back to kiss my forehead.

“Thanks, Carson.”

“You got this, baby. Now let’s get you to the rink before you combust.” He says, “No heavy training though, or I’ll chop off my hair. Bald!” He bellows, and I swat his hand away.

“You better not! I’m serious, Carson!” I scoff.

Chapter 28

Another week flies by. My wrist is nearly fully healed, so I was approved to hit the ice again. I was buzzing with nerves, but super excited to skate again, and it showed in my routine. Today, for the first time in a while, I aced both programs with no hiccups. I still need a bit more cleaning on some of the new choreography, but otherwise, me and Coach Peters were very satisfied with my performance.

Though something else had been a bit off, and I tried not to think about it when I was on the ice. Carson had asked me after the team’s practice if he could stop by my flat for a bit while I was training. He said he left something the other day. Only I don’t remember him leaving anything, but I gave him my keys anyway, so now I’m just waiting for him to come back and pick me up since we finished rather early today. Coach doesn’t want me to overdo it on my return.

Carson finally texts me that he’s outside, so I grab my bag and head to the parking lot where he’s waiting. When I get in the car, he kisses my cheek and buckles my seat belt for me. He does that sometimes, and at first I found it so ridiculous because obviously I can do it myself, but then I would miss it if he didn’t do it. I would miss the wave of warmth I didn’t even know I felt when he does things like this.

“Hey. So did you find it?” I ask.