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“I’d like that,” she answered.
And I considered it a vow.
* * *
Blake
He made love to me all through the night.
That’s what it was. There was no denying it. His body whispered it to me every time he thrust inside me.
We were both insatiable, unable to stop for hours. I was addicted to him.
The soft, warm rays of the morning sun bathed us as we laid intertwined on the lounger on Ari's back patio much, much later on, watching the sky gradually lighten with the approaching sunrise. I was sore…everywhere. The morning sun was a gentle kiss on our skin, and I’d never felt more…at peace.
“So, how’d you get into hockey anyway?” I murmured, tracing the outline of the birdcage tattoo on his chest. I wanted to know everything about him.
I just didn’t want him to know everything about me.
His heartbeat was a comforting, steady rhythm beneath my head.
“Mmmh, I sort of stumbled into it, really late actually."
I shifted slightly, surprised. "Really? I’d pictured you skating in diapers."
Ari chuckled softly, his fingers tracing idle patterns on my skin. "Not quite. I didn’t get into it until right before my 13th birthday. I was kind of an angry kid, and I’d skip school to hang out at the mall. There was an ice skating rink inside, and I stole a pair of skates and would sneak in every day, and just skate…for hours.”
His fingers traced below the blanket wrapped around me, slipping to circle my nipple. I shifted against his chest. I was achy, but I’d give him anything he wanted if he asked.
"There was this free skate event hosted by a local Catholic parish," he continued, his voice taking on a wistful tone. "They'd set up a makeshift rink in their parking lot during the winter months. It was open to anyone, no matter their skill level."
I stared up at him, his beauty overwhelming for the millionth time.
"One of the priests," he continued, "Father Donaldson, started to recognize me. There was a hockey net set up during the free skate, along with some old equipment. I’d be out there from beginning to end, smashing pucks into the net, playing with anyone I could get. Father Donaldson must have seen something in me. Because one day he asked if I'd ever played before."
"What did you tell him?" I asked, grinning at the mischievous glint in his eyes.
Ari smirked, watching me, pressing a soft kiss on my lips that had my heart absolutely singing, "I may have told a little white lie and said I was basically a pro."
I giggled and his smirk widened. "He signed me up for a local league. And fuck. He changed my life, Blake. I put everything into the game. Everything." He trailed off, his eyes unseeing as he spent a moment in the past. “A coach from Dalton Prep scouted me during one of my games. He gave me a scholarship to attend school there. I met Lincoln and…the rest is history.”
“Your parents must have been so proud,” I murmured, trying to imagine myself good at anything. What my parents would have thought.
I realized suddenly that Ari hadn’t said anything. I looked up at him and he was staring at the sunrise, his brow furrowed, the usual twinkle in his eyes dulled and…stressed. His grip on my hip held a touch of desperation.
“I didn’t have parents, sunshine,” he finally murmured, turning to watch me with his verdant green gaze. “I was dropped off at a group home when I was a toddler.”
I gaped at him, mind racing but…no. Things like that didn’t happen. Not in real life.
“A group home?” I whispered.
“Yes,” he said gently, his eyes urging me on…
The night had stretched its inky canvas above, adorned with twinkling stars, and I was in the backyard of the group home again, tears tracing an endless path down my cheeks. I was convinced I was never going to be happy again. I missed them, my parents. So much. Everyday it was there, and it didn’t feel like I was ever going to be okay.
I lay there, staring up at those distant stars, as if they held the answers to questions I didn’t know how to ask. The world felt too big. Everything inside me was lonely. It was never ending.
And then, like a gentle whisper in the night, Ari was there, just like he’d been every day since I’d gotten here. His hand found mine, fingers entwining, and we lay there together beneath the canopy of stars.
