by Ali Parker
"Hi Mrs. White." Jayce moved up and gave my mom a quick hug before stealing a piece of cheese.
"Mom, you remember Jacob Wright? He's the-"
"Captain of the soccer team and a gold medalist for the Olympics. Wow." My dad rounded the corner and stuck his hand out toward Jacob. "What an honor to meet such a great athlete."
"Thanks, Sir." Jacob shook his hand and gave us a side glare as a chuckle lodged in my throat. He was going to get me back good, but it was worth it.
"Come in here and let me show you all my trophies. Let's see if you have Lucas' old man beat on accomplishments on the field." He put an arm around Jacob and walked with him back into the hall.
"Well, that worked." Jayce smiled as my mom shook her head.
"Is that poor boy supposed to be cannon fodder?" She pointed to the plate. "Grab one and make you a sandwich. I have all of your favorites and some extra stuff just in case."
I picked up a thinly sliced strip of cucumber and flapped it around. "Mom. Who eats cucumber on their sandwich?"
She glanced back from the open fridge and smiled. "The English do. I wasn't sure who you were bringing."
I laughed and made a large sandwich before walking to the table and sitting down. Jayce took the seat on my right, and my mother set two sodas in front of us and took the seat to my left.
"How are you?" She smiled and reached out, brushing her fingers over my forearm. The look in her face told me that she'd come a long way in her healing process. Where I knew our time together a week or so back at Bret's grave did us both good, I was still scared as hell that it wouldn't stick. That we would both crawl back in our shells and life would go on as it had for as long as I could remember.
Looks like I was wrong.
"I'm good. We're leaving on Thursday for the Frozen Four." I turned as my dad walked back in and gripped the back of Jayce's chair.
"The Frozen Four. Man, those were good times." He walked into the kitchen where Jacob was already working on a sandwich. "Have you been in the gym this week? On the track? You know Coach Billows is going to ride your ass if you don't get to it."
I would usually have responded with a snarky comment, but the need to do so wasn't there. I felt... calm. Peaceful for the first time in nine years.
"Yeah, I got in there this week. It was good." I licked at my fingers as Jayce nudged me in the side.
"Tell them your good news." He nodded toward my mom.
Jacob sat down across from us and laughed. "Yeah. Wait though. I wanna see your dad's face."
"What good news?" My mom dropped her hands in her lap as her eyes widened a little. "Carl, get in here. Lucas has news."
"Yeah, yeah." My dad walked in and took the seat across from me. He picked up his sandwich and lifted an eyebrow at me. "Spill, kid."
"It's not set in stone just yet, but Coach said that Washington has me as their top pick for the draft." I glanced over at my mom as she let out a holler and started to bounce in her seat.
"Wow. That's a big deal, Lucas." She reached over and pulled me into an awkward hug.
I chuckled and moved back to my seat to see my dad sitting in stunned silence.
"Um, Dad? Did you hear me?" Of all things I knew my dad wanted in his lifetime, this was one of them. For one of us to go pro.
His lip lifted in a sad smile as he nodded. "Yeah. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." I stood up as my stomach twisted into knots. I avoided my friends’ worried stares and grabbed the other half of my sandwich as I followed him into the den. I licked at my fingers after taking the thing out in three bites. I needed the moment to be casual between us. I wasn't ready for the pressure he was going to apply, or the ass chewing I might possibly receive for not calling him with the news sooner.
He turned and sat on the edge of his large cherry-wood desk. "Take a seat, Lucas."
"Yes, Sir." I sat down and tried to relax, but no position felt comfortable.
"Your mom and I talked a lot this last week about everything." He glanced down at his shoes and let out a tight huff. "About Bret and you too."
"All right." I crossed my arms over my chest, not knowing what the fuck to expect from the man in front of me. He'd been my hero up until Bret's death, but when my brother died, everything changed. He was harder on me than anyone else, mean, condescending and controlling.
He glanced up and smiled. "I'm really proud of you. Let me get that out first."
"Awesome. I was hoping you would be." I shrugged as if it didn't mean much to me.
"I am. I wanted to play for the Caps so fucking bad when I was your age." He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I just wasn't good enough. I couldn't skate as fast as you, or hit as hard as you can. I wasn't the captain either. My focus was more on girls and half-assing my time on the ice."
"Really?" I sat up and moved to the edge of my seat. I was shocked by my dad's confession. I didn't know much about his time on the ice. My brother did, but I was kept in the dark about everything.
"Yeah." He smirked. "Your mom saved me from myself. She always has."
"She's a good woman."
"The best." He turned his attention back to me. "I need you to know that if you decide that you don't want this opportunity... I'm good with it. This is your life. Your one life, Lucas. Live it how you feel will bring you the most pleasure and fulfillment. I have. Your mom is working on it. Your brother didn't get that, but you do. Don't live for us anymore, all right, son?"
It was my turn to sit in stunned silence.
Chapter 30
Aubrey
"I don't understand why you have to go up to the studio today." Layla gave me an exasperated look as we all worked to get our luggage into her truck outside the airport.
"Because the try-outs for the spring production are coming up." I shrugged, not too concerned with having to spend a little bit of the day dancing. I hadn't done much of anything all week at the beach. It would feel good to get moving again.
"Why so damn late? It's mid-March. When is the event?" Teri tossed her bag on top of mine and pulled at her long blond hair.
My heart broke every time I looked at her, but I hid it as best I could. Being pregnant and knowing who the father was as a junior in college was hard enough, but she'd slept with just about everyone on the team. Well, hopefully not everyone.
I was going to have to pull my brother and Lucas aside to see if they'd been with her. Nausea rolled through my stomach at the thought of it being either of them. It would change all of our lives. Sadly enough, someone's life was about to change for sure.
"It's May twenty-fifth. They never give us much time for this one, and from what I understand, it's on purpose. It's one of those events where you either have your shit together because you've busted your ass over the six weeks you have to pull the production together, or you're out next year. It's our final exam." I closed the trunk and walked to the passenger's side of the car. "I'm used to it at this point."
"Are you dancing the lead part?" Layla asked before getting in the car and buckling up. "Or do you know that yet?"
"I haven't tried out yet. That's what's coming up." I popped her in the arm softly. "Stay with me here."
"Yeah, sorry. I slept like shit last night." She shrugged and pulled out into traffic. "I'm worried about Teri and the guys."
"Teri is worried about Teri." Teri stuck her head in the front seat and gave us a weary smile.
"We'll figure it out together." I turned and ran my hand over her forearm. "Any idea whose it might be? Who have you slept with in the last month?"
"Who hasn't she slept with?" Lizzy laughed, but the sound fell flat. "Yeah, sorry. Too soon?"
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention on Teri. She was pretty enough to be a model, and where Lizzy was ditsy, Teri was just slutty.
"Jessie and Parks mostly. I was with William twice." She pressed her hands to her face. "Maybe I should just get rid of it."
"I think before you make any decisions at al
l, you need to have the guys take a paternity test." I squeezed her arm. "Lean back and rest. We'll work through it."
"Okay. You're right. No sudden moves." She laid back and Lizzy wrapped her in a hug.
Dana, the fifth Ice Queen on our trip, kept her eyes on the window beside her. She was the only one of the bunch that didn't look like she belonged in the group. She slept around just like the rest of them in the backseat and back at home, but she had a short bob-cut and glasses. She looked like a teacher's pet might.
"Dana, you okay?" I reached back and patted her leg.
"Hm? Yeah. I mean, no, I'm not okay." She shrugged and brushed her hair from her face. "I'm not going to keep sleeping around with the guys. I'm out. I'll tell everyone when I get home. I can't end up pregnant. My dad would kill me, and he's all I have. It's not happening."
"You don't know-" Lizzy started, but I turned and cut her off.
"I think that's a great idea. The guys need to start looking for girlfriends and stop relying on you guys." I turned and pinned Lizzy with a hard stare. "Besides, you deserve boyfriends that take care of you in more than just physical ways."
"She's right. You're all great girls. There are loads of great guys that want relationships." Layla readjusted the rearview mirror to see them better. "And sex when love’s involved is so much better."
"Word." I glanced back and lifted my eyebrow. "Just something to think about."
I couldn't help but think Layla and I either offended everyone in the car, or gave them some valuable advice to chew on, because they didn't utter another word all the way back to campus.
*
"Is there a reason why you didn't haunt this dance studio once this week?" McCraven turned from the ballet bar and pinned me with a hard stare.
"I was in Florida, which I know I told you about. I e-mailed you, wrote a note on your board and texted the information." I dropped my bag beside the door and lifted to my toes to move across the floor toward her. We weren't allowed to walk in the studio. Nazi orders.
"Dare I ask if you did anything at all over the week?" She lifted to her toes and stretched her arms in the air, resembling the perfect rendition of what everyone thought a ballerina looked like.
"No. Don't ask. Please." I moved up to the bar and began my stretches. "I'm going to work extra hard this week, but I won't be here starting on Thursday again."
"Thursday? Did I approve you going out of town again?" Her voice hardened.
"Yes. At the beginning of the semester, I told you that the Frozen Four tournament would be Thursday through Saturday of this coming week."
"Well, I rescind. The try-outs are Saturday afternoon, and you have too much work to do in order to be ready. I'm willing to spend Wednesday working with you on your try-out piece, as I know I've made myself clear that I want you to take the lead on this production. Everyone who's anyone will be there." She shrugged and lifted her leg high in the air before bending backward and sweeping the ground.
Beautiful. I hated her most days of the week, but I wanted her talent more than anything. How someone so beautiful could be so damn ugly all the time was beyond me.
"I'm leaving on Thursday. I'm the head of the Ice-"
"No. You're not, and that's final." She turned her light blue eyes toward me as her lips drew into a tight line.
"Yes, I am. I don't want to disrespect you or this program, but I'm not stepping down at the last minute on a major commitment I have to the hockey team. It's not happening."
"And you would give up your spot and your solo at the front of the spring production for these Neanderthals?"
"No. I'm not doing this for them. I'm doing it to fulfill a commitment. That means something to me." I wasn't sure where my swell of confidence had come from in front of her, but I was sure to have my ass handed to me any minute.
"And you're not going to change your mind?"
I moved to the far end of the room and kept my calm as best as I could. Lifting my arms, I started to spin across the room in a perfect line, stopping at the end to hop in the air and then dip down to sweep the floor, combining modern dance and ballet.
"No. I want this part, but I'm more than a dancer." I moved back across the room, performing my pirouette piquée flawlessly.
"How are your feet?" She glanced down at my pointe shoes and back up toward my face as her expression softened.
"Good. The captain of the hockey team taught me a few tricks that I wish I would have known when I first started dancing. They've almost healed up completely." I lifted to my toes again.
"Interesting. I'd say that means you aren't working hard enough, but you know that." She turned to the mirror and studied herself as she lifted her leg high into the air again and leaned forward.
"Is anyone else joining us?" I moved down to begin squatting positions.
"No. This is a private session for you." She lifted an arm in the air. "Your mother called a week or so ago. Did you know that?"
"She told me. She's rather disappointed in me in more ways than one." I lowered my eyes, not wanting to see the approval that my staunch ballet instructor had for my mother pushing me in whatever manner necessary.
"She's trying to live her dreams through you." McCraven's voice was far too caring for my liking. "We both are."
"What?" I glanced up and walked toward the bar to stand beside her. "This isn't your dream?"
"Heavens no." She dropped down to stand flat-footed beside me. "I was supposed to be a world famous ballerina."
"And why aren't you? You're the most talented dancer I've ever seen." Something inside of me started to melt. Was I really standing here with the wicked witch of the west while she turned into the good witch?
"I was dating a basketball player at the time, and he told me that he loved me." She shrugged and turned back toward the mirror. "My daughter was the result of the union between us. Come to find out, he loved a lot of ballerinas."
Her laugh was bitter, and I couldn't help but reach out and touch her shoulder.
"I'm sorry."
"It's all part of the past now, but don't make the same mistakes I did." She turned to me and smiled sadly. "If you want to run to the top, then don't let anything hold you back, Aubrey. Not a man or his wild ways or an education that will land you a job you never wanted. This is your time to do what fuels your passion. You just need to figure out what that is."
I nodded and turned to face the bars. "You're right. I do need to figure it out."
"Well, for now... let's break your feet in again. Shall we?" She smiled and I chuckled.
"Sure, why not."
Chapter 31
Lucas
I sat outside the dance studio on campus after leaving my parents and grabbing my bike. The conversation with my dad was something I was going to have to take time to process. Just because he'd given me a little bit of wiggle room didn't really mean anything had changed. He was likely to go back to being the overbearing asshole that made me feel two feet tall any minute, but I'd take a break in the tension anytime I could get it.
Aubrey spun around the floor as I watched her through the glass from the parking lot. Breathtaking wouldn’t begin to describe her.
The light pink unitard she wore clung to her, but for the first time since meeting her, I didn't find myself staring at her ass, or thinking about her tits. She looked innocent, beautiful, precious. Her dark hair lifted into the air as she leaned over and pulled her arm through a large circular motion before bending backward and rolling up.
My heart was racing in my chest as I watched her lose herself in the moment.
How the fuck was I going to leave in three months for the pros and leave her here? To ask her to come with me would mean asking her to transfer schools and leaving all her friends and her family. Jayce would kill me if Layla didn't get to me first.
"Some people call this stalking, you know?" Will walked up beside me and crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean, I can see why you do it, but I'd be careful if I were you."
"It's better." He glanced down at me. "A lot better."
"Good. You been staying clean?" I glanced back over to Aubrey and let her steal my heart all over again. I wouldn't ask her to leave with me. I'd stay with her, or see if she wanted to give a long-distance relationship a go. We'd figure it out, or become best friends until one of us couldn't take another night without the other. I felt like I might be the first to crack.
"That I am. I need to find another focus for a while, but I think I'll be all right. My dad's just as big a hockey fan, and between him and my over-the-top mother, I just felt like if I didn't race to the top as fast as I could that they would disown me."
"I doubt that. Parents are stupid sometimes though they mean well." I turned to face him and got off my bike.
"No, they did disown me, but it feels good. I have scholarship money in academics. I'll focus there until I figure out which sport I love most. Then, I'll beg my way back into the good graces of someone." He shrugged, looking more free than I could remember seeing him before.
"Wow. You know I have an apartment if you need a place to stay, right?" I slipped my hands in my pockets and glanced back to see Aubrey walking out of the building. "Aubrey. Over here!"
"I appreciate that. I'm in the dorm for now, so I'm good. I'll touch base with you after the tournament." He patted my arm. "See you around, Lucas. Thanks for everything, man."
I turned and put my attention back on him. "You bet. I'll always be here for you." He was a good kid, just needed to find his way. Hell, we all did.
"Was that Will?" Aubrey stopped beside me and turned toward Will as her hair blew in the wind.
"Get over here." I reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to me and sliding my hands into her hair before leaning down and pressing my lips tightly to hers.
She opened up and I took full advantage to slide my tongue past hers, groaning at the delicious flavor of her as it raced across my taste buds.