Page 160 of Tangled up in You

“After everything happened and I had surgery, we left. Mom and dad moved us to Colorado, where dad’s business is based out of, and mom continued to be a housewife. I never got a chance to say goodbye or at least tell them the extent of my injury. Plus, she said rolling her eyes, “my parents told them never to talk to me again. I’m sure of it”

“That would suck,” Wyatt said with a grimace. “Your parents couldn’t have held them responsible. They care about you way too much.”

“Just the reason they’d need to justify not wanted me to be in contact with them.” She gave a weak lift of her shoulder. “They might have blamed the guys for Trent’s actions. Thinking they were all the same, especially with all the names I’d been called over the years.”

“That’s messed up,” Wyatt murmured.

“Such is life,” Sasha whispered, closing her eyes. “Okay, subject change. I feel like we’re on an episode of Total Drama Island.”

“Tell me about it.” He scooted a little closer to put his arm around her shoulders, while she waited out her churning stomach.

“I know the obvious answer is yes, but Julian, Wyatt?” She cut her gaze in his direction while waiting to be sure she wouldn’t get sick again. “He’s so...”

“Wretched?” He chuckled softly. The self-deprecating sound hurt her heart. “In a different lifetime, Julian wasn’t always such a bitch.”

“Say no more,” Sasha said waving him off.

“It’s okay,” he replied. “I should tell you because we’re going to be stuck here all weekend with them. You also opened up to me, so it’s only fair. At least you’ve never fucked Trent.”

“Ew,” she whined. “That’s gross.”

“Yeah... Got myself with that one,” Wyatt said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “I can’t believe of all the rooms in this hotel, ours is where those two assholes are assigned.

She heard. The hotel and the resort were shut down because of the inclement weather. Would have to happen the weekend of the last competition before the US Team picked the ice-skating pairs going to Italy. Her stomach gave a heavy turn, and she readied herself to scurry back to the toilet.

“I knew him from the junior circuit. We hung out from time to time and one day, I guess we’d been fourteen... Maybe fifteen, Julian made a move.” He shrugged. “I could chalk it up to being a horny teen, who was getting to suck dick for the first time, but that makes me sound sloppy.”

“Well...” she teased, trying to clear the depressing thoughts from her mind. More importantly erasing Trent’s face.

“Eugh,” Wyatt playfully shoved her, “bitch.” Some of the sick feeling abated. “Anyway, I gave him head. He told me it was disgusting, and he wouldn’t reciprocate, but he gave me a hand job.”

“Oh, Wyatt...”

“No pitying me. I told you; I have shit luck with people. You’re the only person who’s stuck with me. Crazy, right?”

“No, you deserved better,” she argued. “So, what happened after that?”

“We fucked,” Wyatt shrugged. “Every time we went out of town for competitions, we ended up together. Until I found him with a different male skater.”

Sasha sighed. “That’s messed up. I knew about the hook-up culture with competitors, but that... He should have broken up with you.”

“I think he did it on purpose because he knew I was having issues with my partner at the time. Anything to fuck with my head, you know? Wyatt glanced at his hands. “That year I didn’t even get close to medaling. I dropped Madalyn on the ice during a lift and the rest was... Tragic.”

“We’re more alike than different,” she said. “Both fucked over by people in our lives we should have been able to trust.”

Wyatt exhaled. “Yeah. So, what do you want to do? You know, about this? Outside?”

“Well,” she said, slowly standing with Wyatt’s help. “I guess sex is off the table for now.”

“And here I thought we could make all of them miserable by fucking loudly.” He eased her into his arms.

“They’re not all dicks,” she said, sadness swamping her. “Us not being friends anymore was more on me than them. Thinking back on it, I should have tried to talk to them again. Said I didn’t blame them or something. Told them goodbye.”

“I know.” He tucked her into his side as a knock came at the room door. “I bet it’s your protectors.”

“I don’t know if I can face them yet.” The raw ache in her chest throbbed with fresh pain, as if ten years hadn’t passed in a blink of an eye.

“How about you get cleaned up and put some comfortable clothes on, and I’ll go out and entertain the guys for a bit?” He gave her a hopeful look.

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