Page 128 of Born of Ice

Fine, you always take away all the fun from me.

Poor baby, I’ll make it up to you.

We are so lost in talking to each other through our eyes, I don’t even realize Erik was talking.

“So I was thinking, we leave now to pack our bags before we leave for Colo—” I raise my hand, halting him mid word.

“Please stop.”

“Stop what? Talking?”

“No, thinking. But come to think of it, you can stop talking too. It will be good for environment.” Erik looks so confused by my attitude, it’s almost comical. I was never like this toward him before.

“I’m not leaving anywhere. Not with you, at least. I belong here, on this ice, and with this man. So, safe travels.”

I tug on Exton’s arm as I start to skate away without looking back I can feel his jaw hitting the floor.

“Elle!”

“It’s Electra, Erik. Electra,” I shout.

After that I tune him out, enjoying my time on ice as Exton leads me through warmups. Erik must leave at some point because by the time Stella shows up, he’s no longer here.

Sure, winning that gold with him was once my goal, my dream, and path. But that life is no longer mine. I’ve got a whole other one planned out. And I’ll live it with the man by my side.

35

Choice

Exton

I still don’t understandhow she talked me into this. But she’s definitely the reason I am now walking through the halls of my old training facility.

And fuck, it feels good. It feels right to be back. It feels old and familiar but also so much better than before because now I’m walking in here with freedom in my chest. I’m walking in with the knowledge that there is at least one person out there who will be genuinely happy to see me on that ice.

It feels good to finally be rid of all the anger, grief, and confusion. It feels good to know that my father tried to change. That he wanted to be a part of my life. Sure, what’s done is done, but in a strange way where I got the closure I needed.

A second later, I step into the rowdy locker room that quiets down with a speed of a flying puck as my frame shows.

“Dude, is it just me or is there an Exton Quinn size hallucination at the door,” one of our youngest guys, Abel Zlatan murmurs, elbowing Fooley in the side as he winces but doesn’t hit back.

I roll my eyes.

“I see him too. What did you eat this morning? We must’ve been poisoned,” Fooley says back because those two have always been the clowns of the team.

“You two done yet?”

“Agh,” Abel shrieks, grabbing his friend’s arm. “The hallucination talks!”

“Idiots.” Sava steps behind them, slapping them both up their idiot heads and pushes through toward me with a beaming smile.

“Axe.” He throws his arms around me in a genuine hug, and I slap his back in return. “You’re back?” he asks, sounding hopeful, and I nod.

“Thank God! I was going to come over last night and drag you here if I had to but…something came up,” he says cryptically, and I don’t miss the sudden nervousness in his body language.

Interesting…I’ll dig into this later but for now I embrace his welcome.

I knew my friend would welcome me back even if I was a serial killer, that’s just the guy he is, but it’s the rest of my teammates I’m eyeing.

---