Page 49 of Born of Ice

Aurora nods and without further words she runs away.

“My, my,” Stella croons. “I did not think you had it in you, Exton Quinn.”

I send her a glare, but she just smirks and walks away to the bar, leaving me with my fallen star.

To be honest, I didn’t think I had it in me either. I’ve never cared for anyone’s sob story before, but now it seems I’m involved in one too many and I’m way too eager to dive into the deep end of Electra’s.

Electra

The car ride home is stiflingly silent and not because I don’t want to talk to him, as is the case usually, but because I don’t know what to say to him.

Today has been…a day. And my frozen insides have gotten more cracks in the ice coating them, than I wanted.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve felt such a range of emotions, if ever. From stabbing pain which I’m very much used to, to a sense of freedom I’ve never felt and then an unhealthy doze of jealousy that had absolutely no business being there. And confusion, anger, longing, and a whole bunch of other things, mixed in between.

But for someone who was determined to never show her face to the outside world again, I surprisingly had an amazingevening. And despite the pain of being at Blade’s, or Stacy Daniels’ not-so-subtle jabs, it’s also what I needed, to see mom’s hard work not being wasted. To see it thriving with her memory in every corner.

I can still feel Exton brimming with questions, but none he will get answered. Because the ice that started cracking around my heart might shatter with one more hit and that I can’t have.

I need it.

I need to protect what’s left of the blood-pumping muscle.

15

Hurt with me

Exton

“I’m off to bed,”Electra says as soon as we come inside the house and before I can say good night, she shuts the door and I slump to the couch with a tired sigh slipping from my lips.

She was mute the whole way back home, and to be honest, I wasn’t much better. I needed to be quiet on the outside because on the inside my thoughts were too loud, too confusing, too…everything.

Where did I take the wrong turn here? When did it go from doing the bare minimum to get back on the ice to needing to know every little detail about her.

It’s almost manic, as if I will die if I don’t crawl into every crevice of her life. I don’t fucking understand it, don’t have a single clue how she managed to crawl under my skin in such a short time and make herself a nice home in there, invading my every thought. Becoming a permanent fixture in my days, and, based on the dreams I had last night, nights as well.

I need to know what hides behind those icy eyes. What caused her to end up in this prison of hers, and I’m not talking about the wheelchair. At least, not the physical version of it. I need toknow why she snuffs out the flicker of light that lights up in her eyes from time to time. I catch it, I do, but before I can bathe in its light, it’s out.

Why?

Who did that to you, Electra?

That partner of yours?

Your family?

What happened?

The questions roaming my head are endless and before I can think some more about it, I power on my laptop and open the search window when the news page pops up with Outlaws on the very front and center of it, boasting about their recent win and how they are ready to flip the page and move onto the new, great things for the team.

My already conflicting mood sours like a rotten apple. So I was the problem. I was holding them back.

They don’t need you, Exton. No one needs you.

Ever since I came here, I haven’t watched a single game. Not theirs or anyone else’s. I didn’t check the stats and the only time I saw anything was the other night when it popped up on the TV.

I didn’t want to know how they were doing. Didn’t want confirmation that I was holding them back this whole season. That those weremyissues that cost us goals. I was playing the ignorance game, pretending I didn’t already know it.

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