Page 44 of Ice Bet

“Of my business. I know. But I’m still asking.” His voice was softer than before. A shaky breath left me, and when I felt his touch on the side of my face, I nearly cracked.

I preferred his crass attitude toward me over this.

He pushed my hair behind my ear, and I hated how comforting the action was. Aasher was the last person I’d ever expect to make me feel comforted. Aasher Matthews was strength wrapped in a hockey jersey, and I was supposed to be repulsed by him and his annoying need to watch my every move. I was supposed to be repulsed by all hockey players, especially after knowing what they truly thought of me.

“It’s only fair I know,” he pressed.

I opened my eyes and was ready to argue, but his intense stare threw me off as he rattled off more questions.

“Why did you fall? Were you sick?”

It was in our human nature to assume things. To judge. And although Aasher was warm in all the right places, one wrong assumption and I’d freeze him out, and then we’d be right back to our exhausting sparring in the fickle war we kept clashing in.

“Were you hungover? That would explain why your dad told me to look out for you at parties. Were you a party girl?”

Anger skimmed the surface, and I wanted him to stop assuming things.

“Why do you care?” I asked, trying to get around him to leave his room.

He grabbed my hand as I tried to leave. “Who said I do?”

“Let me go.”My voice quivered, and I wanted to rip my hair out.

Aasher’s hand disappeared, and he took half a step back. I should have bolted for the door, but something stopped me. It wasn’t that I wanted to tell him, but I wanted the assumptions to stop. I wanted everyone to stop asking me when I was getting back on the ice and what led to the potentialend of my career before it even started.

“I can easily figure it out, Duster. But I’m asking you.”

I snapped. Something hot bubbled in my chest, and my mouth was moving before I could stop it. “You know what, if everyone would just back the fuck off, maybe I wouldn’t be so concerned about being a perfectionist and just get back on the ice!”

Aasher’s eyes widened, but he recovered quickly, smoothing out his features and staying ramrod still against the door, blocking my escape.

“So, you’re a perfectionist,” he repeated, shrugging. “Me too.”

I rolled my eyes. It went so much further than just being a perfectionist.

Aasher bit his lip as he studied me. When it popped out from being trapped beneath his teeth, he crossed his arms and poked me some more. “So you fell because you were a perfectionist? That doesn’t make sense.” He crept closer, but I didn’t move. I wouldn’t let him intimidate me into telling him all my secrets. “Did something happen to you? That made you fall? Was it your ex?”

Stop.

“Did something happen at a party? Sully obviously wanted you drunk, and I can only assume he had a reason. He’s trying to win that bet after all.”

My limbs shook.Why does he keep pushing?

Aasher pushed off the door and walked over to his dresser. “Did you and your boyfriend have a bad fight that day?” I refused to look him in the eye. Instead, I stared at the shirt in his hand and decided it was about to become a noose if he didn’t stop assuming things that were outlandish.

I attempted to shift the conversation elsewhere because the more he poked, the tighter my chest became. “How do you know about my fall?”

“Did someone do something to you?”

“Stop it,” I barked, stomping my foot. “Why do you even care?”

I wanted to leave his room, yet my feet remained unmoving.

Aasher rolled his eyes before pulling his shirt on.Thank you.I was getting pretty sick of his stupid abs moving right along with his annoying accusations.

“I don’t care, but you were the one who was crying in my bathroom last night. You said you weren’t okay, and I’m just trying to help.”

“Or you’re trying to weasel yourself into my pants by getting me to trust you,” I mumbled, crossing my arms.

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