Page 25 of Ice Me Out
I nod. The lightness of a few moments ago, now totally gone. “Yeah. The only other person I had stayed in touch with until Dad made me cut out everyone was Matthew, my old high school boyfriend. But he’s at Princeton and I looked him up yesterday. He’s just gotten engaged. I doubt his fiancée would be thrilled to have an old girlfriend show up.”
Luke sighs. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ve always liked Matthew. He treated you nicely. I obviously can’t say the same about Priestly.” His gaze hardens when it descends to the bruises on my neck. “I’m sorry, Bex. I know it’s none of my fucking business, but… what the fuck happened? Not that anyone would ever be justified hitting a woman, but I need to know. Tell me why I shouldn’t drive the three hours to Bridgeport and beat the crap out of your ex-fiancé.”
Just the idea of Luke confronting Kurt is terrifying. “Luke, please don’t. I—you have to promise me you won’t go there. Dad doesn’t know I’m here. Maybe he suspects it, but I don’t want him or Kurt to try to force me back into the house and under Dad’s control. Please, promise me you’ll stay away from them.”
It’s impossible to miss the hesitation in his eyes, but in the end he relents. “Fine, I won’t. There’s a small chance he’ll think you wouldn’t come here, or I wouldn’t want to talk to you thanks to his involvement in our relationship. But eventually we’ll have to play Bridgeport both at home and on their own turf. We’re in the same conference.”
I know that. “Yes, but…”
Luke rolls his eyes. “I said I promise. You know I’m a man of my word. If I ever beat the crap out of Priestly, it’ll be hockey related. That’s the best I can do. But I need to know what happened between you. Obviously, those bruises are the reason why you decided enough was enough after four years under Dad’s rules.”
He’s right.
I had been unhappy for a long time. I actually doubt I had ever been happy since Luke left. “I went along with Dad’s decision that Kurt and I were a perfect match for the same reason why I accepted all of his decisions in the past couple of years. Because I had no other choice. I wasn’t in love with Kurt, and I don’t think he was in love with me either. He was always polite whenever we were required to attend an event together, but between our busy schedules and the no touch rule in the house, our relationship was just a front. We hadn’t even kissed until two nights ago.”
Luke looks concerned, but he doesn’t interrupt me, waiting for the rest of my story.
“Two nights ago, the hockey team threw him a bachelor party. And Kurt came to see me when he got back.”
My brother looks perplexed. “I’m surprised Dad allowed that. Or does the entire Bridgeport hockey team live in the elite house?”
“They don’t,” I sigh. “Dad might be strict, but he isn’t a complete idiot. Like he allowed us to touch if a performance required it, he understood that Kurt and the other athletes involved in team sports needed to spend time fraternizing with their teammates.”
Luke agrees. “Yeah, cohesion with your team makes the difference. The Cove Knights are a family, and I would trust most of my teammates with my life. I hope things don’t change next year in New York, but I’m hopeful. My future team is known for being a close-knit unit, mostly thanks to their coach and their team captain. But enough about me. Your ex came to see you when he got back from his bachelor party. Was he drunk?”
I consider his question. “I don’t think so. I mean, he didn’t smell of booze, or anything. Anyway, I was surprised to see him standing outside my door. We had been in this arranged relationship for over a year, and I don’t recall him ever coming to my room.”
“What did he want?” Luke asks.
“He wanted to talk. He said that we were going to promise to spend our lives together in less than twenty-four hours and we were pretty much strangers. I invited him to come in. I was actually relieved that he felt the need to talk. It’s not like one conversation could change our stranger status, but it was important to start getting to know each other. And I was glad he took the first step.”
There’s a beat of silence. “So what happened?” Luke asks when I don’t continue. “Did he hit you the second he was alone with you?”
Recalling what happened is harder than I thought it would be. “No. He actually was nice. We sat down on my bed and he asked me about my childhood and told me about his. We have in common that we lost one parent to an illness relatively young. He lost his father and grew up with just his mom and younger brother. I thought things were going well. I liked that he was trying to connect with me. And when he took my hand in his, it felt…nice.”
I close my eyes, ashamed that I was so gullible. That I was so starved for human contact that I let Kurt get closer than I should have. But maybe that was a saving grace. Because if things had gone differently two nights ago, I would have married that monster.
“Bex, did he rape you? Please, for the love of God, tell me he didn’t.”
I exhale a shuddering breath. “No, he didn’t.”
Chapter7
The Six Six Six Rule
Bex
Bridgeport, two nights ago
My hand looks tiny, encased in Kurt’s much larger one.
His brown eyes bore into mine, dark and intense. “I wasn’t sure when Byron said we were a good match, Rebecca. But do you know why I agreed to this relationship and to get engaged with you?”
I shake my head. “Why?”
“Because you’re beautiful. I’ve always thought you were, since the first time I saw you.”
Warmth floods me at his words, and heat rises to my face. “You aren’t too bad looking yourself, Kurt.”
