11. Leo
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Standing on the ice, I stare across the rink at Aria as she stands and talks to one of the coaches. Irritation pricks my skin while I continue to watch her for a moment. I'm the last one to get here, which isn't usual for me, and it wouldn’t have happened if I would have remembered to set my alarm last night. When I fell asleep, Aria was still in my bed, although the two of us were fairly exhausted from going three different rounds throughout the night. I practically passed out and completely forgot to make sure my alarm was set for six o’clock. We were expected to be at the rink by seven thirty and it’s currently seven forty-five.
This isn’t a good look for me.
I don’t pride myself on being late. If anything, I’m usually one of the first to arrive.
I don’t know what time Aria left. All I know is she wasn’t in my bed when she woke up and the side she fell asleep on was cold. She made sure not to disturb me or wake me up when she snuck out. I wasn’t pissed that she left. We agreed it was a necessary evil last night, even if it was pretty fucking spectacular. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t fuck her again. Although, I’d only do it if she knew nothing more would ever come of it. I also don’t want to mess up this business relationship we now have. When partners start seeing each other and their relationships go to shit, it usually affects their working relationships too.
At this point in my career, that's something I cannot afford and neither can Aria.
"You're late," Luca says as he skates up behind me. As I turn around to face him, he smiles and doesn't look annoyed like I expected him to be. "I think everyone's having a little bit of trouble adjusting to the time difference."
"We both know that's no excuse," I tell him, my voice flat as I begin to skate away.
He doesn't follow after me or say anything else. I assume that was essentially my warning: don't let it happen again. Even if I did let it happen again, I don't know what they would really do. All the coaches have their own pride issues and drive to win. If our country doesn't win, it's a bad reflection on them. They want me here skating, so me being late doesn't jeopardize anything when it comes to that.
Although, there's a part of me that blames Aria for it. All she had to do was wake me up when she left and I wouldn't have been late this morning.
I skate directly over to where she is, abruptly coming to a stop in front of her. Aria doesn't look at me at first. Eva glances at me over Aria's shoulder and she kind of nods toward me and gives her a smile.
"Hey, Leo," she says to me before looking back at Ari. "We'll talk later and figure it out."
Aria nods at her and then turns around to look at me, her smile falling when she sees my mouth set in a straight line. "Hey," she says softly as a pink tint creeps across her cheeks. I can't help but feel a touch of satisfaction knowing that her mind probably traveled back in time to the numerous times I made her come last night.
"You didn't wake me up when you left."
Her eyebrows pull together and she tilts her head to the side. "Why would I have woken you up? It was early, you were snoring, and I didn't want to disturb you."
My nostrils flare as I let out a breath. Perhaps the anger I was directing toward her was unwarranted. "What time did you leave?"
"It was, like, four o'clock, maybe four thirty."
Well, now I'm even more curious. We had to have been asleep for a few hours before she woke up and decided to leave. It would have made more sense for her to wake up when it was time to get ready, but she left long before that. It wasn't her fault that I didn't set an alarm and it wasn't her fault I didn't wake up on time. I still wish she would have checked to see why I wasn't ready to go, but I’m also not her responsibility. Just because we slept together, and we skated together didn't mean she needed to keep tabs on me like she was my keeper.
"Why'd you leave?"
Aria's eyes widen slightly, almost as if she wasn't expecting me to question her on it. "I don't know. I just figured I should go back to my room."
I shake my head at her, not accepting that as an answer. "You don't wake up in the middle of the night and head back to your own room for no reason. Why did you leave, Aria?"
There's a pregnant pause and the silence stretches between us as she shifts her weight on her skates. She's uncomfortable, but I'm not sure why. I asked her to stay last night, so it wasn't like she overstayed her welcome. Everything we did together, she gave consent to. Is she regretting it now? Did she wake up in the middle of the night and wish none of it ever happened?
I'm not an insecure person, but I feel so fucking insecure right now.
Aria finally shrugs. "I didn't want to give you the wrong impression by still being in your bed in the morning. We agreed to a one-night situation, so when I woke up, it just felt like I shouldn't be there."
I'm at a loss for words. We fucked. Multiple times. And she felt like she shouldn't be in my bed. What the hell is going on?
This is a first for me with anyone I'd ever been with.
"I wouldn't have asked you to stay if I didn't want you there."
Her cheeks puff up as she lets out a deep exhale. "I just didn't want it to seem like it was something it wasn't, you know?"
And I thought I had commitment issues…
I can't help myself as a chuckle rumbles in my chest and fills the air. A few of the other skaters turn to look at the two of us as they skate by, but no one bothers to interrupt. I know we're wasting time. We should be practicing together, but I'm not doing anything with Aria until this is resolved.
"Trust me, I will never get the wrong impression," I assure her with a smirk as I shake my head in disbelief that she would even think that was a possibility. "You staying in my bed doesn't make me think it's something it isn't. It's exactly what I want." I pause and mirror the same shrug she gave me. "Plus, it's done and over with now."
Aria nods and smiles back at me, although it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Good to know. Since we've cleared that up, can we do what we're actually supposed to do together?"
Her tone is a bit abrasive and there's a coldness that lingers in her words. Gone is the warmth she offered me last night, but I know it is my own doing. It doesn't matter now. Whatever that was between us has passed and now we can get back to skating without having anything clouding the air between us.
"That might be the best idea you've had so far."
Aria winks at me. "Sleeping with you certainly wasn't," she mumbles under her breath as she begins to skate toward the center of the rink, leaving me standing by the boards.
What the fuck?
"Aria and Leo," Eva speaks both of our names from where she is standing by the benches. Everyone else is beginning to line up over there and the song Aria picked for us to skate to begins to sound through the speaker system. "The two of you can go first."
I turn around and find Aria waiting for me as she gets into position. A sigh escapes me and irritation slides through my veins as I quickly skate to meet her in the middle of the rink. The melody of the song is still soft and slow. I move behind Aria, wrapping my arms around her waist. She reaches back, sliding her hands around the back of my neck as she tilts her head back against my shoulder. I revel in her warmth and resist the urge to pull her closer.
Goddammit.
Shaking my head, I push the thoughts away. That ship has already sailed. We had our time together and nothing more would ever come of it. I fucked her out of my system and that was that. It can never happen between us again and we already both agreed that it wouldn't.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't thoroughly enjoy it, though…
The music shifts and we both skate away from one another before simultaneously spinning. We're in perfect sync and Aria flashes me a painstakingly beautiful smile as we meet again, joining hands as we begin to move backward around the rink. I really believe we are supposed to skate together. Nothing has ever felt quite as right as this partnership does.
We run through our entire routine, both of us skating to the melody, hitting every single move the exact way we are supposed to. It's a perfect performance and exactly what we need to do in three days when it really counts.
We meet again in the middle of the ice as the music begins to slow and my hands clasp the sides of her face as our bodies bend together. We're both breathless and we fold into one another, me supporting her and holding her away from the ice as the music comes to a stop.
Aria's face is so close to mine, her breath dancing across my lips. All I have to do is shift forward, just an inch, and our mouths would touch. Her eyes bounce back and forth between mine, but she doesn't dare to be the one to break contact. She's waiting for me to kiss her, and fuck me for wanting to do it.
Everyone in the rink that was watching us begins to clap loudly, the sound filling the entire building. It's enough to break Aria and I from our trance. We both stand up together, quickly breaking apart as she steadies herself on her feet. I swallow roughly, running a hand through my hair as I let out a deep breath. I'm frustrated and it has nothing to do with Aria and everything to do with me. My self-control is severely lacking and I need to remind myself of the bigger picture here.
Aria and I need each other to skate and we can't cross that line again. We both allowed ourselves that moment of weakness, to give in to the lust that was burning between us. My mind needs to get its shit together and learn to separate from her. We need to be able to skate together, maintain a healthy level of professionalism that we've finally found together, and ensure the emotional pull and chemistry is still there without giving in to any of that.
Jesus, this is going to be much harder than I imagined it would be.
It was a lot easier when I didn't like her at all…
Aria skates over to where our waters are and I meet her over there, taking one of the bottles as she hands it to me. "That felt really good," she says with a bright smile and a nod as the next two skaters head to the center of the ice. Her face is slightly flushed and I count the freckles peppered across the bridge of her nose.
I take a sip of my water and nod. "I told you we would get it as close to perfect as possible."
Her smile falters. "Friday is the performance that counts. This is just practice."
Whenever she gets pessimistic, it always throws me off-kilter a bit.
"Practice supposedly makes perfect."
Aria's face cracks and soft laughter spills from her lips as her face lights up, and I feel another section of my wall crumbling. The lilt of her laughter dances across my eardrums and I want to memorize the sound and store it there forever. I push open the door to the benches and she steps up. I follow after her, both of us sitting down next to one another as we wait for our next time to go back on the ice and run through our routine again. Aria folds her hands in her lap and her thigh presses against mine.
She leans into me, bumping me with her shoulder. "You know, you might not be so bad, after all, Wells."
Turning my head to her, my gaze meets hers as she continues to smile at me. "I wish I could say the same about you."
"You don't mean that," she says with another laugh as she rolls her eyes. "Dare I say what I think might be the actual truth?"
I bite back a smirk. "Enlighten me."
"I think you're growing fond of me, Leo Wells."
I choke out a laugh and shake my head at her dismissively. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Reed. I promise that will never happen."
Aria simply chuckles to herself and turns to look out at the other pair as they move around the rink. She smiles to herself like she knows my secret. She knows that promise is a goddamn lie, and she's right. I have started to tolerate her company.
She's chipping away at my walls, but it will be a cold day in hell before I actually let her in.