37. We are born of the same ice
37
We are born of the same ice
Exton
The guys are still singing and screaming as we come back into the locker room. They are all cheering, ecstatic over the win, and so am I! But I need out of here. I need to go see my girl.
She’s here! She’s been here the whole time, and I don’t know what that means because if she tells me she’s leaving figure skating, I won’t be able to take it.
I rush into the shower as soon as I can, and just as Coach comes into the locker room, I’m leaving it, pulling on my T-shirt on the go.
“Where are you off to? I was going to talk to you all.” He frowns.
“Coach, I love you and all, but right now I need to go see my girl, okay? It’s life or death.”
My crazy eyes must convince him because he steps aside with a half smirk on his face and calls out. “Buckle up, prickly pear. She looks mad.”
“Not you too.” I groan, and his laugh follows me into the hallway. I run to one side and then the other, but she’s not here. I check other rooms, and even stick my head into every woman’s restroom, calling out her name, but still not a sight of her.
“Where are you, little star?” I muse to myself. Could she have left already? But then my eyes snap to the open doorway to the arena and I follow the thin silver thread pulling me into it as I heave a sigh of relief.
One tiny angry elf is tapping her foot against the ice right smack in the middle of the rink. I just stand there, mesmerized by the sight of her. It might’ve only been one night, but it was one night too many without her. One night of not knowing where we stand. Electra is pacing the ice, those arms still crossed over her chest and her strawberry lips puckered.
She must sense me because even though I’m partially hidden in the small entry hallway, her eyes snap to mine and she charges at me. I meet her halfway, just as my sneakers hit the cold ice and her little finger digs into my chest before she lets any words out.
I’m surprised I hear any of them because her intoxicating scent wraps around my sore body and I all but collapse at her feet.
“You…you…I don’t even know where to start!” Despite that statement she gets right into it. “How dare you make choices for me, you asshole! How dare you decide our future all on your own and thinking I’ll just go along with your brilliantly stupid plan, you lunatic—”
“You’re here…” I break her rant, and she glares at me.
“I should leave just out of spite! Give you a taste of your own medicine!”
“What does it mean? You being here, what does it mean?”
Electra opens and closes her mouth a few times before steam comes out of her ears and my cock hardens. I have a real problem when it comes to her. That angry elf energy totally does it for me every damn time. But now is so not it.
“It means I love you!” She stomps her little foot. “It means I’ll always be here! It means we are it forever and ever, Exton!”
“But your figure skating…Olympics…your dreams…”
“Are all still happening,” she interrupts me, and I just stare at her.
“How? The training camp, it stars today, no?”
“What in the world made you think I’ll ever go back to skating with Erik? How could you even consider that possibility?”
I open my mouth to answer but nothing actually comes out.
How did I think that was possible? Hell, how could I ever let her back out on the ice with him? Not because I’m a jealous asshole, but because I wouldn’t trust that fucker to take care of my laundry let alone the most precious person in my life.
Oh, fuck…I’m such an idiot.
“Yes, yes, you are,” Electra answers my silent thoughts, reading me like her own book, and I sigh shakily, winding my arms around her as I drop my forehead to hers.
“Little star,” I breathe out shakily. “I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“How about next time you stop for long enough to hear me out, Exton. This is a partnership.” She sighs, motioning between us, and I catch her finger, kissing it. “At least, I want it to be one. I want us to be in this together and I thought we were. I thought you knew me better than anyone. You know my heart, my soul. You are a part of it. I don’t want to be anyone’s Juliette anymore. I want to be your everything.” There’s raw pain in her voice, and I want to punch myself for putting it there.
For ever causing her an ounce of distress. For ever making her doubt my feelings or the intensity of them.
“I’m sorry! I’m so fucking sorry, little star. You are my everything. You’re more than everything. Please tell me I didn’t fuck it all up too much! Please.”
I see the desire in her eyes to keep ripping me apart, to hand me my ass some more but instead, Electra falls into my arms, sighing with content as she fists my shirt, gripping it for dear life and breathing me in.
“I knew who I fell in love with, Exton. I knew you weren’t perfect, just like I’m not. I should’ve told you earlier what I’m planning to do but I was too scared to admit it to myself still and hid it. I’m sorry, that’s on me.”
My fingers lace into her hair, hands cupping the back of her head as I bring her face up from my chest.
“What’s the new plan, little star?”
“I’m going solo.” Her voice is barely a whisper, but those two icy eyes are shining with excitement and fear and happiness and anticipation. “I’m scared. So, so scared, but I’m also sure it’s the right way to go. Your mom did it. She was a single skater, and I think I’d like that too.”
“Oh, Electra.” I tuck her back into the crook of my neck, her arms winding around me in a tight embrace as we stand here, rocking from side to side. “I think that’s fucking amazing!” I kiss the top of her head.
“Yes, so you can shove that ticket to Colorado up your lunatic ass,” she mumbles into my chest as it shakes with silent laughter.
“So, you’re staying?”
Electra brings her head up. “I never left. That was just you being an idiot.”
“Yes, yes, that was, and I’ll spend months, years, making it up to you. I was just so afraid I was holding you back. That you felt like you couldn’t go do what you wanted because you needed to hold my angry hand so I wouldn’t snap.”
“Oh, baby, you don’t need me to hold your hand. I have no doubt you’ll be able to handle yourself on this ice even if I’m not here physically. Because I’ll always be here with you.” Electra gently presses the pads of her fingers to my heart. “And here.” She moves them to my head.
Always…
“We are stronger together, Exton. We are made of one. We are born of the same ice.”
My breath hitches as my eyes fill with emotion. She’s right. We can only do this life together. As one. As a team. As two sides of one soul.
“Marry me, Electra Monroe.”
The next morning, she woke up as Electra Quinn, and I…as the luckiest man to ever live.