Status: Completed :)
Baby Remind Me
Chapter 4
I woke up, breathing hard from the memories of that night; we hadn’t got more than two hours of sleep, the endless lovemaking and talking had taken all of the extra time we’d managed to steal. It had been one of the best and saddest nights of my life; because we had it all to ourselves and held nothing back but knew that we were going to be apart for a long time in the morning. I groped around for my phone, and saw that it was eight o’clock, so I decided I’d get up and try to go about my day, as I had practice this afternoon.
I showered, ate breakfast and got dressed, before wondering what I was going to do. Usually Ash and I would just hang out; curl up in front of the TV or even just lay on the couch together reading or dozing off. As soon as I thought of it the idea that she thought I was sleeping around came back, and I was mad again. Whatever would possess her to think I would do that to her I didn’t know, but it hurt, a lot. I’d never been that kind of guy, I’d always been a one-woman kind of man, even when we were teenagers. What the hell would make me change now?
That anger spurred me to nearly pacing the apartment while watching the clock waiting for practice to start. I went out to grab something for lunch at about eleven thirty, and ran into Dan there.
“Hey, how’s the head?” he asked lightheartedly, and while I shrugged I knew he wasn’t taking anything I said at face value. That’s just not how Dan was.
“Fine. You?”
“Could be a little better,” he admitted with a cheeky grin.
“So, you and Ashley patch things up?” he asked, and immediately I bristled.
“Haven’t talked to her,” I growled, suddenly losing my appetite. I didn’t want to talk about her right now because she was all I could think about.
“You know that if you fuck this up that’s it, right?” he asked quietly. My head snapped up and I stared at him, wondering where this was coming from.
“What?”
“If you fuck this up she’ll leave Marc, you know that. And then she’s not coming back,”
“You don’t even know what the hell is going on, don’t try to tell me what’s going on in my life Dan,” I snarled, getting up and leaving the restaurant. I was angry, I was frustrated, and more than that I knew he was right and I hated it. I’d never been good at this sort of thing, I didn’t like going and talking to people about everything, I was more of a quiet, let things calm down and roll with it kind of guy.
I figured it was late enough to head to the rink, and as I threw my bag into the back of my car suddenly all I could think about was when I bought it how we’d decided that since we’d done the same with our new house we’d ‘christen’ the car too. It brought a smile to my face before a scowl. Not what I needed to be thinking about.
Every time I stopped at a light or paused at an intersection I looked over to the passenger seat, as if doing so would make her magically appear there. Every time I realized what I was doing I would stare at the street, angry with myself. I mean really, I couldn’t even go to a damn hockey practice without her?
Practice was hell. My head wasn’t in the game, my feet didn’t seem to co-operate with the rest of me, and everybody knew something was wrong. More than likely everybody knew that Ashley and I had got into a fight – it seemed like everybody always knew if something happened between us.
And the worst part was I kept looking up to the stands, expecting her to be sitting in her usual place watching, and each time my heart broke a little more when she wasn’t there.
“You are a stupid ass, you know that?” Henrik said the moment our coach had left the room. Everything fell silent in the room, and I slowly turned to face him.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a stupid, stubborn ass, and you’re gonna lose the best thing that ever happened to you because of it,” he repeated, and that anger boiled up inside of me.
“Who the hell do you think you are?
“Do you even know what’s going on with us? Is it really your place to start calling me out?” I demanded advancing toward him. Henrik wasn’t that much shorter than me, but that slight height and weight difference gave me a definite advantage over the Swede.
“Sorry for trying to help a friend out,” he held up his hands, and instead I pushed past him and left the locker room.
I showered, ate breakfast and got dressed, before wondering what I was going to do. Usually Ash and I would just hang out; curl up in front of the TV or even just lay on the couch together reading or dozing off. As soon as I thought of it the idea that she thought I was sleeping around came back, and I was mad again. Whatever would possess her to think I would do that to her I didn’t know, but it hurt, a lot. I’d never been that kind of guy, I’d always been a one-woman kind of man, even when we were teenagers. What the hell would make me change now?
That anger spurred me to nearly pacing the apartment while watching the clock waiting for practice to start. I went out to grab something for lunch at about eleven thirty, and ran into Dan there.
“Hey, how’s the head?” he asked lightheartedly, and while I shrugged I knew he wasn’t taking anything I said at face value. That’s just not how Dan was.
“Fine. You?”
“Could be a little better,” he admitted with a cheeky grin.
“So, you and Ashley patch things up?” he asked, and immediately I bristled.
“Haven’t talked to her,” I growled, suddenly losing my appetite. I didn’t want to talk about her right now because she was all I could think about.
“You know that if you fuck this up that’s it, right?” he asked quietly. My head snapped up and I stared at him, wondering where this was coming from.
“What?”
“If you fuck this up she’ll leave Marc, you know that. And then she’s not coming back,”
“You don’t even know what the hell is going on, don’t try to tell me what’s going on in my life Dan,” I snarled, getting up and leaving the restaurant. I was angry, I was frustrated, and more than that I knew he was right and I hated it. I’d never been good at this sort of thing, I didn’t like going and talking to people about everything, I was more of a quiet, let things calm down and roll with it kind of guy.
I figured it was late enough to head to the rink, and as I threw my bag into the back of my car suddenly all I could think about was when I bought it how we’d decided that since we’d done the same with our new house we’d ‘christen’ the car too. It brought a smile to my face before a scowl. Not what I needed to be thinking about.
Every time I stopped at a light or paused at an intersection I looked over to the passenger seat, as if doing so would make her magically appear there. Every time I realized what I was doing I would stare at the street, angry with myself. I mean really, I couldn’t even go to a damn hockey practice without her?
Practice was hell. My head wasn’t in the game, my feet didn’t seem to co-operate with the rest of me, and everybody knew something was wrong. More than likely everybody knew that Ashley and I had got into a fight – it seemed like everybody always knew if something happened between us.
And the worst part was I kept looking up to the stands, expecting her to be sitting in her usual place watching, and each time my heart broke a little more when she wasn’t there.
“You are a stupid ass, you know that?” Henrik said the moment our coach had left the room. Everything fell silent in the room, and I slowly turned to face him.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a stupid, stubborn ass, and you’re gonna lose the best thing that ever happened to you because of it,” he repeated, and that anger boiled up inside of me.
“Who the hell do you think you are?
“Do you even know what’s going on with us? Is it really your place to start calling me out?” I demanded advancing toward him. Henrik wasn’t that much shorter than me, but that slight height and weight difference gave me a definite advantage over the Swede.
“Sorry for trying to help a friend out,” he held up his hands, and instead I pushed past him and left the locker room.