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There’s popcorn buried in the grooves of her sneakers, and the ponytail she threw together is hanging on by a half snapped elastic. It’s quiet and cold on the rink and when she squats down low and runs her fingers over the grooves in the ice, it send shivers through her bones.
“It’s like a whole different world, when there’s no one throwing punches and smacking pucks, huh?”
That voice is familiar enough she could pick it out of a crowd. He’s freshly showered, curls in full effect and tucked underneath a Boston baseball cap. His hockey bag is left by the bleachers and he looks warm in a hoodie and sweats. Garrett’s smile is cautious, guilty and awkward. This is the absolute last thing she needs right now.
Hannah holds up a used mouth guard between two fingers.
“I have to clean off the ice before the Zamboni comes.”
No soft words or secret smiles. Those left about 7 hours ago when she walked into his dorm to find him face first in Kendall Roger’s thighs.
He squints and plucks the mouthguard from her hands “this is Dean’s. He chews through them like their bubblegum.”
“Mm.” She hums, scanning the ice for anything else before slipping past Garrett. “I’m going home. I’ve been here since 5.”
He’s at her back like a magnet.
“Didn’t you work the coffee shop this morning? Have you even eaten today? Did you take a break at all?” He sounds concerned, sharp and focused.
A bitter laugh escapes her lips, it sounds like music. “My break was supposed to be your tutoring session. I brought lunch but I dropped it outside of your dorm when I saw a full frontal view of the girl who sits next to me in literature spread eagle on your desk chair.” She pulls her hair from the ponytail, shaking the thick locks and letting the blueberry of her shampoo overwhelm him. She smells so good it makes his eyes shut.
“I’m sorry, that was fucked of me. My brains not been working right lately. I’m everywhere, I’m stressed and wiith the scouts on my ass I can’t seem to get any timing right.” His eyebrows scrunch together, it looks painful for him to gather his thoughts and for a moment she feels sympathetic but then she remembers their deal. How embarrassed she felt.
“I’m sure you’re stressed. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that you don’t have any respect for our deal. We may not be exclusive like you said, but the fact that you’re sleeping with other girls negates the fact that I’m desirable which means you’re not withholding your end of the deal and it’s just going to end up with me embarrassed.” She pulls her backpack from one of the lockers and shimmies on a baby pink hoodie. When she turns back to look at him, his eyes are wide and he looks fully scolded.
“I appreciate your idea and we tried it. This isn’t some coming of age teen novel. Life doesn’t work like that and I can’t be wasting my time when I should be preparing for the showcase or focusing on my own grades.” She offers him a genuine smile, and squeezes his shoulder “I appreciate you trying but to be honest..” her blue eyes sparkle “I’m really not into Justin anymore, his music kind of sucks and the whole “just not that into you” thing is pretty tired.” She turns then, heading out the rink doors and into the brisk November chill.
“I won’t touch another girl.” The words stop her in her tracks and she whips back to find him directly behind her.
“What? Why?”
He pulls the backpack from her shoulder and swings it over his. “I don’t want to stop. I dont care about Justin or Kendall or any of that shit.” He shakes his head, a few curls falling from his hat and into his eyes.
Hannah’s face softens.
“I won’t let you fail. I have a million easy to learn videos that will ensure you pass that class, I wouldn’t just leave you out to dry.”
“Fuck that class.” Long fingers brush across her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear “wellsy. I want to do this with you. I’m an asshole and an idiot but I can do this. I’ll delete my Snapchat. You can have my phone password. I won’t text any girls. I swear it.”
She snorts “you were just eating out a cheerleader less than ten hours ago.”
He moves in closer, a shit eating smirk on his face
“The last supper.”
He’s so close his cologne mixes with her perfume.
“Why would you even want to keep this up? I just told you I’m not interested in Justin anymore.”
“Hmmm” his fingers flex on her hips, drawing her to him “he was never going to last. He’s boring and I think his piercing is fake.”
“It is not!” She giggles.
“I don’t care about any of that. I’m enjoying myself and I know you are too. I can feel it when I’m close to you. I’m not ready for this to end and if you need exclusivity then I can give you that.” He seems so sure of himself.
“You can?” She’s cautious, skeptical.
“For you Wellsy? I can do anything.”