The Billionaire's Secret Love Child(68)

He seemed a different player, more driven and focused. I managed to catch his eye from the stands a couple of times, and he would immediately turn away, almost wishing that I weren’t there.

That is until our team won a major victory over our biggest rival and made it into the playoffs.

I was incredibly excited for the team and made a point to attend their victory party. By now my exploits had become something of a legend, and getting into any party was easy. I recognized plenty of people, and while I was still embarrassed, I accepted their fawning.

Rick was standing next to the glass that surrounded the ice, and I made way straight to the nearest available drink.

I stood there, talking to Kathy while my mind wandered towards Rick. As though the world fell away when we were both in the same room, and trying to avoid thinking of him was counterintuitive. I skirted the outside of the crowd and caught him looking at me more than once.

I wanted nothing more than to walk up to him and leap into his more than capable arms and have him carry me off, but it didn’t feel right. Something was different now, and I wanted to know what.

I pulled my old skates from my bag and took a seat nearby him to put them on. He turned his eyes towards me as I prepared to take the ice. I think he was just as earnest as I was to talk about our shared history.

He politely ended his conversation with his fans as I carefully made my way to the ice. He followed along, closely from behind as I started to skate. A few people hooted and hollered in the crowd, and I had a feeling they were hoping I’d give them another show. I wasn’t interested and just smiled and waved off their collected screams.

Rick paced quickly alongside me as I smoothly careened along the ice.

“How are you classes,” I asked politely.

“You really want to make small talk,” he responded, simply.

“I really want to just go somewhere and forget that we’re in college and that our parents just got married,” I said, making sure we were out of earshot of everyone in the party.

He craned his neck to look over his shoulder, doing the same as I was.

“Follow me,” he said.

I did so, as he pulled me aside off the ice and towards the opposing team’s locker room, now empty. I carefully made my way inside.

Rick pulled me out of view of anyone that might have been looking at stared me right in the eye. I could feel the intensity of his gaze, those burning blue eyes making me feel weak in the knees, again. He leaned down just slightly and pursed his lips.

I eagerly pushed my mouth into his, hoping this moment wouldn’t end. I poured my heart into the kiss, and it felt like he did the same. His passion was burning for me, and mine for him. But, there was something underlying each tender caress and neither of us could shake the feeling as though something was wrong.

I was the one to push him away.

“This doesn’t feel right anymore,” I said.

He stepped back, touching his hand to his lips, as though he were remembering the tenderness of my kiss I had given him only moments ago.

“This feels so right,” he replied, “but it feels like something is missing.”

I nodded and leaned back against the wall, smacking the back of my head against it in an act of penitence. The hard surface gave me little solace.

“I can’t do this,” I said, starting to break away from him and get back to the ice. Tears began to form at the corners of my eyes.

He shot out an arm and pulled me back.

“Casey, listen to me for just a second,” he said.

I stood still and awkwardly turned back to him, doing my best to wipe away whatever tears were starting to show themselves.

“What,” I asked.

“I think we both know,” he started, “we’ll never be lovers. I know you feel the same as I do.”

He was right, and that’s what bothered me. I didn’t know what to say anymore. I knew that I didn’t have those feelings for him anymore; I was just going through the motions of romance. I brushed the new tears from my eyes and felt an odd sort of contentedness.

“Should I call you brother, or should I call you Rick,” I asked.

He looked at me and smiled. It seemed as though a weight were pulled off both our chests as we continued to chat.

“That’s your choice, Sis,” he replied with a smirk.

I laughed, trying to exhale my remaining emotion; it seemed to work as I could feel my tears begin to dry up.

“Alright, bro,” I said.

This time, he laughed along with me before grabbing my hand and giving it one last kiss. It had an odd sense of finality to it, and I was still a small bit confused, but I knew that we had made the right decision.

He found and wore his skates, and we made a few laps around the ice. Our conversation went from intimate to lighthearted, and I knew that I had gained more than a brother. I had gained a new best friend and confidant.

We ended up having to say our goodbyes about halfway through the night when Kathy drank too much, and I had to make sure she got home safely. I did my best to hold her hair back as she made a mess of the school grounds.

She kept looking up at me with earnest tears in her eyes, apologizing every time I patted her on the back. It made me giddy inside to know that I had become such a wonderful roommate, or perhaps it was me knowing that I had some fodder for the next roommate argument.

After finally managing to make it home unharmed, I helped her out of her party clothes and into bed. She was still awake as I laid her into bed. It seemed that she wanted a bit of conversation before she’d be able to fall asleep.