Page 39 of Skating Towards Danger

“H-he was just a baby, Dante, an innocent little baby, and he died when I didn’t. I couldn’t cope with the guilt that I was alive, and they weren’t,” I look at the man I’m falling in love with and admit, “I cut all my hair off and was committed for two months, and I tried to slit my wrists, I tried to kill myself before I was even nine years old,” Dante’s breathing picks up but he lets me speak, “I became a mute, refusing to speak to anyone and I hated the ice, I hated my aunt and uncle for keeping me alive and I hated myself so I fell apart,” I take a choppy breath and admit, “I took my first snort of cocaine when I was fourteen from my art teacher before I allowed him to take my virginity bent over his desk and then for three years, I ditched school, started fights, got a reputation as a whore, and did drugs all because I couldn’t cope with Royal dying, with my parents dying. When I was seventeen I nearly overdosed on cocaine while a guy screwed me not caring. I woke up in the same hospital with my aunt sobbing and I realized I needed to stop so I went celibate and just managed to graduate, barely scraping through.”

Dante’s grip tightens on my neck, and he rasps, “It wasn’t your fault, Paige, the crash wasn’t your fault.”

I shrug, “Maybe not, maybe fate is just a bitch, but it still happened on the one day Momma, and Daddy decided they wanted to pick me up from school and watch me skate. They hadn’t done that since before Royal was born,” I sniffle, “Every time I get on that ice, I see their smiles, I hear their laughter, and guilt eats away at me, and the day I quit skating was the day I begged aunt Tyra to let me get a tattoo after I nearly crashed their car just to get away from the ice,” I show him my arm, “To always remind me what I lost.”

“My little fairy,” Dante rasps, “is that why you haven’t used the money your dad saved for you? Because you feel like you shouldn’t be happy and safe?”

My breaths become choppy, and I admit, “Why should I be happy when they’re dead? Why should I be safe when they lost their lives?”

“Because you were their whole world,” Dante says forcefully with emotion, “Do you think they’d be happy if they knew how much you’ve beaten yourself up since losing them, how you’re punishing yourself for something that was out of your control,” he presses his forehead against mine, “You were eight, baby, eight. It wasn’t your fault, and they would be rolling in their graves seeing how much guilt you carry for that day.”

My body shakes as I sob, and he murmurs, “I’m going to help you through this, little fairy, I’m going to be on that ice with you from now on every day, ensuring you enjoy it and when this tribute comes round, I can promise you, you’ll want to be a figure skater again, you’ll get your dream back, your happiness and you’ll want to live for yourself, you’ll want to move out of this shit hole and have a life.”

My tears fall as his words wash over me, and for the first time, hope builds and I allow it and with how he’s looking at me, Idecide to let him in a little more and ask, “Would you like to see a picture of Royal?”

He smiles and nods, and I get my phone out of my pocket, causing him to move back a little. I unlock my phone and hand it to him.

“He looks just like you, baby,” Dante whispers as he looks at my phone, and I sob, “I-I, I’m telling you this, Dante, b-because I’m falling in love with you, and I’m scared I’m not good enough especially with my past…”

Dante drops my phone and moves us so I’m on my back, and his body is pressed over mine, he cups my cheek, his thumb wiping away my tears, and as our eyes lock, he shows me his truth as he admits, “Paige, I am the one who is not good enough for you. You are strong, sweet, kind, caring, you are fucking everything, and like hell will I ever let you go because, little fairy, I fell for you the moment we met and tried to deny it, and I’m done denying it.”

Dante presses his lips against mine, and I melt, hoping he means what he says because even though this is the deepest we’ve gone, I know I can’t live without him.

He’s my one.

Moaning echoes from outside my room then screams of pleasure and Dante grunts, “We really need to get you out of this shithole,” and I laugh holding him tight.

Yeah, he’s definitely my one.

Chapter 15

Dante

I grunt as I smack the puck into the net and Rhett curses when he misses the block, but I don’t stop to celebrate or bash him because fucker should have been able to get that, instead I skate back to the other end of the rink and snap, “again,” hoping I can get this fucking frustration outta my system before I explode.

My team listens to me while Coach Paul watches on, not correcting my tactics which I am grateful for.

My mind is scrambled after last night with Paige, and I need to get my frustrations out, this morning not doing it for me, so why not snap at my team and get them into shape for our game tomorrow night.

A brother, she had a fucking baby brother that she tried to cover with her own body to save at the age of eight.

No wonder why she struggled to be near Damian and wanted to forget that day.

I shake my shoulders and bend slightly, getting into position as I watch Adams go up against his backup Frankie. I can see from here he’s talking shit to him, trying to get a rise out of him and I sigh. Fucker is on his last leg recently and trying to start a fight on purpose is not going to win us fucking games.

Guess I should be happy Frankie isn’t taking the bait.

“Fuck, you're riding us hard, Marino,” Timmons says as he skates next to me, breathing hard, and I hum and remind him, “Roman isn’t a part of this team anymore, and Adams is fucking up left right and center while having a big ass ego and we’re lucky to be able to win the four out of the five games we’ve played. I have to ride you all hard, so we stay as one, otherwise, we can kiss our winning streak goodbye.”

Timmons groans at the reminder, then nods and gets into position before we do the play again and another five more times, ensuring we know where we’re at before Coach blows his whistle and I shout, “Sprints!”

The boys all groan, but I ignore them and set the pace so they can keep up.

“Working them a little hard, aren’t you, little brother,”I hear Roman shout from the stands a few minutes later, and I grin, skidding to a halt, the boys copying.

I notice a few bend, trying to catch their breath making me chuckle but I soon cheer when I see Roman jump over the boards wearing his skates and the team cheers along with me while Adam freezes.

Let’s see how good he is and put him against the best of the best, shall we?

---