Page 110 of Aftersome
“Mal!” I called his name out again and this time, he acknowledged it by skidding to a stop on his skates, flinging ice everywhere.
“Go home, Doe,” he growled gutturally without giving me a glance.
Sighing, I crossed my arms over my chest.
“No, you’re obviously upset and I know that it’s because of me.”
He shook his head angrily, causing pieces of his hair to fall over his forehead. Then finally, he took the opportunity to shoot his eyes over in my direction where I felt my whole body stiffen.
Even from a distance, his eyes were clouded in darkness that did nothing to ease my confidence. If anything, I was wearier than ever.
“Upset?” He chuckled coldly. “You don’t know the half of it. Now, get out of here.”
He ripped his stare from mine and began to skate off in the opposite direction of me.
Frustration fueled my next moves as I stepped out onto the ice in my tennis shoes. It wasn’t my best idea or the smartest, but I had no other choice.
“I’m not going anywhere, Mal.”
He hadn’t noticed my presence out on the ice yet, but it didn’t take long because on one fumbling step toward him, my feet flew out in front of me causing me to fall onto my ass. Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even see Mal skate over to me and drop down to his knees beside me.
“Why would you come out here with no skates on?” he demanded. “You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.” He then tried hiding his worry with a glare.
“It was the only way to get your attention.” My sight was trained on his eyes but everything about them looked cold and distant. “Why would you come out here when your shoulder isinjured?” I tossed back at him, but clearly, he wasn’t in the mood for my questions.
He sighed.
“Don’t risk your safety to get my attention when you always have it.”
The need to throw my arms around his neck overwhelmed me. To tell him how sorry I was for running out on him and to confess everything about how I felt about him. It was the perfect opportunity to do so, but once he realized I wasn’t hurt, he rose back onto his feet and skated off.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” I called out. “I didn’t mean to hurt you by leaving this morning, especially after last night and what we… shared.” My voice had gotten softer as all the flutters I had from yesterday came rushing back. “I had a moment of regret and I was scared. So scared of what I was feeling and everything else that always seems to get in the way of my finding happiness again.”
Mal had now stopped in the center of the rink with his back to me. His shoulders were rising and falling in elongated motions that made me feel like I was finally being heard. That what I was saying was finally getting to him.
Then finally, after a long pause of silence, he responded.
“I’m not doing this with you, Wren.”
My heart sunk.
“Oh, so I’m Wren now.” I used my palms and pushed myself back up onto my unsteady feet.
I was fuming now. Frustrated by his quick change in demeanor and the words he had so carelessly forgotten that he had told me last night. It wasn’t fair because I wasn’t alone in these apprehensive thoughts, I was just the one who decided to act upon them when I was overwhelmed.
“You were always Wren,” he grunted as he peered over his shoulder at me. Once he realized that I was standing again, heunwillingly came up next to me where he took ahold of my arm to keep me steady.
I felt like bursting into tears.
Why did he have to be so stubborn and so remiss to my feelings? Couldn’t he see that I was sorry? That if I could do it over again, I would have never left him?
With my arm in his hold, he started to pull me to safety, but with a quick, sharp tug of my arm, he released me.
“No,” I shouted firmly with the shake of my head. “I’m Doe. I’m your Doe.”
My confession must have rocked him to his core as a pained expression broke out on his face. Like he couldn’t bear for me to say I was his.
“Stop,” he growled while hitting me with a firm glare. Sweat was dripping down his brow as his lip curled. “You’re not my anything. You made that perfectly clear when you left me.”
