The connection - New beginnings

Chapter three - A change will do you good

Nate

I took a seat on the bench wiping the sweat from my brow, I grabbed my bottle of water and gulped it down as Lucas approached me.

"Some game huh, so much for just a friendly game of hockey" Lucas chuckled as he reached for his own water bottle.

"Tell me about it. I thought this was just for fun but I swear some of those guys were out for blood they were taking it so seriously" I joked in return as I finished off the last of my water.

"At least we still kicked some ass"

"Come on, as if we'd lose a game when I'm on the team" I joked as I stood from the bench. "Looks like our fans are waiting for us" I smiled over at Jules and Natalie who had been watching the game with a small group from our school.

"Yeah looks like they are" 

I started to walk towards where they were sat when Lucas called me back

"Hey Nate..." 

I stopped and returned my attention to him.

"I er...I guess this is a bit awkward, but I didn't know if I should say anything..." he stammered 

"Spit it out Luc" 

"Alex is back. I just thought you'd want to know. Sorry if I'm overstepping the mark here but I didn't want you to think I'd kept it a secret or anything" he rambled on.

"It's fine Luc, thanks for letting me know. I appreciate your honesty"

Alex was back. The thought swirled in my head catching me off guard momentarily. I knew she'd likely be back for the summer but it had been so long since I'd seen her. A year had passed with her out of my life and I'd moved on. It wasn't easy, I spent months pining after her, trying to get her out of my head and then one day I finally felt ready to let someone else in when I'd met Julie. She'd helped heel my broken heart and although it might not have been the same intense feeling I had with Alex it was still something special. What did this mean for us now? Julie knew I had loved Alex but I hadn't gone into details about our mind reading or any of that. I hadn't even reached out to Alex since me and Julie became a thing, it wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to me. She'd had her chance and she chose to be without either of us and I'd come to accept that. I didn't want her return to mess things up for me but at the same time I knew it was inevitable that our paths would cross at some point. Maybe it would be best to get it out the way sooner rather than later. My mind drifted to Chase unsure of how he would take the news of her return. Part of me thought it would be best not to tell him. He hardly left his house anyway so it's not like he'd be likely to run into her. Maybe it was best if he didn't know.

"Hey babes great game" Jules smiled up at me as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I'm all sweaty babe, you might want to steer clear" 

"Not a chance" she grinned and pulled me down into a kiss. I used to miss not feeling the tingles that I'd had with Alex but now kissing Jules was as easy as breathing. I had fallen for her hook line and sinker.

"Baby I need to talk to you about something, can we head back to mine?" I pulled back from our kiss and rested my forehead on hers.

She Looked up at me with those big green eyes that I'd come to love. She was so different to Alex and that's part of what attracted me to her. She had mid length blonde hair and green eyes a slightly lighter shade than my own. She was shorter than Alex and more of a petite build. She may not of had Alex's curves but she could still drive me crazy with her body and she knew it. I smiled down at her as she batted her eyelashes at me.

"Sure thing babe, but if it's about Alex being back Natalie already let the cat out of the bag on that one" she smirked at me clearly knowing that Lucas would have told me.

I rubbed the back of my head and offered her an apologetic smile "sorry, I know it can't be nice to hear about my past all the time"

"Nate your past is exactly that. Past. I'm your present and that's all I care about" she grabbed my hand and started walking towards my car.

"Babe I know you loved Alex and I know this must bring up some old feelings for you but I know how you feel about me and I'm not going anywhere. If her coming back changes things for you then by all means let me know, but know one thing Nate Ashford. I'm prepared to fight for you"

I looked down at her as we stopped beside my car. This girl was simply amazing "where did I find you, you are the most understanding girlfriend you know that Jules"

"Oh I think you've told me that once or twice before Mr Ashford" she winked at me before pulling me down to her lips once again.

We finally ended the kiss and got in the car heading back to my place, I was in desperate need of a shower and change of clothes and some one on one time with my girlfriend was sure to help get any thoughts of Alex out of my head.