Meet Me at the Rink

Chapter 12

~ Austin ~

"Come on." I say as I take Allison's hand in mine with a smile on my face. "Austin where are we going?" She asks. "Watch your step." I say leading her down a hill as we come to a stop at the lake. I look over at Ally as she takes in her surroundings. "So what do you think?" I ask breaking the silence. Ally looks up at me a little confused. "It's beautiful but what are we doing here?" She asks. "This is where some of the guys and I come to hang out sometimes. Kind of like our secret hideout when we're not at the rink." I reply

"And whose cabin is that?" Ally asks pointing to a huge wooden log cabin up on the hill, not too far away. "It's my cottage. Been in my family for a long time. My parents bought a cottage up in Halliburton a couple of years ago so my dad gave me this one." I reply looking down at her and taking in her features. "It's nice, I like it." She smiles snapping me from my thoughts.

"Well, why don't I turn on the string lights and light the torches so we can go for a skate on the lake." I say beginning to walk towards the boathouse. "But my skates are up in the truck with my gear." She says pointing at the way we came down. "No they're not. Look again." I say nudging my head toward the bench made of old and broken hockey sticks. "How did they... Did you bring them down?" She asks confused. I shake my head with a yes as a smile makes its way to her face. "When?" She asks. "When I was helping you down here." I reply.

"I must have been too distracted, trying to figure out where you were taking me to notice you had them in your hand." She says walking over to the bench. "I'll be back in just a second. I'm gonna go switch the lights on." I say as she nods and takes a seat on the bench to put her skates on.

I unlock the door to the boathouse and flick the light switch on before going up the stairs to the loft and opening the breaker box. I search for the switch that turns on the outside lights when my finger lands on it. "There we go." I say to myself as I turn it on and then close the box before turning to go back down the stairs.

When I step outside into the cold winter air, I look over to the frozen lake and see Ally standing at the centre of the ice rink Alex and I had made a few weeks ago. I watch as she stands there looking up above her at all the string lights twinkling like stars in the night sky. I stay frozen in the moment taking in how beautiful she looks before she turns and smiles at me. " You gonna put your skates on or what?" She exclaims as a smile tugs at my lips.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming!" I reply sitting down on the bench and getting into my skates before lacing them up. I grab a couple of sticks and a puck before stepping onto the ice. "Catch!" I exclaim throwing a stick to Ally. "Thought we were just going for a skate?" She asks catching the hockey stick I had tossed her. "We are but first how does a little game of one on one sound?" I challenge her as a challenging grin appears on her face. "You're on!" She exclaims.

** An Hour Later **

"Next point wins!" I say as Ally collects the puck from the empty net. "You're on Austin!" She exclaims as she begins to move forward with the puck. I slowly move toward her in an attempt to take the puck from her. She picks up her pace and turns her back to me as she hovers over the puck to protect it.

"You're blocked in now! Gotta find a way around!" I say as she looks both ways before moving to her left. I follow as she turns to go to the right. I quickly catch on and get close to take the puck off of her. I get a hold of the puck and poke it out of her reach. As she turns to chase after the puck, her skate gets stuck in a groove, I act quickly and drop my stick while my other hand goes to her waist. I pull her up quickly and carefully to me as her panicked look softens when her eyes meet mine. "You okay?" I ask. "Yeah." She whispers, her eyes still locked on mine. My eyes land on her lips and I find myself leaning in to kiss her.