Meet Me at the Rink

Chapter 14

~ Austin ~

After I had dropped Ally off at her place, I got home not too long after that. The first thing I did when I got in was let Easton outside in the backyard to do his business while I filled his bowls with food and water. Just as I had finished doing that, Easton was sitting in front of the door barking to be let inside the house. "Hey, that's enough buddy! You're going to wake up the neighbours!" I say letting the pup inside and locking the door once he's out of the way. "Come on East, let's go upstairs buddy." I say as he lifts his head out of his bowl and starts trailing behind me and up the stairs.

Once I had a shower, I threw some sweatpants on before getting into bed and turning on the tv to watch some sports highlights. I texted my mom and sister goodnight before noticing a text from Ally. Goodnight, thanks for coming out to my game and treating me to Mcdonald's. I had fun hanging out with you. It read as I began to type my reply. No problem, thanks for allowing me to come and cheer you on. And glad you had fun, night. I reply before locking my phone and putting it on my night table as Easton places his head in my lap. "Night you big suck." I say scratching behind his ears.

** Next Morning **

This morning, I got up early and went on an hour run with the dog before coming home to make a protein shake before Alex picked me up for morning practice. Just as I had finished cleaning up the kitchen, the doorbell rang and Easton practically ran to the door while I checked my phone to see who was standing there. "Door's open!" I shout as I hear it open and Alex steps in while Easton gets all excited to see him. "Hey, you big beast! You keeping Austin out of trouble buddy?" He says to Easton as the dog jumps up on him while he scratches behind Easton's floppy ears.

"Hey man, come on in. I just finished cleaning up the kitchen. Just gonna run down to the basement and grab my skates then we're good to go." I say as Alex takes his shoes off and walks toward the kitchen. "Alright, cool." He replies.

When I come back up with my skates in hand, I grab my phone and wallet off the island and grabbed a Gatorade from the fridge. "Bye Easton, be good while I'm gone to practice." I say petting the pup who followed me to the door. "Alright, let's go." I say to Alex as I grab my house keys off the rack before following Alex out the front door.

** At Practice **

"So remember that girl Allison?" I ask as Alex and I walk toward the door to get on the ice. "The girl who dropped the pucks and we helped pick them up at the rink last practice?" He asked. "Yeah, that's her." I reply. "Yeah, I remember." He says as we step out onto the ice. We started skating in silence for a moment before Alex speaks up again. "What about her though?" He asks.

"Well, I gave her my number on a hockey puck right and then after we had run into her at the rink last practice, She texted me later that day. Then I had to take Lana to hockey right and-" I say as Alex cuts me off. "And let me guess, you ran into her at the rink." He exclaims. "Yeah, how'd you know?" I ask. "Because I texted you last night to let you know what time I was picking you up for today's practice and usually you answer within a decent amount of time but then Alana texted me for something since you weren't answering her. So I asked her if she knew what you were up to and she said it had something to do with going to a hockey game." He replied.

"Yeah, sorry about the super late response by the way. I had gone for a bite to eat with Ally after her game." I say as we get to centre ice to stretch as a team. "Wait... So it was her game you went to?!?" He asked with raised eyebrows as I nod. "Let me guess... You drove her home too didn't you?" Alex asks knowing me too well. "Yeah, but we made a stop before I took her home." I reply. "Where?" He asks. "The cabin for a skate on the lake." I say. "Dude, you took her to your secret hideout?" Alex exclaims. "Yeah but I trust her man. I believe she won't tell anyone." I reply.