Meet Me at the Rink

Chapter 24

~ Austin ~

"Ready?" I ask standing up from the bench and looking down at Ally who was just finishing up typing her skates. "Ready." She replies standing up and taking my hand as I lead her out of the dressing room, through the halls and out of the tunnel to the ice surface. "Wow!" She whispers as I open the door on the bench and step out onto the ice. "It's so quiet." She says stepping onto the ice, still holding my hand. "It's nice." I reply as we begin to skate.

We skate around in silence for a few minutes before she speaks. "So this is what it's like after every game? A quiet, empty arena and only some lights on while the rest of the rink is in darkness?" She says. We take short and slow strides along the ice, skating side by side. "Well, it's not always like this. Usually, all the lights are still on after the game and the event staff are still cleaning up but I guess they finished early tonight." I reply.

I look down as a moment of silence passes. When I look up, Ally was a few strides ahead of me. She turns back and looks at me with a smile on her face. "What?" I ask. "Race ya!" She says before turning back and picking up speed. "I'm gonna get ya!" I exclaim as I race after her. "Yeah right!" She shouts. "I'm way faster than you!"She adds as I pick up my pace. "Oh yeah? Is that right?" I ask with a smirk on my face. "We'll see about that!" I add catching up to her.

Once I'm close enough to her, I put my arms out in front of me and snake them around her waist. "Hey!" She exclaims turning to face me. "Gotcha!" I smile as she somewhat loses her balance and falls into me. At that moment, at centre ice, everything is quiet and we're staring into each other's eyes. I find myself leaning in just as Ally moves in at the same time when all of a sudden, our lips meet and begin to move in sync.

When Ally begins to move away from the kiss, I open my eyes and am met with her beautiful blue ones. We stay silent and I look at her, admiring her facial features. "Austin I-" She begins to say nervously. "No I'm sorry I should have asked you first but I..." I reply but am cut off by Ally telling me to stop talking. "Austin, I wasn't going to apologize." Ally says. "Oh." Is all I manage to say.

"What I was going to say is that..." She begins to say as she starts to get nervous. I look at her giving her a reassuring smile. "I... I like you Austin." She says, cheeks full of blush. "Ally... I like you too. I like you so much that there's something that I'd like to ask you." I say beginning to get nervous but when I look up at Ally, all the nerves disappear as I take hold of her hands.

"Allison, will you be my girlfriend?" I ask as I look at her, her eyes sparkling in the spotlight at centre ice. She's standing there in front of me silently, a huge smile from cheek to cheek. "Well, aren't you gonna say something?" I ask sarcastically. "Of course, I will!" She exclaims wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me while my arms are wrapped around her waist.

"I've got something for you." I say pulling a puck from my back pocket. I hand it to her as she reads what I wrote on it. For my beautiful girlfriend, I love you! Love Austin. "Aww, you're so cute!" She smiles looking from the puck up to me. "I love you!" She says. "I love you too!" I reply.