On Ice

OI Chapter 6

She tasted so sweet and when she’d exhaled against my lips, I’d tried to deepen the kiss, but her tongue slid sensuously against my lower lip and the feeling went straight to my groin. My other hand rose to fist in her hair and pull her closer. Without even changing the pressure of the kiss, she shifted to lie curled against my side, partially resting on my chest. The fingers of one hand tugged gently on her hair before slithering through the silky strands to stroke along her jaw. I could feel the throb of her pulse beneath my palm and she’d just opened her mouth to me when my fucking phone started to ring.

Recognizing the ring tone, I pulled away with a deep sigh. Stroking my index finger along her swollen lower lip, I told her, “Sorry, I have to answer this.”

Calla’s eyes were still wide with surprise, but she nodded and rested her head against my shoulder. She was staring at me with wonder and her hand tentatively rose to rest palm flat against my chest over my heart. One of my arms was still wrapped around her, so with the free one, I dug into my jean pocket and fished out my phone. I wanted to ignore the call, but if I did, Russ would probably just call the house next. Russ your timing sucks balls, I thought sourly. It occurred to me for a second to answer his call that way, but then he’d want an explanation.

So instead, I answered the call, “Hey Russ, how’s Denver?”

“It’d be better if you were here to be my wingman,” he responded instantly, club music blaring loud in the background. “But that’s not why I called. You went over to my place with groceries yesterday, right?”

“Yeah,” I responded.

“Did you see Calla? I tried calling her three or four times yesterday, but she didn’t answer and I got the machine when I called the house. I’ve tried a couple of times today and she’s still not picking up,” he informed me. I glanced down at Calla with a frown. I hadn’t seen her with her phone all day. Did she even have it with her?

“Oh yeah, she was home when I was there. I took her to dinner and we watched the game. Sorry about the loss man, wish I’d been there,” was all I managed to say before Russ interrupted me.

“That’s nice, but the real reason I’m calling is because I got a weather alert about three hours ago. Minnehaha has a severe thunderstorm warning until 3am and I’m worried that the power’s gone out and Calla’s flipping out in the dark. If you’re not doing anything, could you swing by and check on her,” he asked.

I was quiet for a moment. In a jerky, round about way it was nice of Russ to have added an application to his phone that alerted him to the weather conditions at home. It sort of pissed me off that he’d waited three hours to call me though. I suppose I could forgive him an hour, since he’d probably been trying to get a hold of Calla, but still. What about the other two? The background music got so loud then, that I had to move the phone away from my ear. A feminine giggle and Russ murmuring something to someone on the other end kind of put it in perspective for me.

“Is Calla your wife baby,” a woman’s voice whined.

“Nah, she’s my sister sugar, nothing to worry about,” Russ reassured her, before he switched back to talking to me, “So could you do that for me man? Could you swing by and make sure she hasn’t burned the house down… or worse?”

My eyes narrowed and I really wished that the douche bag was standing in front of me, so I could lay him out. Like Calla would really burn his house down. She was more capable of cooking than he was. And despite the fact that I knew she was hurting inside, grieving still, I seriously doubted that she would do anything to hurt anyone else or herself. She just wasn’t that kind of person. Yeah, it sounds like you’re really worried about your sister numb nuts.

“Yeah, I could do that,” I responded slowly.

“Okay, great. I’ll talk to you later,” Russ said and the call ended. Thank you Mr. Fun Police, for ruining the mood, I thought irritably. My best friend’s priorities were seriously fucked up. Instead of going to some bar somewhere trying to score, he should’ve been more concerned with getting a hold of his sister. Dropping my phone on the floor and knocking it across the carpet a few feet, I blew out a disgusted sigh. Calla was absorbed in her movie again, and my lip curled in disgust when I realized it was one of those Twilight movies. It was almost sacrilege to see it playing on my TV screen. The instinct to find the remote and turn it was unbearable, but I kept myself from doing it because it made Calla happy.

Relaxing with a grumble, I caught snippets of the dialogue, but my attention was riveted on Calla’s face. I could tell just by watching her expression that she was really into the story and while it was just a step above cheesy for me, it spoke volumes about her personality. She believed in love, but not just your average run of the mill kind, no she wanted the full on kismet soul mates kind of love. And as she cried near the end, I could tell that she also believed that that kind of love was worth sacrificing everything for. It was a deeply disturbing thought, after considering our recent kiss. Was that what she thought she’d found in me?

The question scared me. The hair on my arms rose and I took a panicky breath. I know I wanted to be with her, in many ways, but I didn’t love her. I couldn’t love her, not like that. Staring down at the top of her head, I felt uncertain now. Had I made my decision too hastily? I hadn’t really factored in what she might be feeling or would feel if we started seeing each other. Damn, maybe I wasn’t much better than Russ, just thinking about what I wanted, going after it until I got it and not really thinking about what would happen when I got what I wanted.

A squeal distracted me from my deep thoughts and I looked down into Calla’s smiling face. “What are you so excited about,” I asked.

“It’s a marathon,” she purred, “They’re playing all the Twilight movies back to back! This is so great! Do you have any popcorn?”

Seriously? Could this get any worse?

　

　

A couple of hours later, I regretted ever having uttered those words, even if I hadn’t said them out loud. I’d popped Calla microwave popcorn that I’d had to run to the nearest convenience store to pick up and sat through two more Twilight films. I suffered through it all just to make her happy. The only redeeming thing about the whole three and a half hours of the vampire, werewolf, and human girl love triangle was that I’d spent it cuddled up with Calla. When the credits rolled for the last movie, I stretched and reached for the remote. Pointing it at the TV, I flipped the power off and the room descended into darkness. I felt her stiffen next to me instantly. Tightening the arm I had around her waist, I pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head and another beside her left eye.

“It’s past my bedtime,” I told her, dropping another kiss next to the corner of her mouth. “I’m going to use the bathroom and hit the hay. And I’m not going to be a gentleman, I’m sleeping in the bed, it’s up to you where you want to sleep.”

In the darkness my hand found her chin and turned her head toward me. The last kiss, I lingered over, before releasing her mouth and unwinding my arms. Getting up was the last thing I wanted to do. But I wanted her to set the pace. If we were going to get hot and heavy I wanted that to be her call. If she wasn’t ready for that and wanted slow and steady, well it’d be frustrating as hell, but I’d do it for her. Pushing to my feet, I slowly made my way out of the living room, through my bedroom and into the bathroom. Immediately I spotted her clothes hanging on my shower curtain rod and my gut tightened. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes slid closed and I felt the anticipation grow thick in my stomach. When I opened the door, would I find her curled up in my bed or would it be empty?

Author Note:

Hey guys! I hope you’re enjoying On Ice so far. Two quick things and I’ll get out of your hair. First up, has anyone had any brilliant ideas for Russ and Kale’s hockey team name? I’m still coming up with a big, fat goose egg, so I’ll have to work on that. And finally, what do you think should happen? Should Calla bed down in the living room? Or do you think she should take a walk on the wild side and crawl into Kale’s bed? Of course, both of those ideas pose all sorts of interesting plot possibilities, but I’ll get to that sometime Sunday morning. I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say!