CHAPTER TEN-SKATES AND KISSES

CHAPTER TEN

When Ridley proposed "letting loose," the first thing I thought of was a club and getting wasted. After all, he had already offered me a cup of wine. I was insistent on refusing and going back to work. He kept trying to get me to accept, but I was hellbent on going back to Stetson Hotel despite the backlash I expected to receive after what had happened. Multiple articles had already started appearing, and Ridley had shown me some of them.

The last thing I expected was to end up in an ice skating rink. This was Ridley Stetson, the infamous bad boy, and Cassanova, an ice rink, was the last place I thought he would bring a person to as an idea of fun. I looked at him like he was an alien when he led me to get a pair of ice skates.

"Don't look at me like that. I skate all the time." He turned back to me before looking back at the person that was giving out the skates. "What's your size?" He turned to me again.

"Um, it's-"

"We have adjustable sizes, actually." The man behind the stand answered before grabbing a random pair and handing them to Ridley.

Ridley got a pair for himself as well and led the way to the seats around the rink. He helped me wear the skates, and I thanked him once they were on and tightened properly. I stood up and somehow managed not to fall on the ice, and Ridley joined after he wore his skates.

"I didn't know you could ice skate," He acknowledged while he skillfully rounded me.

"I can't actually," I replied and tried to do more than stand and keep my balance. "I once tried it in high school, but I sucked."

He chuckled and let out his hand, "Here, let me be your guide."

There was something about his smile that was painfully nostalgic, and it felt like I had stood right there in front of him, looking only at his smile while his hand reached out to me. I put my hand in his, and before I knew it, he was guiding me effortlessly.

I smiled as we rounded the rink, spinning, and Ridley helping me out. The cold air actually bit at my skin, but it also felt amazing, I could feel my hair moving and the adrenaline rushing in my veins.

I still had the slight fear that I could fall and plummet to my ass but with Ridley holding me up and guiding me, I felt like letting go and being carefree.

"See, you're totally relaxed now," Ridley said after a while of skating, and I smiled at him.

"This is so amazing!"

We spent the rest of the evening skating, and at some point, Ridley let me skate without his support. Even though I was still terrible at it, I felt immense happiness when I would lose my balance and almost fall to the ground.

"I'm not all alcohol and sex," Ridley defended himself after I told him about what I thought his idea of fun would be when we were in the car.

"Tell that to your family and the media," I replied, and he laughed before he put the car into drive.

"What would my family know? They all hate me."

"That's not true...Mr Stetson once told me about how he adores you."

Ridley laughed. "He's just terribly guilty and sorry towards me. Everyone knows he thinks of me as a mistake."

"Rid-"

He cut me off, "Let's not talk about this."

I nodded and kept quiet. Ridley despised his family, which was clear to any stranger, and a large portion of that hate was directed at his father. It was understandable, Emmett Stetson had left Ridley's mother pregnant and gone back to his wife and even though Ridley had received all the support growing up, it must have been hard being known as Emmett Stetson's bastard son.

Mr Stetson had once caught me glaring at Ridley from across the room during one of their family dinners, and I remember vividly how he had told me that Ridley was just bitter and angry. He had gone on about how he wished he could rectify his mistakes and be a better father. Ridley clearly either didn't know about his father's feelings or wished not to believe him and keep his vendetta going strong.

"Let's talk about how you are always glaring at me and looking at me like I'm your enemy." Ridley broke through the silence that had formed in the car.

I groaned, and he laughed. "What's all that about? I've never done anything to you." He asked and I hid my face with my hands.

"It's nothing personal, I don't even hate you," I told him, and he raised an eyebrow as if not convinced.

"I swear, it's just Aston would come back home and keep going on about how you make work more unbearable, and you're a pain in the ass, plus your reputation isn't the best."

"Huh? So you hate me because of your husband?"He looked at me for a second before looking back at the road.

"When you put it like that, I sound like an idiot."

He laughed, making me smile lightly. Seeing him laugh in a carefree manner kind of made me see him in a new light. He did always look carefree from afar, but there was something different right now, it did not look like he was putting on a show. He almost looked younger and like he did not carry so much hate in his soul.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked after a moment, and I realised that I had been staring for too long.

"Um, nothing...you-you just share an uncanny resemblance with Ashton." I lied, but it was true. He reminded me so much of Ashton.

"Ugh! Don't ever say that again." He groaned jokingly, and I laughed.

Before I knew it, we reached my house and he stopped in front. I looked back at him after removing my seatbelt.

"Thanks; today was not as terrible as I had thought it would be," I told him, and he smiled.

"You're my partner now, I'll be sure to lift your mood when you feel down."

I grabbed my purse and kissed him on the cheek before getting out of the car. "See you tomorrow." I waved and he nodded before driving out of my yard.

I took in a deep breath before walking into the house. Just like every other day, it was silent and depressive. Like routine, I took off my jacket and put my purse and jacket on the couch before walking to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of wine. It didn't take long for me to gulp down one glass and I was about to pour a second glass for myself when I heard footsteps.

Ashton entered the kitchen in only a pair of grey sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He looked at me and I sighed. He had no right to be here, not after everything that had happened, and just because I decided to choose his brother, he was now back in our house moving around and acting domestic.

"Janelle-"

I raised a hand to shush him. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"This is our house, I can be here too." He replied. I poured the wine into the cup and took a big sip.

"Ashton, you haven't been here for months, and you expect me to believe you aren't here just because of Ridley and what's happening?" I asked rhetorically with an unimpressed look.

He moved from the door and came closer. "Janelle, you know that Ridley is trouble. Stay away from him."

I laughed. "No, sorry...you know "I'm sorry, Janelle, I was a bastard and said terrible things"...none of that? You're just going to start going off about what a terrible person Ridley is?" I rolled my eyes. "Why are you here? To tell me to stay away from Ridley? To say he's a terrible person and I should steer clear of him? Is that it?... If so, then you can leave."

He remained silent for a couple of seconds before reaching out to me with his hand and I shuffled away.

"I'm sorry, Janelle. I said stuff I didn't mean in the morning but please promise me you'll stay away from Ridley. If this is your way to get back at me, okay, but you have to know that Ridley is scum."

"Then you are a bigger piece of scum. You left me when I needed you most and now you're here warning me about someone that is actually helping me." I countered and Ashton laughed bitterly.

"Help you? Ridley doesn't help anyone other than himself. He's using you to get to me."

I looked at him like he was a fool. "I don't know why he would do that, I'm clearly not important in your life anymore. If he wants to get to you, the best way would have been through that slut."

"Jan-"

"Shut up!" I stopped him once more. The sound of my name rolling off his tongue was bittersweet, a reminder of all the times he had called me so lovingly and also a reminder of the times when he would yell and take Dorothy's side.

"Leave me be, and if Ridley wants to ruin you I'm not all against it," I told him, I could see the hurt over his facial features but he moved closer to me and before I knew it his mouth was against mine.

In a mere matter of seconds, my lips moved against his, and I would have loved to blame it on muscle memory, but a huge part of me missed this...missed him. His hands moved up my chest hungrily and I kissed him back with as much fervour and want. The taste of his lips was so familiar and what I had craved for months on end. His touch ignited every part of my body, but just as he was about to deepen the kiss, Dorothy's face flashed through my mind, and the fact that he had kissed her just like this made me push him away.

"Lo-" He started after I pushed him away.

"Fuck off!" I cussed at him, angrily and breathless before storming out of the kitchen and going up the stairs.

I couldn't bare staying in our room, I saw his clothes on the bed and his watch by the bedside and resorted to getting my clothes and going to the guestroom. I took a bath in the guest room, changed into the fresh clothes I got and lay on the bed.

Ashton came by the door multiple times, pleading for me to open and hear him out but I kept my resolve strong and after what felt like forever, he stopped and I only heard the door to our room close.