Chapter 33

                                    

                                          
Reed
The locker room door creaked open, and I looked up, expecting to see one of the guys or maybe a coach. Instead, there she was—Grace, standing in the doorway, her eyes searching the room for me. My heart skipped a beat despite my irritation.
"Grace?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "What are you doing here?"
My eyes caught a glimpse of our wedding ring in her finger. She was still wearing it. Just like me.
She hesitated, taking a step inside. "I needed to see you."
I could see the remnants of tears on her cheeks, and it pained me to see her like this, but my frustration over the situation and the mess we were in was still fresh. "Uh."
"Why did they kick you out of the game?" She asked in a whisper.
"A guy from the other team and I had a fight." 
"What was the fight about?" She looked at me worried. "You are bleeding." 
"He said something."
"Was it about the pic–"
"Of course, he saw the fucking pictures, Grace. He was trying to get on my fucking head."
"I'm sorry." She whispered. 
"Why are you here?" I asked again. "I've been calling you and you haven't responded."
"I turned off my phone after the pictures went out." 
"Uh."
She stepped closer, her fingers brushing against my face, wiping the blood from my lip before I could stop her. Her touch was so familiar, so painful, that I found myself frozen in place. And when her lips touched mine, I didn't pull away.
For a moment, I let myself forget. I let myself feel the warmth of her body, the taste of her kiss. God, I missed her.
My hands lingered against her hips and pushed her against me. A moan escaped her lips when she noticed my erection against her. 
I sat in one of the benches and pulled Grace against my lap. I had her legs between my hips and I pulled up her skirt and threw her panties away. 
"Reed..."
I put a hand in her lips. If she was too loud someone could hear and walk in on us. 
I pulled out the dick of my pants and introduced it inside Grace's pussy. She moaned against my hand while she rode my cock. 
"Keep going." I groaned. 
Grace kept jumping against my hips until we both reached a spot. She shaked against my hips and grabbed my back, while my fingers dug in her ass. 
Quickly I took her out and tried to get away from her. I didn't want to see her again. After fucking her one last time I realized that the only thing I felt for her now was anger. All that was left was the hollow feeling inside me.
"Reed, wait!" she said, pulling down her long skirt and putting back her panties. 
She saw that I was ignoring her, and grabbed my arm and tried pulling close to her again. 
"Reed..."
"Stop it, Grace."
"Please, I–"
"You ruined my fucking life, Grace. You don't realize that, do you?" I barked. "I can't never play hockey again because of the fucking fight. Now, everyone thinks I'm too rough to go pro." 
Realization hit her face. "I'm sorry."
"That's not enough." I mumbled looking down at her. 
"I'm so sorry, Reed." She had started crying again. "Wha–what can I do?"
"Nothing," I said quietly, my voice tired, defeated. "You can't fix this."
"You can't fix this," I repeated, my voice softening, the weight of everything pressing down on me. Grace stood there, her eyes wide with desperation, but I couldn't find it in me to comfort her. Not anymore.
"I don't want to see you again," I finally said, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. "Ever."
Her face crumpled, more tears spilling down her cheeks, but she didn't move. She didn't try to stop me as I turned and walked away, leaving the locker room, leaving her, leaving everything we'd had behind.
And as the door closed behind me, a hollow ache settled deep in my chest, but I kept walking. Because no matter how much I still loved her, sometimes love just isn't enough.