Birthday Or Wreck day?
“Thirty minutes wait won’t harm you, Alice. Dean will soon be here. I want him to meet you!”
Aunt Carol called after me as I hurried out of my room, a large gift box in my hands.
“His arrival can wait, Aunt Carol. My boyfriend’s birthday cannot.” I adjusted my grip on the box. “And, respectfully, I will always choose my boyfriend over your friend’s son, regardless of how much of a hockey star he is.”
Aunt Carol gave me a look that suggested she had several things to say about that, but I was already heading for the door.
Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have liked hockey at all if my boyfriend and younger brother didn’t play. Even then, I only paid attention to the two of them. Chase was my boyfriend, and Connor was a rising hockey player in his own right. Everyone else on the ice could skate into the sunset for all I cared.
“You’re so stubborn,” Aunt Carol muttered, following me outside. She helped me carry the gift box to my motorcycle before glancing at it with narrowed eyes. “And tell me something, young lady. Don’t you think this is a little too much for a man you’re not yet engaged to?”
“Auntie,” I warned.
“What?” She raised both hands innocently. “I’m not judging. I’m simply observing. There’s a difference.”
“Is there?”
“Of course. Judging would be me saying you’ve lost your senses. Observing is me wondering whether you’ve misplaced them temporarily.”
I gave her a flat look.
She sighed. “It’s just… that boy you’re dating… Never mind. I won’t ruin your evening.”
“Good. Silence looks lovely on you.”
“See? Stubborn.”
I laughed under my breath as she helped me settle the gift box in front of me on the bike. Once I had climbed onto the seat, Aunt Carol folded her arms and gave me another once-over.
“And you couldn’t dress up a little? It’s your boyfriend’s birthday, for God’s sake! Must you always look like you’re about to repair a leaking pipe?”
I glanced down at my beige sweatshirt and black joggers before gesturing at my outfit.
“You know this is my thing.” I gave her a sweet smile. “Don’t get emotional now.”
Aunt Carol nodded dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest as though my outfit had personally wounded her.
“It’s both adorable and dreadfully rebellious, the way you’re addicted to these motorcycles. Honestly, Alice, if you ever fall in love with anything more than you love that bike, I’ll ask the heavens to bear witness.”
“At least you think it’s adorable.” My smile softened a little. “I wish Mum could think the same.”
My mother and Aunt Carol had been best friends for years, long before I was born. Aunt Carol was married to my dad’s elder brother, which meant her house had always felt like a second home to me. I had chosen to go to college here in Winston Salem, so I could live with her. And sometimes, I felt closer to her than I did to my own mother.
“Your mum means well, though,” Aunt Carol said gently. “She just—”
“Don’t say more, Aunt. I love you.”
I leaned forward and pecked her cheek before she could finish.
She let out a small sigh, but I caught the fond smile tugging at her lips.
As I adjusted myself on the bike, she shook her head at the gift box again.
“Whatever is in there, I still think it’s too much. When your uncle and I were courting, I didn’t give him half the things you’re giving that boy. Hartley did all the work. And he was my professor, so you can imagine the kind of effort he had to make to impress me.”
I snorted.
“I’ve known you for the past twenty-two years of my life, Aunt Carol. There’s nothing you could tell me now that would come as news.”
If only I knew how wrong I was.
There were plenty of things I didn’t know. Things that had been hidden from me, sacrifices made to protect me since I was little.
But I knew none of that then.
All I knew was that I was running late for my boyfriend’s birthday.
Aunt Carol’s expression softened as she stepped back from the motorcycle.
“Fine. Go and have fun. And don’t worry, I won’t tell your mother you rode that thing again.”
I couldn’t help smiling.
Sometimes, I forgot that Carol wasn’t my mother. We were that close. She understood me in ways Mum sometimes struggled to, even if she could be annoyingly dramatic about the smallest things.
Still, my dad would always be my favorite person in the world. He was the one who had gotten me addicted to motorcycles in the first place, and no matter how much Mum complained about my obsession, he had never managed to talk me out of it.
“Don’t tell Dad either,” I added. “He might not mind, but he tells his wife everything.” I wore my helmet.
Aunt Carol opened her mouth.
“Don’t be reckless tonigh…”
I was already revving the engine.
“See you soon, Aunt Carol!”
Then I zoomed off before she could finish whatever warning she had planned to give me.
I couldn’t wait to see Chase.
I couldn’t wait to watch his eyes light up when he saw what I had bought him. I had spent so much time choosing the gifts, wanting everything to be perfect because he deserved it. At least, that was what I believed.
And tonight was going to be special for another reason.
After three years of dating, I had finally decided I was ready to give him my virginity. It felt right. I loved him, trusted him, and believed we were ready to take that step together.
Besides, I had helped him secure the assistant captain’s role on his hockey team through my uncle, Zayne Carter. Chase didn’t even know I had played a part in it, and I had no intention of telling him. I had done it because I believed in him, because I wanted to see him succeed.
I wanted tonight to be a celebration of him, of us, of everything I thought we were building together.
By the time I arrived at his party, I was practically glowing with excitement.
That excitement lasted all of three seconds.
The moment I stepped into his compound, the gift box still cradled carefully in my arms, I saw Chase kneeling in front of a girl I recognized immediately.
Kylie Declan.
His coach’s daughter.
Chase held a ring between his fingers, looking up at her with an expression I had always imagined he would wear when he finally made a grand romantic gesture for me.
“I promise to be the best you’ve ever had, Kylie,” he said, his voice carrying through the outdoor gathering. “Will you marry me?”
For a moment, my entire body went still.
Then Kylie smiled, a beautiful, damning grin spreading across her face as she held out her hand.
“Yes, Chase.”
The people surrounding them erupted into cheers and applause.
Chase rose to his feet, slipped the diamond ring onto her finger, and kissed her.
The diamond ring looked ridiculously expensive, making the promise ring I still had on my finger feel like a joke. I thought he was broke.
And just like that, the world I had been so excited to walk into twisted into something ugly and dark.
