His Icy Regret: I Quit My Hockey Secret Lover's Wet Sheet

Hazel’s POV.

The room was filled with the rhythmic, wet sound of skin hitting skin. His large, calloused fingers gripped my breasts, squeezing possessively.

Each time Marco thrust into me, it felt devastatingly deep. I tilted my head back, swallowing a moan into my dry throat as our sweat mingled in a pleasure heat.

I was still on his lap when the TV screen suddenly lit up. The voice from the speakers drowned out the sound of our breathing

"...Big news! Frost Titans captain, Marco Marten, has reportedly proposed to the daughter of Hundreds Rising Entertainment's owner, Cassandra Sinclaire. The wedding of the century is about to take place—"

My body froze.

A high-pitched ringing started in my ears, a long, scratching drone that felt like a needle dragging across my eardrums.

No way… my boyfriend is… getting married? To another woman?

But Marco didn’t stop. He thrust into me again, even more intensely as if he hadn’t heard a single word. The movement jolted my body forward.

I grabbed his shoulders, trying to stop his demanding movements inside me. My fingers are digging into the hard muscle of his back.

"Is that true?" My voice came out as a barely audible whisper.

He merely glanced at the screen, his jaw clenched. His gaze commanded me to turn off the screen immediately, and his deepening movements seemed to be drilling into my nerves, forcing me to obey his rhythm.

"Marco, is it true?" I asked again, my voice cracking. I pushed against his broad chest with all my remaining strength. "Answer me!"

He let out a low, guttural curse. “Do you really have to? We were having a good time.”

He stopped moving, but he remained inside me, locking me in place so I couldn't escape. He stared at me with his icy blue-gray eyes, eyes that usually looked at me with a warmth that only I supposed to know

Please, tell me it's just another gossip piece like the ones before. I pleaded, searching his face for a lie. But…

"Yeah," he replied calmly. "That's true. The official statement will be out in a few days. Why are you making a fuss about it now?"

"...making a fuss?"

The air left my lungs instantly. The heat that had consumed me seconds ago turned into needles of ice under my skin. I couldn't even feel the tips of my fingers anymore.

Gosh, what is this?

I forced myself off his lap, my legs trembling slightly as I stood, ignoring the sting of his gaze following me.

I pulled the thin blanket tighter over my bare chest.

"You're getting married? To Cassandra?" My voice trembled, confirming a reality I wanted to deny.

Marco released a long, irritated sigh. The sound carried a clear annoyance as he looked at me like I was some bothersome puzzle.

“I told you it was true. Why keep asking?" Marco stood, effortlessly showing off his athletic physique as he walked to the table and grabbed a bottle of mineral water.

"It's only a matter of time, Hazel. Cassandra is the reasonable choice."

I laughed. The sound came out dry, like the scraping of a knife on an empty plate.

“What… about me?”

He looked at me and said nothing.

For over two years, I had lived as his secret lover. I gave him my body, my time, and my heart. Who was I to resist the temptation of my long-time crush when he wanted me, or at least, wanted my body?

Several texts asking how I was doing, the boxes of my favorite donuts he’d bring when we met, or the mischievous smile he’d send my way from across the ice rink, and most of all, how he would always find me afterward just to pull me into his arms…

…I truly thought he loved me.

I thought that was simply the way a cold man like him showed that I mattered, without needing to say the words. I believed actions spoke louder than anything else. But, in the end…

"Why are you laughing?" Marco turned, looking at me with a frown.

"Isn’t it funny?" I whispered through my laughter. "You said she was a reasonable choice?"

“Yeah. I have to marry someone in the same position as me, a good woman."

My world collapsed at that point, but I couldn't stop laughing.

I stared at the TV screen, staring at Cassandra's perfect face. If Cassandra was a good woman, then I, a woman who spreads her legs for him, what was I?

I'm not a slut, but they were probably more respectable than I. At least they were paid.

As for me? I was a free service he always had at his disposal whenever he felt hungry. He used my love as a lubricant for his pleasure, and now I'm being discarded with the label of not good enough to marry.

“We’ve been together for over two years!”

“I know. But marriage is different, Hazel. I can’t just marry a random woman, can I?”

Random?

I clenched my jaw, my eyes burning and stinging. My lower body was still throbbing from his brutal friction just minutes ago, but my logic was much clearer now. Pain had a way of sharpening reality.

“We’re done, Marco,” I said firmly, though my hands trembled violently beneath the blanket. “Don’t ever contact me again. I… don’t want to see you anymore.”

Marco snorted, smoothing his messy blonde hair with his fingers. He walked over, grabbing my wrist before I could get out of bed. The blanket nearly slipped from my grasp, but I held it tight.

I didn’t want him to see even a small piece of me.

“Come here. You’re so angry that you’re threatening to leave?” He tugged me closer, urging me into his arms. “Hazel, don’t be like this. I know you can’t do it.”

He leaned closer, fixing me with a look that made me want to disappear. “You love me. Are you sure you can live without seeing me?”

I tasted salt in my mouth.

He always knew that I was a prisoner of my own feelings. That I stayed because I loved him. That I tolerated being hidden because I kept hoping he'd one day look at me in the light and call our relationship something grand.

"Yeah, I'm sure I can," I said, my voice cold.

Marco raised his eyebrows, seemingly amused by my resistance. “So what? My marriage won’t change anything between us. We’ll still see each other like this, just like always.”

For a split second, I wondered if I had heard him wrong. “...What did you say?”

“I told you,” he replied. “Even after I’m married, I’ll still see you. So what exactly are you unhappy about?”