Caught in the Act

She pulled the oversized hockey jersey over her head, every inch of her being screaming at her in protest. Next she shoved her feet into the clunky Bauer skates, they were two sizes too big and offered no protection for her delicate ankles. She let out a shaky breath laced with frustration and helplessness. She should be here perfecting her Charlotte instead of some hockey drills she'd never attempted before.

“Just the drills” she muttered before stepping on to the ice rink. “Get him through and get back to my dreams,” she lifted a foot attempting the move Sean her shown her with a terrible wobbly form. The hockey skates offered no ankle supports unlike her figure skates that now felt like an extension of her body. 

Far above her the Viper girls tryouts banner glittered in the dim light reminding her how much she was risking being on this hockey rink. 

“ I can do this,” she glared at the flat, rocking chair like torture device on her ankles. “Strides,glides, nothing fancy." She thought mimicking the moves she had watched her brother so flawlessly execute. She attempted a glide but instead of a smooth precise glide, the hockey skates tilted, her feet wobbled and she faceplanted on the cold ice with a hard thud. The impact of the fall sending a shockwave of pain through her hips.

“Son of a—" 

She scrambled to her feet, her cheeks burning even if no one saw her fall. She winced trying to straighten up,she could already feel a bruise forming on her hip. “how did Sean effortlessly nail this with twenty other men trying to kill him?”

She lifted a foot a tried again, this time managing a clumsy lap around the rink. She kept moving trying to make her bad form less obvious and her edges less sloppy. She did more laps, each movement slightly better than the previous.

“ten more minutes," she exhaled and then I leave.” The bruise on her hip stung terribly and her ankles were just a second away from giving way but she ignored and continued anyways, like the devoted self sacrificing sister she was.

Halfway through the fifth lap, a door clicked somewhere in the tunnel making her heart thump wildly in her chest.

Footsteps. Slow, measured, confident followed next. Then the over head lights blazed on flooding the entire arena in blinding light and he emerged from the players tunnel.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Cloth in black trousers and faded practice jersey. He dried his damp hair with a towel and with his other hand carried a duffel bag.

He was Kael Vincent, Northgate's Hockey Captain and a devil in human form. He was no only known for his bad boy image, but for being cold and ruthless, but why was he staring at her that way? 

She remained frozen staring back at the man who had deliberately broken her brother's nose during practice last season still frozen in place at the center of the ice like a deer caught in headlights.

Something in the way he stared at her made her feel unsafe and shy at the same time. He moved closer making her feel more unease and suddenly stopped at the boards, leaning his forearm on the dasher and tilted his head, his expression unreadable. His cold sharp eyes the color of winter steel raked over her from head to foot.

“Wrong rink, Rich.” 

“I..” her voice came out as a tiny squeak.

He held up a hand shutting her up immediately, while pulling out his phone with his other hand. He pointed it towards her and the little red dot at the corner of the screen was blinking.

He'd been recording her.

“Oh no.”

He stepped into the ice and glided towards her, his strides effortless and powerful in a way that made her jealous of the way he moved.

“You know….” He circled round her still staring like she was some puzzle he was trying to solve. 

“ I wondered why Sean would be at the rink this early." He paused, moving closer till she could smell him. 

“Then I saw it " he drawled, his voice sounding like gravel soaked in whiskey. 

“The Charlotte. And that Ina Bauer? So perfectly executed.” He added, his lowered voice tinged with mockery.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Sofia replied in a voice that sounded exactly like Sean's,her twin brother.

“Ouuuu,” you can do his voice too? He chuckled mockingly. Nice one Princess Sofia.” He bowed mockingly.

She didn't know if it was his words or the cold that sent shivers down her spine. She opened her mouth to lie but the words died in her mouth when Kael showed her the video of her ice dancing.

She gulped, staring at Kael who was now smiling. And it was the worst smile she'd ever seen. Slow. Dangerous. And without mercy.

“Let me guess,” he drawled. “ You're helping him pass the mandatory test." He stated leaving no room for denial. “Sean must be really lucky to have a sacrificial lamb for a sister by his side," he mocked still circling her.

“What do you want!” She snapped, his words already getting to her.

Kael's smile widened, he already had her where he wanted. Perfect.

“You have two options,” he smirked.

Option 1: I send this video to your brother's coach. He sees a figure skater impersonating a player, trying to cover up a drug test, committing fraud against the league, his contract is voided and he's blackballed from every team in the country. 

Option 2: I send this to the officials in charge of running the Viper girls, and you get blacklisted before you even get to try out. But you don't have to let me do that do you?

“what do you want from me,” she glared at him. Resisting the urge to wipe off the smirk off his pretty face with a slap.

“I want you to be my girlfriend.” He said, straight for the point, staring like she was some tool.

“what!" 

“Cleanup my messy public image,by making me look good to the public, like I have my life put together.

“Seriously? You think I'll want to be seen with a monster like you?" She scoffed,not noticing how her words froze him for a split section.

“ You don't understand, do you?” He chuckled darkly, his voice turned colder than it was. 

“You don't have a choice here, Sofia. Be my fake girlfriend or I'll show the world how sacrificial and self sabotaging you can be. You have twenty four hours and your time starts now.”

He made a ticking sound with his mouth and glided away, off the rink and into the shadows of the tunnel, from where he emerged. The lights went off seconds later and Sofia plopped down allowing the tears she had been holding in flow freely.

She'd given everything up for Sean, held her head low and stayed small so he could shine. Given up a lot because pursuing them meant outshining Sean, something her parents didn't want.

She sat still, in the silence of the dark arena, lost in thoughts, the weight of everything she'd felt heavy but what was heavier was the realization that she might never be able to say no when it came to Sean. And now she was trapped—by a man she'd never talked to, who was also her brother's enemy holding her future at the tips of his fingers.

She looked up at the Viper girls tryouts banner, it reminded her of her figure skating dream, one that was about to be destroyed by the heartless Kael. Using her hands as support, she pushed herself up,her legs were numb and wobbly from sitting on

the ice for too long. 

She already had an answer—one she didn't want to say out loud.