My first hockey game turned out to be more exciting than I’d ever thought. Dylan had ended up in the sin bin, as Lorelai put it, more in this game than any other. The boys had lost, and Lorelai explained they had to win tonight if they were to go on to the finals. I almost felt like it was my fault they’d lost, even though I knew it wasn’t.
I rolled over and stared at the clock. I figured I’d have heard from Dylan by now. It was after midnight. The game had ended over two hours ago, but my phone had remained silent. I placed my book on my side table and was just about to reach up and shut off my book light when my door opened.
“You still awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Hear anything yet?” she asked, coming in and sitting on the end of my bed.
I’d always been thankful to have Lorelai in my life. She was always there when I needed her, but right now, all I wanted to do was talk to Dylan and find out exactly what had happened tonight and if he knew about the rumours that were running rampant.
“No,” I said, letting out a sigh.
“I talked to Phil a few minutes ago. He said Dylan’s pissed, so I’m sure he’s probably just blowing off steam with the guys. Don’t sweat it, he’ll message tomorrow.”
“Is your brother out with everyone?”
“No, he always goes back to his room and calls Candace.”
“That’s nice of him. Well, thanks for the update, I guess. Sleep well,” I said, my voice clearly reflecting my disappointment.
Lorelai got up and went to leave my room, when I stopped her.
“So, you seemed to get along with Knox well the other night.”
She shook her head. “Don’t even start. I knew him once, a long time ago, and let me tell you, I’d never go down that path.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as she continued shaking her head as she made her way to my bedroom door.
“You say that about everyone that you date or could be a potential date.” I giggled.
“Well, that’s because some truly deserve it, and I never dated him, nor would I, so that statement is no longer true.” She giggled. “Sleep well. Oh, Aurora, do me a favour and never mention that man’s name to me again.” She giggled.
Chapter 15
Dylan
Everyone was silent as we finished dinner. Penelope sat across from my father and Aurora sat across from me. I looked up to see her drag her fork around her plate, shoving at the remains of her dinner. She lifted her eyes and met mine, giving me a soft smile.
The silence in the room was unbearable, and the tension could be cut with a knife. My father cleared his throat and immediately Aurora looked back down at her plate.
“Aurora, why don’t you help your mother clean up? I want to talk with Dylan alone,” he said, placing his empty wineglass down on the table with a little more force than I expected.
“Joe, she doesn’t need to help, it’s fine,” Penelope said, grabbing my plate and placing it on top of hers.
“She does,” Joe barked before getting up from his chair and looking over at me. “She’ll do as she is told to do in this house.”
Aurora met my eyes and winced, then, with shaking hands, she reached over for my father’s plate, while the tension in the room continued to grow.
“Let’s go,” my father barked at me and headed down the hall toward his office.
I was expecting this mood from my father. What I wasn’t expecting was to find Aurora here for dinner. My father had called me just after I’d called Aurora last night. I’d just finished explaining everything to her about what she’d seen on the news and was relieved to find out that she was going to stand by my side. We’d said good night, and I’d just pulled out of the parking lot, when my phone rang again. My father wasn’t so understanding. He barked at me the entire drive home and then demanded I show up today. He’d put me in an unbelievably bad mood, not to mention confrontational, which had carried over into today.
“What?” I barked as I walked into his office and slammed the door shut.
“Sit the fuck down and don’t slam doors in this house.”
I leaned against the back of the chair on the opposite side of my father’s desk. I wasn’t putting up with this shit today. My father turned around and looked at me.
