Chapter 26

I woke up with my head resting on Corey’s chest. I stretched, which caused Corey to stir. He groaned and pulled me back to him. With a smile I went willingly. It had been a week since he’d ended things with Ileana, and I couldn’t be happier. I placed a kiss on his chest and looked up at him.

“Did the alarm go off and I missed it?” he asked, without opening his eyes.

“No.”

“Then why the hell are we awake?” I smiled and held back my laugh.

“For someone who has to wake up by 8 every morning, you sure are grumpy,” I joked.

He made some sort of whiny noise, pushed me off his chest and rolled over, turning his back to me. I wasn’t deterred. I rolled towards him, slinging an arm around him and placing my head on his shoulder. He repeated the whiny noise.

“What? I thought you liked morning sex?” I asked. He immediately shot around to face me.

“Oh, I do,” he said with a smile as he shoved me onto my back. His lips connected with mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

A little while later I cooked him an omelet for breakfast and then said goodbye as he left for practice. I cleaned up the kitchen and got ready to meet my trainer. After a workout that should have been tough but seemed ridiculously easy I walked out of the gym and headed to my car.

“Amelia! How are things going with Corey?” I heard someone yell.

I turned around to see who was asking, stunned. We hadn’t gone anywhere in public since the argument and no one had announced our relationship. I was greeted by a guy holding a camera in my face. I rolled my eyes, glad I had sunglasses on to disguise it.

“Fine,” I responded as I continued on to my car.

“Are you two a couple now after the last blowout? I heard you used to date back in high school!” he called. It never ceased to amaze me the kind of information people could get about you.

I chose not to respond and got into my car, shutting the door before the guy had a chance to say anything else. I shook my head as I drove out of the parking lot. Dealing with paparazzi was one part of my job I’d never get used to.

I’d considered going out to dinner with Corey that night, but changed my mind. I wasn’t ready for the media circus that would surround us quite yet. We were still getting back into being a couple, and that was the last thing we needed to deal with.

Not wanting to be alone, I drove over to Brianna’s instead of going home. She was on the phone when I got there. She put a hand up to me to tell me to hold on, so I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. When she hung up she came to find me, grabbing a bottle herself.

“Romantic comedy or drama?” she asked me, taking a seat next to me at the table. I raised my eyebrows in interest.

“Tell me about them.”

Brianna explained the premise for each of the offers, but it was too early to make a decision. I asked her to have scripts sent over as soon as possible for me to read them. She said she would, then asked me about Corey.

“It’s everything it always was before, except better,” I told her with a grin on my face. She smiled back. That was when something shiny caught my attention. “What the hell is this?” I asked grabbing her hand and looking at the enormous diamond sitting on the ring finger of her left hand.

“It just happened last night!” she squealed. I did too, and threw my arms around her in a hug.

“Congratulations, Bri! I’m so happy for you guys! Tell me all about it,” I demanded.

“I can do you one better,” she said as she stood up. Confused, I followed her out of the kitchen and into her living room. She turned on the TV, hit a button, and a video popped up. “I’ve been watching it all morning.”

I watched as Brianna and Ryan appeared on the screen. She was standing at the entrance of the ice at the practice arena and shaking her head. Ryan was obviously trying to coax her out onto the ice and she didn’t want to go.

“Sweetie, come on. I won’t let go, I promise,” Ryan said. Brianna finally gave in and grabbed his hand. She took a few tentative steps on the ice before Ryan gave her instructions. She followed them and began to skate around the rink hand in hand with him.

“It’s not so bad,” Brianna joked as they went.

“You’re a natural,” Ryan returned. They skated over to the boards where Ryan grabbed a hockey stick and a puck.

“What is that?” Brianna asked.

“You’re kidding, right?” Ryan returned. Brianna smacked him on the shoulder.

“Why are you holding out a hockey stick to me?” she asked.

“You’re going to shoot this puck into that net with this stick,” Ryan replied pointing to one end of the ice. It took Brianna a little more coaxing to agree to do it.

“Why am I doing this?” she asked as she lined up at the hash marks.

“If you miss, you get what’s in the left hand. If you score, you get what’s in the right. Trust me, you want to score.” She looked at him skeptically but then concentrated on the puck. A minute later she took a swing and the puck didn’t even come close.

“Alright, what do I get?” she asked as Ryan skated over to her.

He took his left hand out from behind his back. Brianna’s annoyed expression turned to one of surprise as she saw the tiny box. She took it from his hand and hesitated before opening it. Then her face went from surprise to confusion.

“It’s empty,” she said to him.

“You missed,” he said simply. He turned and started to skate away.

“Hey, I can’t skate on my own, you bastard!” she yelled at him.

“If you can skate over here on your own, you can have what’s in this hand,” Ryan said, holding up his right fist.

“You’re on.” Brianna looked like she’d been skating for years as she made her way to him. Ryan opened his hand and slipped the ring onto Brianna’s finger.

“I can’t believe that after only a few months I’m doing this, but I guess that goes to show the kind of effect you have on me. I love you, and I want nothing more than to have you be a part of the rest of my life. Will you marry me?” he asked.

“Only if you promise to get me off the ice and out of these skates,” she responded. He laughed and pulled her to him, capturing her lips in a kiss. The video ended with them walking down the runway, hand in hand.

I looked over at Brianna with a giant grin on my face. It was perfect for them. They were both the biggest smart asses I’d ever met. A big romantic gesture just didn’t suit their relationship. I pulled her into another hug, congratulating her again.

“Did you know someone was filming you?” I asked. She shook her head.

“No idea. Ryan said he needed proof that I’d said yes when I came to my senses and tried to leave him.” We both laughed and I looked down at her ring again. I began to get a bit giddy. I loved weddings.

Chapter 25

“He what?!” Brianna exclaimed when I told her about Corey and the engagement ring.

“Yeah, he was going to propose,” I told her again.

“I can’t believe that. You’re a real dumbass.”

“Hey!” I yelled in protest.

“Well, come on, Amelia. How could you have no idea that was coming?” she asked. I thought about it for a minute. After going through it all in my head I still couldn’t think of anything that would imply that Corey was ready to propose.

“I didn’t think we were at that point. I was only 21!” I exclaimed.

“Would you have turned him down?”

“Of course not. I loved him.”

“Well, I’m glad that things seem to be working out. He’s ending things with Ileana?” she asked.

“That’s what he said. Somehow I don’t think he’d show me the ring and tell me all that if he wasn’t going to go through with it this time.”

Brianna agreed and we went over everything one more time. By the end of the conversation I was grinning and Brianna was excited at the prospect of all the double dates and hanging out we could do. We hung up a while later and I debated calling my sister to tell her. In the end I decided to wait until things were definite and under control in case of anything else going wrong.

I had a lot of pent up energy with nothing to do, so I decided to go for a run. As I ran I went over everything from the start. My life had been complicated from the minute Corey walked into grade 11 history class. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of the new kid. I wondered what had brought him to my school, but knew the answer as I watched him walk down the hall after class. He played hockey.

It was obvious in the way he walked and carried himself. Also by the hockey butt that all hockey players are famous for. I wasn’t the most outgoing girl ever, and there were plenty of girls throwing themselves at the London Knights, so I kept my crush on Corey secret. That was until my friend Lindsey started dating one of the goalies on the team.

She brought me to one of their parties one night. I hadn’t wanted to go, and found myself sitting alone in the corner sipping on a soda instead of the beer everyone else seemed to be consuming. I watched as girls in slutty outfits monopolized the time of every guy on the team giggling at everything they said. Then I nearly jumped out of my own skin when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey, aren’t you in my history class?”

I turned and saw Corey standing there with a goofy grin on his face. I’d barely managed to choke out a response. Corey didn’t seem to mind, and sat down on the couch next to me. He started talking about our teacher and our upcoming project. Most of what he said hardly registered as I continually thought that this could not actually be happening. Hockey players in London didn’t hang out with the quiet theater geeks. At some point I managed to find my voice and participate in the conversation. We were inseparable from then on.

As I ran I smiled, thinking back on my last two years of high school. Corey had changed my life. Now after too long, we were finally going to be able to continue what we’d started that night. I finished up my run and took a shower. Feeling much more relaxed I sat down to watch a movie and have some dinner.










Corey drove back to his house to see if Ileana was still there. After a thorough inspection of his house he found that she was gone. She’d even cleaned up a little, although there was still stuff scattered all over his house. He got back into his car and headed over to her place. She opened the door just seconds after he knocked.

“Corey?” she asked surprised.

“We have to talk about today,” he told her. She nodded and let him walk past her into the apartment.

“I told you I was sorry about going through your stuff,” she started.

He put a hand up to signal that she should be quiet. He took the ring box out of his pocket so she could see it. Her eyes opened wide and a smile began to form. He felt bad that she obviously thought he was going to propose right now when he was doing the exact opposite.

“This ring was not bought for you.” Ileana’s expression drastically changed. She looked like she’d been shot. She shook her head and looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. “I bought this ring for Amelia years ago before we broke up.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ileana whispered angrily.

“I’m sorry that you found it and thought it was for you, but it’s not.” He didn’t try to sugar coat it. That just wasn’t his style.

“Then why the hell do you still have it?” she spat at him.

“Because I never wanted to let go of Amelia.” Ileana sat down on the chair behind her.

“I’m going to be sick,” she stated. Corey decided to just come out with it and get it over with right now.

“I still love her, Ileana. I never stopped. I can’t string you along anymore. It’s Amelia I want to be with, not you.” It was harsh, but he figured it would make it easier for Ileana to get over him if he wasn’t nice about it.

“You’re an asshole,” she said. He put the ring back in his pocket and turned to walk out the door.

“I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you. It was never my intention,” he said over his shoulder.

“It doesn’t matter. You couldn’t have afforded me in the long run anyway,” she returned.

He felt the anger start to course through him. Apparently he'd overestimated Ileana's feelings about him. He wanted to turn around and respond to her, to tell her off, but he didn’t. Instead he walked out her front door. He sat in his car for a minute before starting it. He’d pack up anything of Ileana’s he found at his place and send it over to her so he wouldn’t have to see her again.

He drove back home and put the ring back in its place. Then he cleaned his house putting everything back, and shoving Ileana’s things into a box. When he was done he closed the box and drove to the post office where he shipped it off. He didn’t even enclose a note. It wasn’t necessary.

When he took care of all of that he drove over to Amelia’s. She answered the door in shorts and a t-shirt, with wet hair. The minute she saw him she smiled. This time he was able to smile back at her.

“It’s done,” he said.

He couldn’t say anything else. As soon as those two words were out she was in his arms, her mouth on his. He walked her backwards into her house, closing the door behind them. Then he carried her upstairs to her bedroom where he was able to make love to her without feeling guilty for the first time in a long time.

Chapter 24

Corey walked out of the rink and skipped past all of the autograph seekers. He had other things on his mind. He didn’t feel bad as people called after him. Most of these people were here everyday. How many autographs did they need? Probably just one. He knew that most people got multiple autographs and then sold them. He hated people like that.

He also skipped out on grabbing lunch anywhere. He just wasn’t hungry. He thought about what he was going to do with Ileana and Amelia. He knew that no matter what was going on, he needed to end things with Ileana. He wasn’t happy with her, and it had finally occurred to him that stringing her along because of her grandmother was just going to hurt her more. He also knew he had to figure out a way to make everything up to Amelia. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to do that.

He pulled into his driveway and saw Ileana’s car parked in it. He groaned, but was almost glad. He could get this over with right now and only focus on Amelia. He parked his car next to hers and walked into his house. What he saw when he walked in the door shocked him. It looked like a tornado had hit the inside of his house.

As he made his way from room to room he noticed all of them looked like that. What the hell was Ileana doing? He heard her sobs coming from down the hall and realized she was in his bedroom. He braced himself for whatever was making her cry this time and walked in. He thought he’d been shocked when he saw the rest of his house. That shock didn’t compare to this one. He felt his heart stop.

“I can’t believe this,” Ileana choked out when she saw him enter.

She’d done to his room what she’d done to the rest of his house. Only there was something in his room he’d never wanted her to find, and unfortunately she had. She was sitting on the floor in front of his dresser holding the small box that held the engagement ring he’d bought for Amelia. He didn’t know what to say or do.

“Ileana,” he started. She glanced up at him and he froze. He didn’t know what her reaction was going to be. Would it make it easier or harder to end things with her?

“I can’t believe this!” she yelled this time. She jumped up to her feet and made her way over to him. She didn’t look angry, just surprised. “I had no idea you were planning on asking me to marry you!”

Corey’s eyes widened and he felt sick to his stomach as Ileana flung her arms around him. Jesus, he’d never even considered that she’d think that. Now that he knew what she thought, he panicked. What the hell was he going to say to her?

“What the hell have you done to my house?” he asked. He wanted to avoid the topic of the ring right now until he could figure out what to do about it.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I went to see Amelia this morning. She said some things. I guess I just got mad and started going through you’re stuff. I had to know how you felt about me. I wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding anything else. Except you were. You were hiding this.” She had a smile on her face. He was frowning.

“You shouldn’t have gone to see Amelia and you have no right to go through my things!” he yelled at her in anger. Her smile began to fade.

“Corey, I’m sorry. I just freaked out. I know this probably isn’t how you wanted me to see the ring, but I did. There’s no way around it. Amelia just said-” He snatched the box out of her hand. She recoiled a little at the action.

“I don’t care what Amelia said to you! You shouldn’t have gone through my stuff!” He found himself brushing off the box as if Ileana holding it had dirtied it.

“Corey, I’m sorry. I’ll just pretend I never saw it. You can ask me on your own time, the way you wanted to,” she told him. He had a million thoughts racing through his mind.

“I need to go,” he said to her. He left her standing alone in his bedroom and walked out the front door. He made his way to his car and got in. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself.










I saw on the couch in my living room after Brianna had left. I was exhausted. Today had already been a busy day and it was only 2:00. I’d spent the last couple of hours talking to Brianna about what I should do as far as my stupidly public argument with Corey went. Then we talked about the fact that Ileana now knew and what I should do about that.

Now that she’d left I didn’t really feel any better. I still didn’t know what kind of statement was going to be released about yesterday, but Brianna said she’d talk to Zane and take care of it. I knew that whatever they said would be fine. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that was going to be fine. I felt like absolutely nothing else in my life was fine right now.

Despite what I’d said to Corey the day before, I didn’t want him out of my life completely. It was just the opposite. I was angry, and who wouldn’t be, but technically speaking I was the other woman, not Ileana. Corey had never lied to me, and I didn’t know why he’d start now with something that major.

There were three reasons running through my head that made me want to forgive Corey and give him another chance. The first was Ileana. I wanted to take Corey from her. I wanted to win. It was purely out of my hatred for her, but it still counted. The second was because I loved him and I knew I always would. That wasn’t ever going to go away.

The third reason was Brianna. She’d given me some great advice. After telling me that if it had been any other guy she would have insisted that I end things and get as far away from him as possible, she then told me that I needed to hear him out. Corey was Ryan’s best friend which meant she’d spent time with him. Even before all of this had been going on she’d known that Corey was in love with me. She said it was written all over his face every time my name came up in conversation. She also told me that Corey had told Ryan he still loved me.

We both agreed that guys didn’t always make the right decisions, but that didn’t mean they were bad guys. We also both agreed that the current situation was not something everyone experienced. That alone meant that I couldn’t just write him off forever. She also made me realize that Corey got one more chance. If he screwed up again I had to end it. Guys only get so many chances.

The sudden sound of my front door being flung open and slammed shut caused me to break out of my thoughts and jump up off the couch with a scream. My heart started to race and my breathing quickened at the adrenaline rush the shock of the noise caused. When I saw the culprit turn the corner it did nothing to make me feel better. Corey was standing there with a glare fixed right on me.

“What the hell did you say to Ileana?!” he yelled. My jaw dropped. I didn’t even know how to respond.

“Excuse me?”

“Ileana. She came here. What did you say to her?” he demanded. I paused and thought back for a second.

“Are you defending her?!” I yelled back.

“You just need to tell me what you said.” His voice was steadier this time, but he still seemed ready to snap.

“She came here, okay? She started demanding that I stay away from you. She said that you’d chosen her and I had to deal with it. I was angry.”

“Amelia,” he said impatiently. I took a deep breath.

“I told her it only took you four months to tell me you loved me when we were together. I asked her how long it took you to tell her.” I cringed as the words left my mouth. It had been a serious low blow. I almost felt bad. He let out a growl of frustration when he heard me.

“So that’s what everything was about,” he said more to himself than to me. I waited for an explanation but none came.

“What are you talking about?” I finally asked.

“She went through my stuff. All of it. She tore my house apart.” Maybe it hadn’t been right, but why the hell was he angry enough to have stormed into my house unannounced to demand to hear what I’d said to her. “She found this.”

At the last words Corey tossed something to the couch next to me. My eyes travelled down to the object. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the tiny box. I didn’t need to open it to know what was inside. My stomach lurched when realization struck me. He’d bought Ileana an engagement ring.

Everything Brianna and I had talked about earlier went out the window. You don’t buy someone you don’t love a ring. Tears built up as I realized that he’d been lying to me the whole time. I was angry at him for telling me this way, by rubbing the ring in my face. I wanted to look away from the box, to tell Corey to leave, but I couldn’t. My eyes were fixed on it.

After a while I couldn’t help myself. I picked up the box and opened it. Not that I’d thought I was wrong, but seeing the ring inside confirmed my fears. A hand flew to my mouth as I tried to stop the sobs that had begun to escape from me. The ring was beautiful. It was an enormous solitary princess cut diamond on a platinum band completely encircled with smaller diamonds. It was exactly the kind of ring I would have wanted someday.

I snapped the box closed. It was too painful to look at. Knowing that Ileana would be wearing my dream ring was too much to handle. I dropped the box to the floor in front of me and collapsed down onto the couch. My legs could no longer hold me up. I couldn’t look at Corey and I wouldn’t let myself look at the box on the floor. Instead I squeezed my eyes shut and let the tears come.

“Why would you show me that?” I choked out between sobs.

“Because that ring was meant for you.”

I snapped my head up to look at him. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. Instead I just stared at him, searching his face for any sign that would tell me if he was lying or telling me the truth. He was pacing, which made it difficult.

“She found it and now she thinks I bought it for her. I don’t know what to do. I bought that ring for you in Portland before you left and now she thinks it’s hers.”

“Oh, God,” I managed to say when I heard that.

Corey was going to propose to me in Portland? I let my head fall into my hands. He was going to propose and I left him. I thought I’d gotten it. I thought I understood how much pain I’d put him through by leaving, but I didn’t have a clue. I’d never know exactly how badly I’d hurt him. How do you recover from something like that?

“I can’t let her think that. I can’t even let her touch it. I don’t know why I still have it. For some reason I just couldn’t get rid of it when you left. I couldn’t let you go.” He was still pacing.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never.....I’m so sorry,” I said to him. He stopped pacing and turned to look at me. Then he picked up the box.

“I have to fix things,” he said staring down at it.

“I don’t know how you could ever forgive me for what I did to you.”

“I already did. A long time ago.” Our eyes met. “I have to talk to Ileana. I have to tell her this isn’t for her and that we’re over.” My heart skipped.

“Corey, just do what’s going to make you happy. Don’t worry about anyone else.”

“I am. You make me happy, Meels. It’s always been you.”

He kissed me softly and wiped the tears from my face. He smiled at me and then turned and walked out of my house. I stared at the door long after he was gone. It took a while, but my smile eventually came. When it did, I couldn’t make it go away. Things were finally turning around.