Taming the Ice #21 Ace Andrews

Chapter 4-The Proposition

Ari

The words Pete just spoke hung heavy in the air between us. Open relationship…did he seriously just suggest we have an open relationship?!

“Are you going to say anything?” His arms tightened around me, making me feel like I couldn’t breathe as I tried to sit up.

Reaching down, I pried his arms off of me and turned to look at him.

“Did you just say you wanted an open relationship?” Maybe I heard him wrong. I mean, he is clearly drunk…he might be out of his damn mind right now.

Pete cleared his throat before sitting up and reaching for me. “Babe, relax.”

I pushed his hands away, not wanting to be touched right now as I scooted to the edge of the bed. “Relax? How can I relax? Did you seriously just say you want an open relationship Pete?”

I know I sound like a broken record, but I needed him to say it again. Just to make sure I wasn’t overreacting for nothing.

Waiting on bated breath, I watched as he lifted his hand, brushing his light brown hair away from his forehead.

“It’s not that big of a deal. A lot of people do it. It’s the twentieth century Ari. I mean, we’re in college. Monogamy is a f*****g crock of s**t at our age.”

I couldn’t believe he was saying this. What the hell happened in the three hours since I last saw him? Then it hit me…my stomach dropped as everything started to make sense.

“You slept with her…didn’t you?” I accused, pulling myself fully out of bed now as I created some much needed distance between us.

“What? Who? What are you talking about?” He denied. The defensive tone of his voice caused a bitter laugh to fall from my lips.

“You’re such a liar.” I shoved my fingers through my hair. Feeling like I had just been punched in the gut.

I was losing my damn mind as this man who swore to me he wouldn’t do this again had clearly done it…he was guilty as f**k. That’s when a bright red mark on his neck caught my attention.

“You have f*****g hickies Pete.” I pointed out, watching as his eyes widened even more.

“Babe, it wasn’t anything serious-”

“Who was it? It was Cassidy wasn’t it? I knew it. I f*****g knew it.” I began to spiral, feeling like my heart was being ripped from my chest all over again. And I thought the first time hurt…but this time, I just felt so damn stupid.

“Hey, calm down.” Pete rushed before jumping from the bed and coming towards me. His fingertips grazed the side of my waist, making me slap them away as I backed up even further.

“Don’t touch me.” I snapped, feeling like my entire world had just been flipped upside down.

“Babe, you’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

“How am I blowing this out of proportion? Someone has clearly been sucking on your neck Pete and I know it wasn’t me!” I felt the tears start to well up inside of me. The fact that he did this to me again…what the hell is wrong with me?

“It meant nothing to me. It never does…Or did. f**k. Can we just talk about this in the morning?” He rushed, tripping over his words as I scoffed.

“What is there to talk about? You cheated on me Pete, again! God I was so stupid…I knew this would happen. The moment Cassidy walked in you couldn’t keep your eyes off of her.”

“I’m a guy Ari...sometimes we like to look.” Pete tried, taking a step closer towards me as I quickly took one back, not wanting to be anywhere near him right now.

“I get that Pete. But you don't just look, do you? Admit it…you slept with her.” There was no point in him lying…obviously he did something with her.

Pete went silent, his eyes searching my face as the guilt was clear as day and I knew right then and there, this s**t was over. There was no way we could come back from this. Not again.

“You’ve been sleeping with her this entire time, haven’t you?” I breathed. I was such an i***t. What the hell was I thinking moving in with him? I believed all of that bullshit he said to me…

“Not with her, no.” He mumbled, causing another scoff to leave me.

“No, but with other girls, right?” f*****g lying asshole.

“Baby, they meant nothing.” He began, rushing towards me as his hands reached out, gripping either side of my face. “You’re the one I love.”

“Bullshit. How can you even say that to me?” It was like a slap to the face. Love? How can he say he loves me after doing this to me again? I felt like he just ripped my heart straight from my chest.

“Because it’s true! I want you Ari. But I’m a man with needs. My s*x drive is a lot higher than yours and if I’m not getting it from you…” He trailed off before starting again. “But it won’t be like this forever. That’s why if we open the relationship, I can get this s**t out of my system and by the time the draft hits, I’ll be ready to settle down.”

I was sick to my stomach. His explanation for all of this made things even worse as I swallowed down the bile that was hitting the back of my throat.

I’ll never be enough. That’s what he is saying right now. Just me, all on my own, it will never be enough.

I started to shut down. This numbness began to take over as those fears of never being truly wanted began to fill my head. Was this all I was worth? Was I not loveable enough? Why was I never enough?

“So if we do this then I won’t have to pressure you and we can be happy babe. This s**t won’t be a problem anymore and I promise the moment the draft hits, I will cut the bullshit and we can even announce our engagement.”

“Engagement?” The word sounded so f*****g weird coming from Pete’s mouth. How can he say the words “open relationship” and “engagement” all in the same sentence?

“Yes, engagement. You’re wife material. I mean, it’s not like I will settle down with one of the puck bunnies or something. I need a girl who I know won’t cause drama and ruin my image.” He had the audacity to laugh like what he said was some type of joke. But this s**t wasn’t funny to me…not in the slightest.

“I think you're going to do a good enough job ruining your image all on your own. Get the hell off of me Pete.” I gritted through my teeth, trying to pull on his writs and remove his hands from my face. I needed space to think and breathe. With him being this close to me, both of those things felt near impossible.

“You’re still mad? I just told you I planned on marrying you. How can you be mad?”

“Because you’ve been sleeping around with other women behind my back Pete! Again!” I can’t even look at him right now. Does he seriously not see what is wrong with this?

“But they meant nothing.” He replied, seeming dumbfounded that I was angry.

“Well it meant something to me. You promised not to do this again-”

“I wouldn’t have had to if you weren’t being such a b***h about all of this.”

“Wow. So this is my fault?” I scoffed, feeling Pete’s body coming closer as I realized my back was now up against the wall.

“Babe. None of this was personal. Every interaction I’ve had with other girls was purely s****l. There was no emotion behind it, not like we have. That’s why opening this up would make it a lot easier. We can keep doing this. We can keep growing together.” He leaned in, his mouth aiming for my lips as I pushed on his chest, trying to shove him away from me.

“Get off of me Pete.” I rushed, the smell of alcohol seeming even stronger somehow as his hands gripped me tighter.

“Not until you agree to this. I’m not going to lose you again Ari. Not after all the effort I put into this.”

“Effort? I didn’t realize f*****g around behind my back was considered effort.”

“Babe…” Pete warned. Annoyance flashing in his dark green eyes.

He wasn’t going to give this up. And honestly, I was so done with his bullshit that I just wanted it all to be over with.

Pete wants an open relationship? Fine, then he can have one. But I’m not going to just sit back and let him walk all over me. Not anymore.

“Okay.” I blurted, feeling Pete stiffen before slowly pulling back and looking at me in surprise.

“Okay? Okay to what?” He rushed.

“You can have your open relationship.”

Pete blinked his eyes rapidly. My words didn’t seem to make any sense to him as he struggled to process them.

“Really? You mean that?” He asked again, sounding more excited now.

“Yep.”

I was beyond pissed. I felt stupid and absolutely humiliated falling for his bullshit again. But this time, I have no one to blame but myself. I moved in with the guy…spent all of my savings on the deposit and am now trapped in this lease for an entire freaking year.

“Oh god, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that.” Pete sighed, his body falling forward as he wrapped his arms around my back before pulling me into a hug. “I knew you would get it. My s*x drive is just a lot higher than yours babe and this will solve all of our problems.”

Solve all of our problems. Yeah, that’s exactly what it’ll do. Pete has no idea what he just agreed to…if he wants an open relationship, then he’s going to get one. Let’s see how Pete likes it when the shoe’s on the other foot.

I’m not usually a petty person, but right now, I want to hurt Pete just as much as he’s hurt me…now I just have to think exactly how to do that. And after I do, I’m going to figure out how to get out of this lease and never talk to Pete again.

Open relationship my ass.