“It’s fortunate for me that Molly loves to ice skate,” Shay said, “because as it happens, I also love to ice skate.”
“Oh?” he said neutrally.
“Yep. I love skating! My grandma used to bring us a few times every winter.”
He frowned at the rink. The ice looked deceptively pretty and the people skating smoothly around the oval made it look deceptively easy. There was a reason he hadn’t become a hockey player. In fact, there was a reason why he’d poured all his time and skill into art instead of sports in general.
He worked out five days a week on the rowing machine in the basement. A few times a year he went on an adventure race with his uncle and cousins—where they’d spend days in the wilderness using navigation, hiking, and paddling to make their way through a course.
Rowing machines and adventure races—the most coordinated things he could manage.
Shay, on the other hand, was a born athlete. It was one of the things he’d always admired about her. She was tough enough to push through the pain of running. Disciplined enough to train.
He wasn’t surprised when she sailed several feet onto the ice. She’d dressed in waterproof pants and a sporty white jacket. Her striped pastel scarf, hat, and mittens all matched. Her hair peeked out symmetrically from the bottom of the cap.
He eased onto the ice, arms outstretched, ankles straight. He slid about ten inches.
She waited, but he didn’t make a move.
“Is that a skating posture I’m unaware of?” she asked kindly. “The scarecrow, perhaps?”
“I probably should have mentioned at the beginning that I’m not good at this. I can stand here but I’ve never been able to figure out how to make myself move forward without falling.”
“Understandable. But this pretend date is not going to be very enjoyable for you if you remain in that position the entire time.” She smiled.
“It strikes me that maybe I should take . . . Molly out to do things that she enjoys and that I’m good at.” Kids jostled past him to exit the ice.
“Not necessarily. If Molly’s worth her salt, she’s going to be willing to try things that you enjoy but she’s not good at. So you should be willing to do the same for her. We’ll make our lives small if we never attempt anything in support of the people we care about.”
“I agree in theory.” Crap, this ice is so slippery.
“How about you keep one hand on the handrail? That’s what I did when I was starting out.”
He edged to the side, took hold of the handrail, and moved his feet like he was walking. No gliding here. Just walking on ice wearing skates.
She skated beside him at his snail’s pace. “Try pushing one skate to the side and skimming forward on the other.”
To please her, he tried, lost his footing, and yanked on the arm gripping the rail. A few more minutes dragged past. He didn’t like to call attention to himself, but his bad skating was doing just that. “This can’t be fun for you,” he said. Thank God she hadn’t spent her money on this outing. He’d convinced her that he would pay—seeing as how she was here as his consultant. “Don’t let me hold you back. Please skate around as fast as you want.”
She seemed to understand. “’Kay. I’ll skate for fifteen minutes or so and then check back to see if you want to try it with me.”
“Thanks.”
She soared off, lapping him again and again. His feet kept shooting out from under him, yanking his arm. The handrail was the only thing saving him from a butt fracture. Yank. Nonetheless, he kept trying—yank—because he’d agreed with what she’d said. His life would become small if he never attempted anything in support of the people he cared about.
He cared about her. Also, skating did come with one perk. Watching Shay.
She radiated happiness. Her body was lithe and strong. The wind whipped through the tips of her hair. At one point, he spotted her turning circles in the middle of the rink, arms outstretched.
He stopped, spellbound.
As always, she was doing her thing, unconcerned with what others thought.
She was beautiful to him. She, who was so many of the things he wasn’t, had always been beautiful to him. And I’d do anything—even this—to spend time with her.
Sunset was arriving and the string lights mounted overhead blinked to life. He could see why so many Christmas movies included ice-skating scenes. The setting was the type of thing women liked. Sadly for him, he could also see why those movies didn’t show the hero strangling the handrail or venturing out onto the ice and toppling over like a baby giraffe. Not the type of thing women liked.
True to her word, Shay swirled to a stop in front of him after fifteen minutes. “How are you doing, Brian Boitano?”
He laughed.
She grinned, her brown eyes bright.
“I’m almost ready for the Olympic trials,” he said.
“How about I try to pull you forward, very slowly and carefully?”
“That’s a generous offer, but I’m worried that if I leave the handrail, I’ll fall and pull you down with me.”
“I’m willing to take that risk.” She extended her mittens to him.
He let go of the handrail and linked his hands with hers. Heat spread from the contact. This was the first time they’d held hands.
She started weaving her skates in an hourglass type of motion. She faced backward, he faced forward. She was going ninety percent slower than she’d been going, but he was now going fifty percent faster than he’d been going.
Don’t fall. Don’t fall. He set his jaw in concentration.
He fell.
As predicted, he took her down with him. The force of the impact on the hard ice jarred through him. She landed facing him, looking startled by the crash.
The only thing that could make this date worse? If one of them was obligated to take the other to the emergency room.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Are you okay?”
Her whole face scrunched and then she was belly laughing.
The sound was contagious. The two of them sat on the ice, skaters flowing around them, laughing until Shay’s eyes grew wet with amusement.
She was fine. And for the next few seconds he could take a break from trying not to fall.
“You warned me that might happen,” she eventually said, making no attempt to rise. “And I accepted the risk, so I bear responsibility. I am very glad that we went on this test date.”
“Me too.”
“We’ve learned that while it certainly is important to try things in support of the people you care about, ice skating may not be the best bet for your first date with Molly, after all. You seem to be having to grit your teeth to get through this.”
“By the time this is over I won’t have any teeth left.”
She gave another peal of laughter. “I will tell you, though, that it can be very attractive, from a woman’s perspective, to see a man persevering at something he’s not naturally skilled at. You’ve done this with such a good attitude and a sense of humor. That will go far with Molly.”
“Do you think she’ll still like me if I only have a mouth full of empty gums?”
She hadn’t stopped smiling.
He was almost certainly over-reaching with Shay. It wasn’t that he’d ever felt he deserved her. It’s just that he’d wanted her so much for so long that he’d been compelled to act.