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.
He still believed in the overall merit of this dating-consultant ploy. The night of the Christmas tree lighting, he’d told her there was a woman he really liked (true) and that he wanted to keep the woman’s identity a secret (temporarily true). Shay was the one who’d given Molly a name. Shay had logically determined Shay wasn’t her. But perpetuating that untruth was making him more and more uncomfortable. He’d started this for the greater good. However, deception wasn’t in his nature, and he was starting to have doubts.
