“Oh, fuck off.” Sergio jabs him in the shoulder. He looks back at Jeremy. “I mean it. You look good.”
Jeremy dips his head and turns away. “Thanks,” he says. “I’m really only out here playing around. I shouldn’t even be on the ice.”
“No,” Sergio protests. “You’re exactly where you belong.” He reaches across the half wall in an attempt to turn Jeremy to look at him again, craving a glimpse of those flushed cheeks once more.
Jeremy starts at Sergio’s hand touching his shoulder. He shifts, twists, and loses his balance, landing on the hard ice floor with a thud. Sergio winces, but before he can stammer out an apology, Henry yells at him, “Not cool!”
Holden hoists himself waist-high onto the half wall so he can lean over it and offer Jeremy his hand.
Jeremy waves him off, clearly embarrassed. “I got it.” Once standing again, he places one hand on the wall and keeps his eyes averted, chewing on his lip while he carefully makes his way to the low ledge. “What time are we leaving tonight?”
“A little before eight,” Holden says. “We gotta drop Henry off at the Weirs’ on the way.”
“Alright. I’ll meet you up at the house in a bit, then,” he says, sliding a blade guard onto his right skate before he takes a hesitant step off the ice, holding onto the wall by Sergio for balance. He completely avoids Sergio’s attempt to make eye contact as he slides a guard onto his left skate and slowly, with rigidity in his steps, walks to a place where he can sit and unlace his boots to take them off. His expression makes it obvious that he’s done with having an audience.
“We’ll see you later, Jeremy,” Holden calls after him as he lifts Henry off the ground and places him on his shoulders.
“Fuck,” Sergio mutters, knowing full well exactly how he’s going to be woken up again tomorrow. Perhaps during his next shot at this day, he can at the very least not knock Jeremy over.
Chapter six
“Imean it,” Sergio says, looking directly at Jeremy on the ice and ignoring Holden’s smirk beside him. “You look good.”
Jeremy dips his head and turns away, but the faint blush of his cheeks doesn’t sneak past Sergio. “Thanks,” he says. “I’m really only out here playing around. I shouldn’t even be on the ice.”
“No,” Sergio protests, wanting to see his face again. “I think the ice is exactly where you belong.” Then, remembering the disaster from yesterday, he resists the urge to reach over the half wall and touch Jeremy, even though he wants nothing more than to feel Jeremy underneath his fingertips. To run his hands down Jeremy’s soft sweatshirt and enjoy the resistance of his toned muscle structure beneath his palms. “Come here.”
Jeremy looks over his shoulder at Sergio as he begins to skate away. “I’m not your dog. You can’t just beckon me to you and expect me to come because you said something nice.”
Sergio’s mouth drops open. “That’s … that’s not what I was trying to do at all.” He shakes his head and looks at Holden forhelp. Useless. He’s barely stifling a laugh. “I was going to try to apologize.”
Jeremy stops near Henry and grabs his blade guards off the half wall. “Sergio, I don’t have time for this right now.” He slips a guard onto one skate and takes his attention to Holden as he steps off the ice. “What time are we leaving tonight?”
“A little before eight,” Holden says. “We gotta drop Henry off at the Weirs’ on the way.”
“Alright. I’ll meet you up at the house in a bit, then.” He slides a blade guard onto his right skate before he steps completely off the ice, avoiding Sergio’s attempt to make eye contact. Once seated, he keeps his head down and focuses on unlacing his skates, making it clear he’s done having Sergio as part of his audience.
“We’ll see you later, Jeremy,” Holden calls after him as he lifts Henry off the ground and places him on his shoulders.
“Yeah, we’ll see you later,” Sergio says, thankful this time that he at least didn’t knock Jeremy over.
“I think the ice is exactly where you belong,” Sergio says with twice as much sincerity. There’s no denying it. After catching yet another glimpse of Jeremy’s skating and seeing that blush redden his cheeks at the slightest compliment, nothing has ever been clearer. To Sergio, getting Jeremy to see that is the most important thing to him, second only to apologizing.
Jeremy moves away from him, heading to where he can collect his things and get off the ice. Sergio pushes past Holden, practically knocking him over in his haste to catch Jeremy before he can put his first blade guard on.
“What the hell?” Holden laughs.
Sergio flashes him an annoyed look, then turns his attention back to Jeremy. “Listen, Jeremy. Can you give me a second? I want to apologize.”
Jeremy pauses and gives a pointed nod in Henry’s direction, then another one at Holden before staring at Sergio. “Now really isn’t the best time.”
“There is no better time. I should know. I’ve been trying to do this for days now.”
“Days?” Jeremy’s face scrunches up in confusion. “You just got here.”
Fuck.Sergio swallows. “I meant all day.”
“It’s fine, Sergio.”
