“You’re completely sure this is yourfirsttime skating?” I ask, half-breathless, half-indignant. “How are you…doing… that?” I gesture vaguely at her feet, steadily cutting a path.
She shrugs, all casual. “I don’t know, but I like it! It’s fun, my body kind of just figured it out, I guess?” She gives me another heartwarming smile. “Or maybe having to rescue you took my mind off being bad long enough to just get it.”
Daphne winks.
“Happy to be of service,” I say before nearly hitting the boards as we make our first turn.
She laughs again, and I swear the sun gets brighter. Or maybe it’s just me falling in love with her even harder. Every smile, every laugh, every touch loosens something inside me. She unravels some tired, knotted-up part of myself that I didn’t realize had been tangled. She brings me ease, peace, joy.
I stop and let go of her hand to steady myself against the wall. She skates ahead a bit before circling back around and swooping in like some kind of ice-skating woodland nymph before coming to an only slightly shaky stop in front of me.
“You’re honestly getting better.”
I huff. “If by better you meanvertical, that’s an incredibly low bar I’ve set.”
She smiles, all tender teasing, and brushes her mittened thumb over my cheek. “You’re doing great, and you’re here with me. That’s all I care about.”
The earth shifts on its axis, but it’s not because I’m about to fall again. I realize how deeply I want this. Her. Forever, if she’d let me. Hell, I’d do it in these damn skates, forever tumbling after her, learning whatever she makes look easy, to keep that light on her face.
But instead of saying anything that could scare this fragile bit of happiness I’ve found, I lean closer and murmur, “If I fall, you’re coming down with me.”
She grins. “Then we fall together.”
Chapter twenty-four
Daphne
Thelightshangingoverthe ice rink sparkle like a thousand tiny stars, turning the whole place into a frozen stage. Andri shuffles behind me, shoulders hunched as if the universe might lob another catastrophe at him any second.
“I swear I’m more coordinated than this,” he mutters.
“You are—just not in skates,” I say, looping my arm through his, giving him a little tug of encouragement.
He slips. Again. A quick, startled skid, his arms fling out before one big, warm hand finds my waist. He steadies himself on me as we step through the rink door, his palm covering nearly my whole side—secure, grounding, despite the ice beneath him.
“I don’t mean to keep dragging you down,” he frowns.
“Yeah, but I like keeping you steady,” I say softly, adding a wink that makes his ears perk.
“Oh?” he asks, a teasing rumble in his voice as a single finger trails slowly up and down my spine. “You don’t mind me falling?” He looks at me—really looks—and for a wild second Iswear there are actual hearts sparkling in his deep brown eyes. My heart stumbles right along with him.
“I don’t mind. Maybe I’m falling too.” My voice is barely a whisper as he steps onto the thick rubber tiles outside the rink.
Andri watches his own feet as if they might betray him again, placing each step with careful determination until he reaches a bench. “You’re amazing on skates. Why would you be falling—”
I hook a finger around one of his horns and gently turn his head toward me. Then I press a soft little kiss to his lips.
“I’m not talking about the ice,” I grin, sliding down beside him to tug off the chunky plastic rental skates.
When I stand, he’s still frozen—hands on his laces, expression dazed. His gaze lifts, slow and wonder-filled, like he might just float away on pure emotion alone.
He huffs a small laugh—no embarrassment this time, just warmth and fondness bloom in my chest.
Because I’m not embarrassed with him. Not even a little.
That warm, fizzy truth curls through me as I cross the snowy parking lot. I’ve never been with someone who makes me feel less self-conscious. With Andri, there’s no tightness in my chest, no little voice whispering doubts, no wondering if I’m really the girl someone wants.
With him, there’s only warmth. Only comfort. Only patience as I figure out what I want from my life.
