I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the space behind me was clear and sped up a little.
“Whoa, whoa!” Andrew squatted again.
Once we were going fast enough I let go of him for a second then swung around so that I was beside him, holding him up by his one beefy arm. Andrew looked down at me and smiled and I swear it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. There was joy on his face, mixed with a smidge of fear, given the way I was picking up speed, but in that sparkly moment it felt like every single thing was right in my world. There was no better feeling than being tucked against Andrew, gliding across the ice to the sound of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).”
“Hey,” he said, squeezing me. I looked up. “This is fun.”
I hugged his arm back. “The funnest.”
I felt him relax and attempt a wobbly push-off with one skate.
“There you go!” I cheered. “You figured it out, you’re skating!”
He tried to hide a proud smile. “I did a little research before coming tonight since I’ve never skated. Did some reading, watched some videos.”
“Aw, that’s so cute.”
“How is doing research cute?” Andrew asked as he fell out of rhythm for a second.
I adjusted my grip on him. “I guess I never considered you the research type. You’re more of a ‘just do it’ guy.”
“Huh.”
I didn’t like the sound of the single syllable. I glanced up to find that Andrew was focused on the ice in front of him, like he was worried there might be unexpected divots or speed bumps.
“That came out wrong,” I said quickly as I tucked his arm tighter against my side. “I meant that you sort of bulldoze through life, you know? You don’t let anything slow you down. Onward!”
His frown deepened and I felt a little queasy as I realized that I wasn’t making it any better.
“Does that make sense?” I asked tentatively.
“Sure. Yeah.”
I could feel his body bracing as he attempted to get his nondominant foot to move. He was just about to make it happen when John and Yoko finished singing and the announcer came over the speakers again.
“Group skate. Everyone back on the ice. Group skate.”
Andrew’s eyes went wide.“Teenagers.”
I chuckled at his terror. “They’re a menace. I’ll have you know that your buddy Nolan used to be one of them back in the day. But yeah, we should probably take a break.”
I was starting to move us toward the edge when a pack of boys hurled themselves back on the ice, hunkered down like speed skaters. I felt Andrew overcompensating as they came closer, shuffling faster but seemingly moving backward at the same time.
We were nearly there when a rogue skater zipped by us, catching us both off guard. The skater’s speed and the way he zigzagged in front of us were enough to shift Andrew off-balance, sending his feet shooting out from under him. He went airborne and seemed to hang there for a few seconds before crashing to the ice in a coccyx-bruising thud, pulling me down on top of him like I was riding him.
Andrew didn’t move while I quickly climbed off of him so wedidn’t look like ice skating porn. We wound up sitting on the ice hip to hip, facing each other. The only way to finish the perfect holiday movie moment would’ve been a we’re-so-freaking-cute-and-adorable kiss.
Instead, Andrew patted my arm and then wobbled to a shaky stand without so much as a smile.
chapter thirty-six
The late afternoon sky looked like an overstuffed down pillow, all but guaranteeing more snow. I was celebrating a major win with Pat and the goats before the storm came.
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Pat exclaimed.
She had her hand in a fist held out to the side of her body at waist height and the Mean Girls were taking turns bumping it with their noses in exchange for treats. The simple targeting exercise not only showed that they were starting to trust her but meant that we could now start doing some more advanced training, like teaching them to go to “stations” in the pen and coming when called. Soon after, we could merge the Mean Girls and the originals in the same pen, and all would be right in goat-land.
“Thistle won’t stop,” Pat laughed as the goat bumped her fist over and over.
