“Uh, Noah?” I say when he pushes open his door. “Did you hear me? This place is closed.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Says the murderer.”
He chuckles. “If I were going to kill you, I would have done it all those weeks ago when you blackened my eye.”
I roll my eyes. “I thought you were over that.”
He points to the tiny red mark that still sits on the bridge of his nose. “No, I am not over it and I will never be over it. It will be with me forever, just like this scar I’m going to inevitably have.”
I grimace. “Did I ever tell you how sorry I am about that?”
“Only about a hundred times.” He nods toward the building. “Now come on. Let’s head inside. We only have this place for so long.”
“Because the cops are definitely going to bust us for breaking into this abandoned building, right?”
He sighs. “Has anyone ever told you you’re exhausting, Odie?”
“Only after sex.”
I wink at him, then climb out of his oversize truck, meeting him at the back.
He pulls a giant bag from the bed.
“Not going to murder me, my ass,” I mutter as I follow behind him.
“Quit tempting me.”
I grin as he pulls a key chain from his pocket and unlocks the door.
“Oh, good. You have a key. So we’re not going to jail, but we are definitely getting tetanus.”
He shakes his head at me, but I don’t miss his grin as he grabs my hand and leads me inside the dark, creepy building.
Then suddenly it’s not as dark and creepy when he flips the lights on. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust, but as soon as they do, I realize that this place isn’t quite abandoned. It’s just ... well, not in great shape, that’s for sure.
The tile on the floor looks like it could be replaced, the paint on the walls is peeling in multiple spots, and I’m pretty sure that was a mouse that just scurried across the floor.
Noah doesn’t seem bothered by any of it as he leads us down the hall and pushes through double doors.
This room isn’t dark at all. If anything, it’s too bright.
But I know instantly where we are.
“Noah, this is ...” I say as I look around, taking in the bleachers that have seen better days, the scoreboard that looks like it’s barely hanging on, and two hundred feet of ice before us.
“A bit of a wreck?”
“Well, yes.” I laugh. “But it’s amazing too. What is this place?”
“An ice rink?”
I shoot him a look, and he chuckles.
“All right, so you’ve surmised that much, I can tell.”
“Yes, I’m aware of what an ice rink is. I guess what I mean is, why are we here?”
