Suddenly, he bursts into a peal of laughter, startling me. “You…You’re…” he wheezes in between his bouts of laughter.
Indignation rushes through my veins at the way he mocks me. I knew this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have trusted him. Of course, he’s making fun of me. Exasperated, I try to yank my hands free, but he doesn’t loosen his hold. “Let me go,” I grit out, embarrassed beyond the point of no return.
Sensing the shift in my mood for the worse, he dials down his amusement and clears his throat. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you looked so cute walking like that,” he expresses with mirth still coating his words. At my glare, he composes his features. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” He clears his throat again.
Relenting, I continue focusing on my feet below me. Not daring to move my gaze from the ice, I clasp his hands as he skates backward, keeping me balanced. “Look at you, you got this.” His words of encouragement help me feel slightly relaxed and at ease. Make me feel like I could do this without having to take a tour of the ICU anytime soon.
He keeps his voice calm, and with my hands in his, we do a couple of rounds of the ice. Whenever I stumble or feel like I’m about to face-plant, my hold on his hands turns punishing, but he doesn’t complain. Not once.
Neither does he make me feel like an inconvenience or a burden. He just keeps squeezing my hands and caressing my skin with the pads of his thumbs, silently lending me his strength.
“Now, I’ll let you go, and we’ll try to see if you can skate on your own, okay?” he says, looking into my eyes on the next lap.
Fear chokes me, and I grip his hands like a vise. “No. Don’t let me go.”
A small smile plays on his face as his eyes soften. “I’m right here. Trust me.”
This time, I do. With a deep breath, I nod at him. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Good girl,” he whispers before his hold slackens. Goddamn it! He’s got to stop saying things like that.
His hands drop from mine as he slides them into the pockets of his hoodie. While mine spread out like an eagle to keep myself balanced as I attempt to skate. The blades dig into the icebelow, creating enough friction for me to move. Taking it slow, I propel myself.
Initially, I stumble, which causes Ezra to jerk forward to stop my fall, “Careful.” But when I steady myself on my own, he gives me space to skate.
As I glide over the solid ice and my dread of an accident dissipates, I finally get the hang of it.
Ecstatic that I did it, a huge grin spreads across my face as I look at him. “Did you see that? I did it! I skated on my own!” Even I can hear the joy and pride in my voice as Ezra looks at me with a soft smile.
My excitement causes me to stumble, and he instantly grabs my waist. “Careful, Feather.”
His raspy voice gives me butterflies. But the sense of achievement overpowers it as I look at him and ask, “Did you see that?”
His hands drop from my waist as he claps a couple of times, and I mourn the loss of his touch even though I know I shouldn’t. “I did. You’re doing great, Kaeli.” We skate together, though he slows down to my pace. I smile at him as we circle the ice.
“Thank you, Ezra,” I tell him honestly. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.Him caring enough to help me skate was really kind and thoughtful. I never thought he was capable of something like this, or that he’d even give a shit about me.
“My pleasure,” he mumbles under his breath, the tip of his ears turning red. After that, we both glide in a strangely companionable silence.
Today has been nothing like I expected. I don’t know what came over me that I decided to ask him to join me here, or why I agreed to let him teach me. But after getting to peek behind his mask, getting to see this side of him he conceals from me, I fear that if I let myself get carried away by his charm, I’d be signing myself up for a great deal of heartache later.
If years of experience have taught me anything, it’s that don’t trust anything or anyone that seems too good to be true. This weird truce between us is exactly that. That’s why I make a conscious effort to build my firm walls back up.
“Why’d you never learn to skate?” he probes, shoving a dagger deep in my wounds and twisting it without even realizing it.
How do I tell him that even though my parents love me, they always loved Roman more? That my friends never really cared about my opinionsor wishes. That I have no one who really understands me or cares about what I want.
I can’t. Not without having him look at me with pity and sympathy, and those are the last emotions I wish to see directed at me. So, I wear the mask of a bitch that people know me as. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I scoff, my voice cold.
He gapes at me as his eyes widen, surprised by the sudden shift in my demeanor. His jaw clenches. “It was just a question, Kaeli,” he says through his grinding teeth.
“Don’t think that we are buddies now because I let you teach me to skate.” My blunt response vexes him because he shakes his head with a hollow laugh.
He skates away, creating distance between us. Like standing next to me, scalded him. And though I’ve no right, I still feel a pinch in my heart.
“Why did I think that you’re capable of having a civil conversation?” he gibes, raking a hand through his hair, messing it up yet looking like he could rival a professional model to star on the cover page.
This is not the time to be focusing on his looks, Kaeli.I remind myself before I make a fool of myself.
